Stumbling Upon Serendipity - CLOSED

Serendipity 3

3570 South Las Vegas Blvd.

Las Vegas, NV 89109

It seems like a lot of New York's most popular restaurants have opened branches in Las Vegas. Grimaldi's Pizza, Carnegie Deli, and this place Serendipity 3. I am sure I'm missing others that I can not think of right now. I also find it funny that none of these places have opened at the New York, New York Hotel. It seems like they would fit right in there.

New York export Serendipity 3 is located right on the strip at Caesar's Palace. Detached from the rest of the resort, Serendipity is off by its lonesome in a freestanding building that is hard to miss. It is kind of nice that you do not have to walk through a large mall or casino to try to find this restaurant. It is right in front, where you can not miss it.

Serendipity was started in 1954, by a trio of friends. Since that time they have had a strong list of celebrity customers, had a sappy John Cusack movie named after them, and become a part of pop culture. Besides the Vegas and NYC locations, there are also Serendipity's in Boca Raton and Georgetown, in the Washington DC. area.

We got to Serendipity at 3pm on Tuesday, and still had a fifteen-minute wait. I can imagine that if there was a wait at this slow time of day, then this place must be packed on weekends and at mealtimes. Be advised of this. This Serendipity seems a lot larger than the location in New York. Here their trademark Tiffany lamps are not hanging from the ceiling, but are placed on the tables. This place reminds me of a Farrell's, but with loud pop music. We got a steady dose of Britney and Taylor Swift to accompany our lunch. After perusing the large menu, this is what came out of the kitchen for us.

Katie selected the High Heel Sandwich. This sandwich was made up of prosciutto, buffalo mozzarella, tomatoes, arugula,  basil pesto, and balsamic glaze. Katie liked every part of this sandwich, but the prosciutto.  She thought the meat was way too fatty, and really lacked a pleasant flavor. The produce was fresh, and the balsamic added an interesting taste to this sandwich. She mentioned that she would stay away from this sandwich in future visits here. I did not try this, not really my cup of tea.

If you ever wondered what a $16 Chili Cheese Dog looked like, wonder no more. This foot-long hot dog featured Serendipity's chili which did have bits of filet mignon in it. It was good and the portion size was very large, but it is not worth $16. I am not sure any chili dog is worth that. The chili could have been a little spicier here. The hot dog itself had a decent snap to it and a nice meaty flavor. This chili dog really needed the cheese to be melted here. Definitely a knife and fork hot dog.

Now to the reason almost everyone comes here, the Frrrozen Hot Chocolates. They now have eight versions of this famous drink. We ordered the Peanut Butter Frrrozen Hot Chocolate for Two. Wow, this was worth the visit here. This is just like it sounds. Imagine a hot chocolate frozen to a slushy consistency that you would be able to drink through a straw. Peanut butter settled in the bottom of the glass, and every once in a while you would get a good taste of it mixed with the chocolate. Really good finish to our meal here.

The food here was good, not great. The portions are huge and so are the prices. If you must eat here, I would stick with the basics, hot dogs, burgers, and maybe some of the salads. The presentation is fun and whimsical, with oblong dishes, and swirls of sauces applied to the food. The real draw here is the dessert portion of their menu. You can never go wrong with a sundae or frrrozen hot chocolate on a warm day in Vegas. That will be our game plan next time we are here, skip the food portion of the menu and head straight to the desserts. Now if only Doughnut Plant would follow the NYC to Vegas trend and open a location in Sin City!

Out of five pillbox hats, (because pillbox hat-wearing First Lady, Jackie Kennedy once tried to buy the frozen hot chocolate recipe, but was declined), five being best to zero being worst, Serendipity 3 gets 3 pillbox hats.

For more information about Serendipity 3, click here: http://www.caesarspalace.com/casinos/caesars-palace/restaurants-dining/serendipity-3-detail.html