Experiencing the Flavors of Baja at El Torito

El Torito

18512 MacArthur Blvd. 

Irvine, CA 92612

You can add me to the list of people that had probably written off  El Torito. I can't remember what the family gathering was for, but I can remember that we left the restaurant not too happy with how things had worked out for us during that meal. There were dinners that were missing, we had large gaps in service, and the food itself was pretty pedestrian. Needless to say, it was the last time we were at an El Torito for dinner, and that was close to five years ago.

It was sad that El Torito, a chain restaurant that had helped popularize Mexican food in the United States, had seemed to have lost its luster. Started in 1954 by Larry Cano, this seemed to be a restaurant that had peaked in the late eighties when they opened 54 new stores in one year. After being sold numerous times, they now operate 68 restaurants, of which, 12 of those are in OC. At least now they are owned by a company that knows a thing or two about Mexican food, Real Mex Restaurants. Real Mex not only owns El Torito, but they also own Acapulco's, Chevy's, and Las Brisas.

We were recently invited to try El Torito's new Flavors of Baja menu. I have to admit, I was a little skeptical about whether I was going to like this special menu or not. I had asked around my work if any of my coworkers had been to El Torito recently, and no one had, except for Sunday brunch and a trip to Taco Tuesday. So I showed up at Katie's work and we took a short car ride over to the El Torito that is right across from John Wayne Airport.

I had expected the restaurant to be slow on this Wednesday night, but they had a steady stream of customers during our visit. The bar area was pretty packed, the large dining room had a lot of occupied tables, and even as we were leaving they had just sat a party of ten. We were sat promptly and met by Manager Ben Morales and Research and Development Chef Loreto, both of whom would be walking us through the Flavors of Baja menu. They both seemed very proud to share this menu with us, so I started to feel like this was not going to be like my last El Torito experience.

Not on the Flavors of Baja menu, but you can not come to El Torito and not experience their Fresh Tableside Guacamole. Sorry for the poor action shot of our waiter, George making this up for us, but he was pretty quick when mixing the avocados, tomatoes, cilantro, onions and Serrano chiles. This was a good-sized portion of guacamole, but Katie and I really put a good-sized dent into this rather quickly. I would have liked this a little spicier, but I knew Katie likes things a little milder. It had a very good consistency, between being too lumpy and too smooth. George must be a real expert at making this after his five years on the job here.

After our little detour off of the regular El Torito menu, it was now time to see what the Flavors of Baja menu had in store for us. First up was the Baja Trio Appetizer ($9.99). Chef Loreto explained to us that he believes that ceviche came from Japanese immigrants who settled on the Baja peninsula. These tacos all had a different version of ceviche inside of them. My favorite of the three was the one with crab, red jalapeno, fennel, and ginger aioli. The crab was very fresh, and the taco heated up as I ate it. Big flavors working here. The halibut taco came with tomatoes, onions, cilantro, and avocado. I thought this one was going to be a little boring, but I liked the simplicity of it, and the halibut was done nicely. The spicy shrimp taco was probably my least favorite of the three, but that doesn't mean I didn't like it. This unusual taco combined shrimp, jicama, green apple, Serrano chiles, and guacamole. The textures on this taco were the highlight of it for me. A very nice crunch with the jicama and apple.

Our culinary tour of Baja continued with the Mexicali Enchiladas ($12.49). This colorful plate was centered by three enchiladas basted with guajillo sauce and filled with chicken and manchego cheese. The enchiladas in Baja are not drenched in sauce, like other areas of Mexico. The result is a lighter enchilada, with some very tender pulled chicken inside. I also liked the use of the manchego cheese here, which helped to prevent this dish from becoming too heavy. This was served with a very nice roasted corn and pasilla peppers, which added some gradual heat to this meal. A very nice variation from the usual enchiladas served in Mexican restaurants.

