The Cottonwood Station Eatery & Other Vegas Restaurants

Today’s update to Vegas Girl’s restaurant listing includes a new cafe in Blue Diamond, plus other restaurants in the western part of the Las Vegas valley.

I almost hate to write about Cottonwood Station Eatery in Blue Diamond, not because anything was amiss, but because I don’t want this rural gem ruined by too many visitors. Chances are I’m too late to save this charming cafe from the ravages of popularity, however,  especially since the waitress told me Mothers’ Day was crazy for the little restaurant. (I bet they’ll be overflowing when Super Summer Theater gets going for the season at nearby Spring Mountain Ranch.)

My son and I drove out to Cottonwood Station on a weekday morning, when only a handful of people were there. The interior design is a nice mix of eccentric elements and a clean, modern style. I loved the finished particle board tables.

  

I had a breakfast sandwich, my son had a sausage roll, and we both had coffee. For dessert we split a coffee cake muffin, which I had no chance to photograph before we devoured it. I also had no opportunity to take a picture of my son’s food before he ate it. Everything was quite tasty.

I loved everything about Cottonwood Station. The drive through Red Rock to the cafe was beautiful. The food and coffee were yummy, the service was friendly and efficient, and I was able to stroll around Blue Diamond snapping pictures, something that generally arouses suspicion... unless there’s a fancy new cafe in town attracting city people like myself.

Blue Diamond is home to less than 300 people and its small-town ambiance is as genuine as it gets. Unfortunately, the threat of development on top of Blue Diamond Hill continues to loom as a possibility. The two-lane lifestyle may be on a count-down here. 

I suggest you visit the Cottonwood Station now, before all the other people find out about it.

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The Cottonwood Station is just one of four additions to the Vegas Girl’s Restaurant List in my latest update. I also recommend Salud, Buldogis, The Martini and Khoury’s Mediterranean.

Feel free to leave suggestions for restaurants I should check out in the comments!

Restaurants List Updated

I've updated my list of local Las Vegas restaurants with ten new entries, including Andre's Bistro and Marche Bacchus. Check out my list of restaurants to see all of my current favorites.

Marche Bacchus at Desert Shores

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What are your favorite local Las Vegas restaurants? Leave your suggestion in the comments!

Photo by Terrisa Meeks

Out with Firefly, in with Nacho Daddy

A Tony Hsieh restaurant fave is opening a location on West Sahara, taking over the building that formerly housed Firefly.

11/20 Update: All the renovations are done and Nacho Daddy "Summerlin" at 9560 W. Sahara is set to open on Tuesday, November 25, 2014.

Sept. 25, 2014: The Firefly sign came off the building last week and the dumpster’s getting full at the new Nacho Daddy location near Summerlin (for all of you who think Sahara and Grand Canyon is Summerlin, it’s not—but it’s really close).  

One of Nacho Daddy’s signature items is a shot of tequila with a scorpion (the “world famous scorpion shot”), which tells me that I’ll be looking for a certain kind of lunch companion when I visit their establishment. (And by “certain kind,” I mean “easily talked into swallowing a scorpion.”)

Firefly’s location now is 3824 Paradise Road.

Are you a Nacho Daddy fan?

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Photo by Terrisa Meeks

Saturday Lunch in Las Vegas at Cantina Laredo

Tacos and Margaritas at Tivoli Village's "modern" Mexican restaurant. 

The atmosphere at Cantina Laredo on a recent Saturday at 1 p.m.:  Pleasant, with an inviting vibe. Not crowded. Pretty much just what I'm looking for in a Saturday lunch spot. 

Pros:

• My lunch companion, my good friend Diane, who never gives me a bad time about taking pictures of the food.
• The expensive (but worth it) "Cabo Flip" Margarita ($12.75).
• Flavorful food.

Cons:

• The service, which rocked at first, but when we lingered, we were ignored. (Note to waiters: we ladies like to linger on Saturdays, and if you come back to our table, we'll order more stuff.)
• Small lunch portions.

The Cost: 
Modest, with most lunch entrees around $10. The tasty Margarita was expensive, but delicious. Quality booze isn't cheap, you know.

I love leisurely Saturday lunches. What about you? Are you a weekend luncher?
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Photo by Terrisa Meeks

Summerlin Lunch Spots

I love going out to eat for a late Saturday lunch, when I’m free to linger and enjoy a good meal with a friend and a glass of red wine. Luckily, I live near Summerlin, home to several wonderful restaurants that are perfect for lunch.

Lunch has a lot of good qualities: I don't have to get up early to enjoy it, and it's considerably less expensive than dinner. (And the lighting is better, a big bonus for those of us who take pictures of our food.)

Today my lunch companion, Diane, and I hit Echo & Rig, one of Tivoli Village’s new restaurants. A butcher shop and bar are on the ground floor, and the restaurant is upstairs. The design an attractive industrial-style blend of wood and metal with a great chandelier hanging over the stairwell.

(You walk in through the exceedingly cool butcher shop. Everything looked so wonderful I almost wished I liked to cook.)

Although we had the option of brunch (served until 2 p.m. on Saturday, the host informed us), we elected to go with lunch instead. Diane had the Ultimate BLT, I had the Steakhouse Chop Salad, and we ordered a side of Portobello Fries –all of which we split up and shared (since we’re ladies, this is lunch de regueur).

 For dessert: “Two cappuccino sundaes, please.”

Best Plate: Ultimate BLT. It's no surprise that the apple smoked bacon is so tasty since there's a butcher shop downstairs. And the bread was divine—the sandwich had plenty of sauce, but the bread stayed non-soggy. Chips on the side were also perfectly done with just the right amount of crispiness.

