Vegas
Vegas
Mavens
Rao's Restaurant at Caesars Palace
Just The Facts, Please.
Location
Caesars Palace
Dining Hours
Dinner 5pm - 11pm nightly
Chef
Executive Chef: Carla Pellegrino
Cuisine
Italian
Price Range
Expect $35+
Suggested Attire
Dressy
Notes
Easier to get a reservation here than at the much smaller New York (Harlem) location.
Sample Menu Items
Uncle Vincent's Famous Lemon Chicken
Quartered Charcoal Broiled Chicken Served in Uncle Vincent's Lemon Sauce
Costoletta di Vitello in Agrodolce
Pan-Seared Veal Topped with Sauteed Hot and Sweet Cherry Peppers
Gnocchi alla Bolognese
Ground Veal, Beef and Pork Slowly Cooked with San Marzano Tomatoes and Herbs,
Served over Fresh-Made Potato Gnocchi
Mavens Overview: Rao's
Rao's at Caesars Palace is the second location of the famous New York (Harlem) Rao's, which is perhaps most famous for the difficulty in getting a reservation. The following is an excerpt from the restaurants web site.
At Rao's Caesars Palace, the food is prepared as in New York: Simple. Honest. Italian. The greatness of the food stems from the quality of the products. The kitchen uses fresh, high-quality ingredients, such as homemade roasted red peppers, freshly grated Pecorino-Romano and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheeses, Felipo Berio olive oil, and certified San Marzano plum tomatoes from Italy. For more than 110 years, that's the way the family has cooked in New York, and that's not about to change in Las Vegas.
The internet buzz on Rao's Las Vegas is mixed. Perhaps the expectations were set too high for some, and others might have felt the prices were too high in relation to the relatively simple preparations offered here. Rao's is not a Michelin rated restaurant, where one would expect elaborate dishes. Most of the dishes at Rao's are simple classic Italian dishes, made with high quality ingredients, like imported Italian plum tomatoes from the San Marzano region. These tomatoes have a unique readily identifiable flavor, and of course cost a little more than your average plum tomato.
Internet Buzz: Rao's
- We had the lemon chicken and the gnocchi (the special of the day). The lemon chicken was amazing! It definitely lived up to the hype. The gnocchi was great, but after having a bite of lemon chicken, it didn't compare
- Food was good but flavors were one dimensional. I had the fusilli with cabbage and sausage, my wife wife had the gnocchi, and we split an order of meatballs. My pasta was cooked perfectly but the flavor was flat. Wife's gnocchi were also well cooked but the flavor wasn't much different than my fusilli. Meatballs were super tender but could have used more seasoning, especially considering it's $15 for two.
- The design of Rao's in Las Vegas resembles a steakhouse, a neighborhood bar, and an old family restaurant, with dark cherry walls, white table cloths, signed photographs on the walls, and a gaudy bar awkwardly situated in the middle of the dining space.
- They make a pear and gorgonzola stuffed tortellini's that are the best. Served in butter with pine nuts. Wow.
- After watching Rao's on Food Network, I decided to give this place a try. BIG disappointment!! You're better off eating at Joe's Stone Crab if you're at Caesar's. Everything was just alright. Nothing special. The meatballs tasted just like meatballs you defrost from Costco.
- As a main course, you have to try Uncle Vincent's Lemon Chicken. Don't ask why, just try it ... Another main course you need to try is the Pollo Scarpariello (Chicken Sauteed with Hot and Sweet Italian Sausage and Yellow and Red Bell Peppers in a White Wine Sauce). .
- The food is good, but not great, Italian. The buffalo mozzarella in the appetizer is excellent. The service is good but the waiters have an annoying habit of sitting down at your table
- When you walk in you are greeted by a ex-Mobster Italian guy named Bubbles. He's the 'personality' for the restaurant and basically makes sure everyone there is having a good time...OR ELSE!
- Right now, it's my favorite place to eat in Las Vegas. The food is just so darn good. The only part I don't like is having to make a reservation months in advance....but it's worth it.
- Don't believe the hype. This place doesn't live up to its New York-built reputation. It looks good, but its food is something else.
- I heard so much hype about this place from New Yorkers and people in Vegas and while I enjoyed the meal it is way overpriced. $30 for spaghetti and meatballs.
- We Love Rao's. Not because of all the hype surrounding its Harlem roots, but because it's just cool. It's always festive and upbeat and the food is really authentically good. They don't try and reinvent the wheel - they just make really good food and are nice. It's expensive but not CRAZY expensive. It is on The Strip afterall - where things are pricey. BTW, I could drink their sauce witha straw! Love Rao's!