Most of the time when people think of Baja, the food that automatically comes to mind is the fish taco. So it's no surprise that Baja Halibut Tacos ($14.99) are on El Torito's Flavors of Baja menu. These come three to a plate, with beer-battered halibut, ginger aioli, cabbage, avocado, and caramelized onions inside of a soft corn tortilla. This was a very solid fish taco. The breading was nicely done, with a pleasant crunch to it, and the cabbage and watermelon radish added some texture components. The tortilla was not rubbery like others can tend to be. El Torito does Baja well, with this rendition of the fish taco. I also must make mention of the Baja white rice that was served with this. The rice had some roasted vegetables and manchego cheese in it to elevate this from your normal humdrum Mexican style rice.

Now we were getting into my wheelhouse. I am a carnitas fiend, so I was excited to see that carnitas was part of the Flavors of Baja menu. These Carnitas en Tablita ($15.49) were a little different from others. The pork here is simmered in garlic, oranges, and other spices. The citrus tinge was very evident. I missed the fried tips of other carnitas, but these were some very tender pork pieces. The pork is served with all of the usual accompaniments; avocado, grilled onions, beans, and warm tortillas. I went without the tortillas and just ate the carnitas by the forkful. A very good version of carnitas.

Even after all of the food we had eaten, I was still excited when this plate hit our table. The Jalapeno Bacon Wrapped Shrimp ($17.99) was fantastic. These shrimp were huge and wrapped expertly with bacon, jalapeno chiles, and manchego cheese. Talk about big-time flavor. The shrimp was briny, the jalapeno added a little heat, and the natural deliciousness from the bacon made this dish a winner. I ate more than my fair share of these, as Katie started to feel the effects of this so far six-course meal. I wasn't complaining though.

Can't make up your mind about what to order off of the Flavors of Baja menu, El Torito has you covered. The Baja Sampler ($15.49) will take you on a trip around the Baja peninsula. This plate starts with a Halibut Taco, then continues on with a Chicken Enchilada, and finishes up with two of the great Jalapeno Bacon Wrapped Shrimp. The dish is then finished off with the addictive Baja White Rice. We had them wrap this up for us, as there was no chance we could have put a dent into this plate. It heated up nicely for lunch the next day, and made my coworkers jealous, while they were stuck with awful supermarket food.

It has been a long time, but we had to try the Deep Fried Ice Cream to finish out our meal at El Torito. This was a very generous serving size for dessert. The ice cream was coated in what I believed to be corn flakes and topped with whipped cream. It was just like I remembered it. I like the contrast between the crunchy exterior and the smooth, cool ice cream inside.

This trip to El Torito has definitely piqued my interest in this pioneering restaurant chain. All of the food we experienced on this night was flavorful, presented well, and satisfied us immensely. A far cry from the last time we ate at El Torito. If you would like to experience the Flavors of Baja menu, you have to hurry and get to your nearest El Torito soon, because this Baja menu is only available until the end of the month, when it is replaced with a menu featuring the food of Mexico City. We are really looking forward to that. Also, if you have no plans for Thanksgiving, or you just don't want to cook, all El Torito's will be open from 11 till 7PM, offering a buffet of turkey, ham, apple jalapeno stuffing, cream of pumpkin soup, Mexican favorites, and plenty more. The buffet is very reasonable, with prices at $17.99 for adults and kids costing only $6.99.

We would like to thank everyone at El Torito who made this visit so enjoyable for us. We were not only impressed with the Flavors of Baja menu, but everyone we encountered really made us feel at home. We would like to thank General Manager Ben Morales and Chef Loreto who took time out of their busy night to share insights about the food and answer our questions. We really enjoyed meeting both of you, and can not wait to see you both again soon. Our waiter, George was on top of his game and made sure our every need was met. Thanks for everything George. Lastly, we would like to thank Nerissa Silao who was kind enough to invite us to experience this special menu at El Torito. Thanks for this opportunity, Nerissa.

If you would like to experience the Flavors of Baja menu or get any other information about El Torito, go to their website here: https://www.eltorito.com/

Ending This Vegas Trip on a High Note?

Mon Ami Gabi

3655 Las Vegas Blvd. S.

Las Vegas, NV 89109

Our last night in Vegas we usually like to go pretty big, but this trip, we did not do as well as we would have liked gambling wise, so we had to scale back our plans a bit. Not to worry though, we had been wanting to come to Mon Ami Gabi for a long while now. The last time we were in town, there was a big wind storm, and we could not make it in, so this restaurant stayed on our list of places to hit until now.