Not my Fave: The Chop Salad. Not much filet there, and several of the pieces were tough. Too much pepperoni.

After lunch, it was time for a stroll around Tivoli (we wound up at The Market, where we decided our next lunch will be at The View Winebar).

I’ve always been a Tivoli Village fan, and it’s exciting to see innovative restaurants moving in, along with a host of fun shops. We browsed through vintage clothes at Annie Creamcheese (Both of us: "Oh my god, if I see something here I used to wear, I'll die") and stopped in at Box (which carries a line of unique spa products in addition to also being an awesome place to get waxed, according to the lovely woman who waited on us). 

Other restaurants at Tivoli:

 Poppy Den by Chef Angelo Sosa 

After graduating from CIA, Chef Sosa worked with Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten and went on to have the kind of career you'd expect after such a prestigious start—and then he was cast on two seasons of “Top Chef.”

High: I loved the watermelon salad. Those flavors -- watermelon, goat cheese, and wasabi -- don't sound like they should go together. But they do, wonderfully.

Kinda Annoying: Slightly loud music, not so loud as to warrant a complaint, but loud enough to make conversation mildly difficult.

UPDATE: Poppy Den closed in August 2014.

Hops and Harvest

The acclaimed and award-winning Chef Bradly Odgen’s last restaurant was a Michelin One Star at Caesars Palace. His only restaurant in Las Vegas is now at Tivoli, which says a lot about the culinary ‘hood over there. 

High: Heirloom Tomato Salad with blue cheese--outstanding fresh flavors.

Kinda weird: The seating added to the entry-way.

UPDATE: Hops and Harvest closed, but Made L.V. is in that space now.

Other Summerlin Lunch Spots:

Honey Salt

Culinary all-stars Elizabeth Blau and Kim Canteenwalla are behind Honey Salt, one of Summerlin’s most acclaimed restaurants. I liked the farmhouse-ish, modern-crossed-with- vintage décor. And the burger was divine, too.

Due Forni

Due Forni is the place for pizza cooked in Napolitano brick ovens, and their lunch menu is full of well-done, non-pizza dishes, like the Bresaola and the Panino di Pollo (steak salad and chicken sandwich).

My favorite part of Due Forni is the wine since it’s a good place to order the house wine (I like red, so I can’t speak to white). Every glass I’ve gotten so far has been great

What are your favorite Vegas lunch spots?

Food in the Vegas Burbs - PoshBurger Bistro

July 10, 2013
Update: PoshBurger is closed. Read the whole story at Eater Las Vegas.

I was thrilled when I got the chance to eat at PoshBurger, located in the same Peccole Ranch strip mall as the delicious Dom DeMarcos. After I had eyeballed Posh’s new black awnings for a couple of weeks, I read a review from Al Mancini, who described PoshBurger as “… the best burger restaurant I’ve ever experienced.”  That’s some high praise.

(Let me digress here with a full disclaimer: I make no claims to be a food critic. My standards are low; I love restaurants because I hate to cook. In my book, any meal someone else cooks is a good meal. You should think of this post as more of a “restaurant-based story,” as opposed to a restaurant review.)

My hubby David and I hit PoshBurger on a Friday evening at about 7 p.m., and we were seated right away. The restaurant has an open floor plan with an industrial feel to it: brick walls, stacks of wine bottles, and fancy, candle-lit picnic-style tables (yes, you might have to share your table, which is kind of weird). I thought the overall design created an attractive environment—I think “minimalist hip” was the goal, and they achieved it. As for the food and drinks, PoshBurger’s specialties are humanely raised organic meat, craft beers, and boutique wines.

One thing you notice after the fun, upscale décor and surprising burger choices like tuna tartar, elk, and lamb: this is not a cheap meal. While many folks associate “burger” with “affordable,” at PoshBurger you’re getting the very best of organic meats and veggies, and it ain’t cheap. The night we ate there, the Elk Burger, one of the day’s specials, was $42. (We didn’t order the elk, although David said he was tempted, just to see what a $42 burger tasted like.)

Our friendly, helpful server suggested the Wild Boar Burger, which David went for, and I ordered a medium Black Angus Burger.

David loved his Wild Boar Burger, which I cautiously tried because I’m neither a pork fan nor a fan of any medium-cooked meat, but the taste was great—surprisingly, not at all what I expected. I thought it would have strong pork taste, but it had a delicate, light flavor.

My Black Angus Burger was a delicious blend of flavors. The hummus and red onion marmalade were a surprising compliment to the tasty beef. I couldn’t finish the whole burger because it was so big, and with a side of Fat Fries, I barely had space left for the Duck Egg Crème Brulee that David and I shared—light and creamy, with its caramelized sugar seared just right.

The service was excellent, from the woman who seated us to the manager who came to our table to ask how our meal was. Our server was terrific, a friendly guy with just the right amount of attentiveness and an in-depth knowledge of the menu.

We agreed the burgers were tasty, but expensive.  I’m more of a beef-lover than an exotic-meats lover, so the unusual choices didn’t do much for me. It was a fun date-night splurge, and I always enjoy a non-home-cooked burger and glass of good wine—in my view, always a winning combination.

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PoshBurger’s reviews on the web vary wildly:

The Vegas Burger Blog didn’t have a good experience at all.

At Yelp, the reviews are all over the place, from one star to five.

In their piece, Eater Las Vegas included information about PoshBurger’s chef, Conrad Gallagher.

Have you eaten at Posh?

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Picture of Black Angus Burger by Terrisa Meeks