Mon Ami Gabi is located appropriately enough at the Paris Resort and Casino. This French named restaurant fits right into the French vibe that Paris is trying to accentuate. I was surprised to learn that this is not the only location for Mon Ami Gabi. They have four other restaurants, (two in Illinois, and one each in Maryland and Virginia). In fact this restaurant is run by a pretty big restaurant group, Lettuce Entertain You. They run four other restaurants in Las Vegas as well. They operate the Eiffel Tower, which is also at Paris, El Segundo Sol, Stripburger at El Segundo, and Joe's Seafood, which is at the Forum Shops at Caesars.

Mon Ami Gabi is of course their most well known restaurant in Vegas. They are listed as the number one restaurant in the city on Urbanspoon, a good majority of their 3,000 plus reviews on Yelp are four and five star ratings, and their patio is often mentioned as one of the best places to eat on the strip, with stunning views of the fountains at the Bellagio. It was a cool night, so the patio would have to be for another time, but we did have an 8 o'clock reservation, so we were sat right away.

Whenever we walk by Mon Ami Gabi it is always packed. This particular Thursday night was no exception. We were given a little two person table, backed into a corner next to a large wedding party that spoke with English accents. The restaurant is pretty dark, and loud. It kind of felt to me like a slightly more upscale version of the Cheesecake Factory. Our waiter Francois spoke with a French accent that we could not detect if it was authentic or not. Nonetheless, he was right on top of things, and even though it was busy, we never felt he neglected us. The dinner menu here is not too large, and is mainly dominated by 11 varieties of steaks, with some fish ad chicken options thrown in. I was surprised to see no Coq Ca Vin on the menu of this French bistro, but we had no problems making our decisions. Let's see if Mon Ami Gabi is worth all of the hype.

Right after we were done ordering, they brought out this amuse bouche from the chef. It was carrot and something else that I did not write down in my notes. Not the best thing ever, and it kind of reminded me of this carrot and raisin salad that my mom made when we were little, minus the raisins of course.

At Mon Ami Gabi they do not worry themselves with a breadbasket, they fittingly provide a full loaf of French bread. This bread came out warm, and when combined with the softened butter, it was a winning combination. It had a hard crust on the outside, while the inside was nice and soft. I had a hard time sharing this bread with Katie.

So you hear that this is a French bistro, so naturally you have to order some Onion Soup Au Gratin ($9.95). The downfall of a lot of onion soups are that they can be very salty, which was not the case here. This one had a sweetness to it, which I attributed to the plentiful amount of onions in here. The top of the soup was layered with Gruyere cheese, which was good, but there could have been more of it. Of course I say that almost all the time when it comes to cheese, you can never have enough. This was one of the better onion soups that we have had while writing this blog.

I have become pretty predictable when it comes to ordering salads, so it is probably no shock to loyal readers that I selected the Caesar Salad ($11.95). I liked this Caesar because it had plenty of dressing and cheese, while the romaine was very fresh. I am not a big fan of the large thin crouton they use here, I'd rather have normal size croutons that are easily incorporated into the salad. All in all, a better than average Caesar.

Steaks are featured prominently on the menu at Mon Ami Gabi, so both Katie and I selected one. She opted for the Steak Bordelaise ($25.95) as her entree. This pretty good sized steak was served with caramelized onions and a red wine sauce. Katie likes her steak well done, so I did not really try this, but she felt it was tender enough, and the wine sauce matched up well with the onions and the steak. The steaks here are served with traditional frites, which kind of have a french fried onion quality to them. They are very thin, and they vary greatly in crispness. I would have rather of had regular fries.

I had asked for my Steak Roquefort ($25.95) to be medium rare, and they got it right on. This steak was cooked very well, and was more tender and juicy than I was expecting since it was under the $30 mark. This slab of meat was topped with a dollop of blue cheese sauce, but it need more of it. I also expected the blue cheese to be a little more flavorful, this was a very mild tasting sauce. They really piled on the frites, but if you read the above paragraph, you know I was not too big of a fan of them.

What I was a fan of, was a recommendation from our waiter Francois. He advised us to try the Whipped Cauliflower ($5.50). I will admit that on veggie trays, I almost always avoid cauliflower, but after eating this I might have to rethink the hierarchy of the veggie platter. This was very smooth, with a great creamy flavor. Very comforting, and a must get when coming to Mon Ami Gabi.

Even though we were pretty full by this point, it was our last night in Vegas, so we had to have dessert. There were a good number to choose from, but the Profiteroles ($8.95) really caught both of our attention. These pastries were filled with vanilla ice cream and drizzled with a hot fudge sauce. Kind of like cream puffs, but with ice cream in the middle instead of cream. I liked the ice cream and fudge, but wish the pastry portion a was a little softer. Not a bad finish to the meal.

Mon Ami Gabi was a very nice last meal for us in Vegas. We left the restaurant very satisfied with the food, and the prices were not overly outrageous. I can see why this restaurant is one of the most popular on the strip. We look forward to coming back and sitting on their famous patio next time. Also, we were clued in about their breakfast, and have added that to our list for next time as well. We may not have done so good gambling on this trip, but we hit the jackpot when it came to the food that we ate. Until next time Las Vegas.

Out of five lights, (because of course Paris is nicknamed the city of light), five being best to zero being worst, Mon Ami Gabi gets 3.5 lights.

To find out more about Mon Ami Gabi, go to their website here: http://www.monamigabi.com/home/

Venezuelan Food Down at the End of the Strip

Viva Las Arepas

1616 South Las Vegas Blvd.

Las Vegas, CA 89104

I was really looking forward to our recent trip to Las Vegas. We had some great restaurants picked out, we had scheduled our naps almost every day, and we had socked away some money so we could do some gambling, without breaking our bank accounts. The only part of the trip I was not looking forward to was where we were staying. We were arriving on a recent Tuesday, and all of the hotels on the strip were booked or had jacked up prices. I mean really, $200 to stay at Excalibur, or we could get a room for $400 at Caesar's. That would seriously put a crimp in our food and gambling budget. So, I reluctantly checked farther down the strip and found $39 rooms at the Stratosphere.

For the two of you reading this that have never been to Vegas, or have not ventured down the strip past Treasure Island, or TI as it is called now, the Stratosphere is the hotel with the 1,149-foot tall tower that offers stunning views of Las Vegas. It is also a hotel that is off by itself, so if you want to go to another hotel, you definitely have to drive to get there. I know this is a restaurant blog, but my small review of the Stratosphere would not be good. The location is no good, the casino action is awful, and the dining options are nothing to get excited about. If the other rooms in Vegas were not so expensive this particular week, we would have stayed somewhere else. One of the few bright spots that the Stratosphere's location afforded us was that we drove by Viva Las Arepas every time we came back from another part of the strip.

Viva Las Arepas caught Katie's eye immediately when we drove by. The only other time I have had arepas was when I was performing jury duty and walked by Mil Jugos in downtown Santa Ana. I really enjoyed them a lot. I'm not sure when Katie has had them, but she was very excited to come here for lunch. We woke up at our usual vacation time of 11 AM and walked the quarter mile or so to the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Oakley.

This is the second incarnation of this restaurant. The first was a food stand known as I Heart Arepas, which was a block away, in the parking lot of Dino's Coffee Shop. That name was trademarked by someone else, hence they changed their name, and when a stand-alone restaurant became available, they jumped on the opportunity to open a brick-and-mortar restaurant. The inside of the restaurant is very colorful, with lots of yellows and orange hues present. We arrived here around 11:30, and just beat the lunch rush. Viva Las Arepas draws a wide range of clientele, from business people to tourists looking to venture out of their comfort zone with something they can not experience where they are from. We stepped up to the counter, placed our order, and waited for our number to be called. This is how it all worked out for us.

Let's start off with Katie's lunch first. She had the Wood-Fired Chicken Arepa ($4.00), and a Shredded Beef Empanada ($2.50). When I first saw this come out, I did not think it would be enough to satisfy Katie, but the arepas are very filling. An arepa can best be described as a pocket bread made out of cornmeal that is grilled to a crunchy outside, while the inside remains soft. It can be stuffed with either cold or hot meats, cheeses, sauces, and veggies. Her chicken arepa was served cold, with shredded chicken, onions, lettuce, tomato, avocado, and a white sauce that was more flavorful than mayo, and not as heavy. It reminded me of a very fresh-tasting chicken salad sandwich, but with a nice cornmeal cake around it. Sorry I did not get a good shot of the inside of the empanada, as it was gone very quickly. This version had a slightly lighter dough than I am used to, and it was not as greasy. The inside was not stuffed with beef, but there was just the right amount for the almost three-dollar price of this. The beef was flavored well, and pretty tender. Katie seemed pretty pleased with this plate and did not feel overly stuffed with this lunch.

I could not decide between two kinds of arepas, so I just got both. I had the Roasted Pork Butt ($4.00) and the Reina Pepiada ($5.00) Arepa. Let's start with the pork one first. This was some pretty tender shredded pork. It came with tomato slices, which I took off because I am not too fond of big slices of tomato. I also added cheese to this, which really kind of got lost here with the flavorful pork. The outside of the arepa was done well, with a nice crunch to the outside of it. My other arepa is the so-called queen of arepas and came with shredded chicken breast, avocado, mayo, and cilantro. This one was served cold and reminded me again of a chicken salad sandwich, but with avocado added. Our food came with a squirt bottle of a green sauce, which resembled aji, but was a little more on the creamier side. It had a good flavor, but I thought it was going to be spicier than it turned out to be.

I was pretty pleased with our lunch at Viva Las Arepas. These arepas were just as good as the ones that I had back at home during my jury service in Santa Ana. Even though these do not look like they could fill you up, they are deceptively filling. Viva Las Arepas also proves that you can still find good, cheap eats on the strip in Vegas, even if it is right next to the Stratosphere. The service while we were here was pretty good, and they were pretty vigilant about clearing tables after people left. For a second I was almost glad we stayed at Stratosphere, but only until we walked back into the hotel.

Out of five sashes, (because this is a Venezuelan restaurant, and Venezuela is one of the most successful countries when competing in beauty pageants, including the most recently held Miss Universe pageant, where Miss Venezuela won the top spot again), five being best to zero being worst, Viva Las Arepas gets 3 sashes.

For more information about Viva Las Arepas, go to their website here: http://www.vivalasarepas.com/#!

Tempting Thai Food Off of the Strip

Lotus of Siam

953 E. Sahara Ave #A-5

Las Vegas, NV 89104

When Katie found out we were going to Vegas, she really wanted to eat at Lotus of Siam. It is very rare that she is so adamant about eating at a restaurant. Usually she just lets me make a list, and then goes along for the ride. I was kind of shocked when she picked this place. Then after I did some research of my own about Lotus of Siam, I understood her desire to eat here.

Lotus of Siam is not only a Las Vegas institution, but an American institution as well. It has been dubbed, the best Thai food in North America. It has been featured on numerous TV shows. The owner/chef, Saipin Chutima has won a James Beard Award. The business has been reviewed on Yelp close to 1,500 times, and almost all but 15 percent of those reviews are either 4 or 5 star reviews. Not bad, for a restaurant that is well off of the strip, away from the bright lights of Las Vegas Boulevard, in a run down, dimly lit, odd shopping center that is easily missed when you are looking for it off of Sahara. The only clue that this iconic restaurant is here, is the continuous line of taxis picking up and dropping off tourists from the strip.

As dark, and eerily quiet as the shopping center is from the outside, the inside is bright and bustling with activity. Lotus of Siam is actually a lot bigger than it appears from the outside. Even with the large dining room, make sure you have reservations, as the wait times can be extremely long, from what I hear. With all of the accolades Lotus of Siam has garnered, you would think this restaurant would be fancy and expensive. Nothing could be further from the truth. The dining area had a real warm feel to it, kind of like you were dining in a family's large dining room. There was also a large cross section of people here; businessmen, ladies out for a night on the town, large groups of Thai families, tourists from out of town, and a couple of good looking food bloggers from Orange County, who wanted to find out what all the fuss was about.

The menu was not as intimidating as I thought it would be. The names of the entrees were listed in Thai, but there were nice descriptions of what these plates consisted of in English. The prices? Most items are well under the $25 mark. Not bad for a restaurant with such a pedigree. After checking out the menu for awhile, the very patient, and efficient waiter took our order. We were both very excited to see if this would truly be the best Thai food we have had.

Lotus of Siam was Katie's choice for dinner, so I let her loose with picking out what she wanted to try. She started us off with the Nam Kao Tod ($7.95). This dish was made up of crispy rice, sour minced pork sausage, green onions, chili's, ginger, peanuts, and lime juice. This dish was full of great flavors and textures. I like the crunch from the rice, I can still recall the sourness of the sausage, the chili's added a little pop of spice, while the lime juice added a nice tang to tie everything together. I will admit that when she ordered this, I was skeptical, but I became a believer after my first few bites.

Another item Katie was pretty exited to order was this cup of Tom Kah Kai ($4.95). From what the menu stated, this is the Bangkok version of this soup. This unusual soup was made up of chicken, coconut milk, straw mushrooms, lemon grass, lime juice, and galanga, which is a milder version of ginger. The waiter had asked us how spicy we wanted this, and we told him about a four out of ten. This came out pretty spicy, even for me. The coconut milk did cool this soup down though. There was plenty of chicken in this soup, which was nice and tender. I thought the spiciness would overpower, but the great flavor of this soup persevered. I will definitely be on the lookout for this soup when we go to other Thai restaurants.

Probably the most common Thai dish to most Americans has become pad Thai, and Katie selected the Chicken Pad Thai ($8.95) for her entree. This dish came with stir-fried rice noodles, bean sprouts, eggs, green onion, peanuts on the side, and of course chicken. She claims that this is the best version of this classic dish that she has ever had. She singed its praises for its freshness, portion size, and the preparation they used to create it. She left Lotus of Siam almost glowing. I really enjoyed seeing her so happy.

After reading the on-line reviews for this restaurant, I knew I would be having duck for my entree, but they have four different versions of duck on the menu. I went with the Crispy Duck with Panang, which is a milder red cream curry. Quite simply, this is one of the best duck dishes I have ever had. The skin was indeed crispy, the duck was fork tender and not as greasy as other duck dishes tend to be. The red curry sauce was mild, but still had a decent pop of heat. When I saw the portion size, I was a little skeptical that this was not going to be enough for me, but it did fill me up. I, of course could have eaten more, but I did leave feeling very satisfied.

I feel that I might have to agree with what everyone says about Lotus of Siam. They are the best Thai restaurant I have been to up until this point. All of the accolades that they have received are well deserved. We are probably going to have to make time to eat at Lotus of Siam every time we come back to Vegas. It has been over a month since we were here, and I still think about the crispy duck that I had. I am also impressed with how casual and affordable Lotus of Siam is. Normally a restaurant with all of this buzz would move to swankier digs and raise prices, but they have not. The service on the night we were here was very efficient and warm. Glad Katie picked this place. Maybe since she did such a great job getting us to come here, I will listen to her a little more than I have in the past.

Out of five Asian elephants, (which is the national animal of Thailand), five being best to zero being worst, Lotus of Siam gets 4 strong Asian elephants.

For more information about Lotus of Siam, go to their website here: http://www.saipinchutima.com/

Grazing Along at Holsteins

Holsteins Shakes and Buns

3708 Las Vegas Blvd.

Las Vegas, NV 89109

When we visit Vegas we like to have a variety of restaurants to try. While I was researching where to eat during our recent three day stay in Las Vegas, I had written down about six places and realized that I had not put a burger place down on our list. This needed to be remedied. I did a quick search of best burgers in Vegas, and one place kept coming up. That place was Holsteins.

Holsteins is located at the Cosmopolitan, a hotel that we had yet to visit. Pulling into the underground parking structure, I was immediately impressed. They had lights above the parking spots, that showed whether a space was occupied or not, as indicated by a red or green light. This really eliminated the need for driving around aimlessly. A really great innovation that I wish more parking structures would employ. Just like the parking structure, the Cosmopolitan itself really grabbed my attention as well. I really liked the hip vibe of the place. The music, the decor and the eclectic shopping area really contributed to an upper class, but not too snooty atmosphere here.

Holsteins is located on the second level of the shopping area. You can't miss it, there is a large cow in the front window, and the bovine motif continues throughout the restaurants interior. We were here for lunch, and they definitely did a pretty good lunch business. The restaurant was nearly full, with a younger than average crowd. The young, good looking staff were high energy, without being annoying.

Holsteins comes to us from Billy Richardson and Chef Anthony Meidenbauer of Block 16 Hospitality. Their other restaurants include; Urth, The Barrymore, Pink's, LBS, and Public House. We have not been to any of these, but if all went well here, maybe some of those could get added to our list on our next visit to town. The emphasis at Holsteins is creating a burger, and other American favorites, using fresh, natural, and organic ingredients. The menu is of course dominated by burgers, but they do have a good amount of appetizers, shakes, and other sandwiches, if you do not wish to partake in a burger. After a long while of perusing the menu, we finally came to a few decisions. This is what we came up with.

Just like the county fair, Holsteins offers a Country Fried Bacon ($13.00). I ordered this, and then was informed by Katie, that she was only going to have a few bites. So it was up to me and my arteries to finish up this plate. The bacon was buttermilk fried, and served with a smoked BBQ ranch. Surprisingly, the outside of the bacon lacked any real grease, which I was expecting. This did taste just like it sounded though. The first few bites were really good, but then it just became too much. This is an appetizer to get when you have a group, and you can all take little bites of it. The BBQ ranch was okay, I think I would have liked to have had just a regular ranch dressing with this. I was thankful for the little side of shredded cabbage that came with this, as it helped breakup the overwhelming bacon overload that I was experiencing.

Holsteins is known for their boozy ice cream shakes, but as it was still before noon, we settled on having one of their regular Chocolate Shakes ($8.00). This was a better than average shake. The chocolate flavor was spot on, and the shake was blended very smooth. There was too much fresh whipped cream for my taste though. I'm really looking forward to coming here again and tying maybe their Grasshopper or Creme Brulee Shakes.

Katie had no trouble picking out what kind of burger to get here, when she selected the Fun-Ghi Burger ($18.50 with the onion rings). This burger came with a beef patty, a truffle marinated portabella mushroom, caramelized onion, Gruyere cheese, and frisee, which I have learned is a variety of endive. Katie really enjoyed this burger, and I enjoyed the few bites I had as well. The beef and mushroom provided a nice meatiness, the onions came with a slight sweetness, and the frisee added a little crunch. The buns here are pretty good as well. The stood up to the contents of the burger, while remaining soft. We also found the Thick Cut Onion Rings to be pretty solid as well. The breading was a little on the thicker side, but remained with the onion the whole time. The onion rings were fried nicely, without having residual grease. One of the better onions rings we have had recently.

When I was doing research on best burgers in Las Vegas, this Rising Sun Burger ($18.00 with fried egg added), was almost always mentioned. This Asian inspired burger came with a teriyaki glaze, nori furikake, crispy yam, spicy mayo, and a tempura avocado. The waiter told me this was made even better with a fried egg, which I added as well. This was a very hard to eat burger. It was difficult to get all of the components together in one bite. The teriyaki really overpowered this burger. I thought the tempura avocado would have been a great idea, but it kind of fell flat. The beef was very good on its own, and again the bun stood up to the insides of the burger. I should have gone with my usual go to burger when trying a new place, a regular old bacon cheeseburger. The fries here were very good. I was pretty full by the time I got around to eating them, but it was hard to stop inhaling them once I started. Some good fries here.

I really liked our trip to Holsteins. I know that I probably ordered the wrong burger, and I would definitely give them another try. The shake, side items, and Katie's burger really insured that we would come back here on our next visit to Vegas. I really liked the energy of the place, and the coolness of the Cosmopolitan. The service we received on this afternoon was pretty good. We never had to worry about our drinks being refilled, or hunting down our waiter. Not so sure that this is Las Vegas' best burger, but it might be somewhere on this menu. Can't wait to come back to town and continue the hunt.

Out of five milk bottles, (because the Holstein cows are the highest producing dairy animals), five being best to zero being worst, Holsteins Shakes and Buns gets 3 milk bottles.

To find out more about Holsteins, go to their website here: http://www.holsteinslv.com/