This weekly update covers noteworthy restaurant openings and closings, dining news, culinary events, and entertainment news.

Events

Brew’s Best Craft Beer Festival — March 22

The 16th annual Brew’s Best Craft Beer Festival, in partnership with Nevada Beverage Company, will again be held at The Lawn at Downtown Summerlin from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Attendees can expect unlimited sampling of more than 100 beers from local breweries across the US.

During the event, there will also be live entertainment, food trucks, activities, games, and the Brew’s Best’s inaugural pretzel-eating contest ($25 entry fee; a chance to compete for a $500 gift basket including dinner, movie tickets, wine tastings, and more).

General admission tickets are $50 in advance and $60 at the event. VIP tickets (with early admission at 1 p.m. and access to exclusive additional liquid libations) are $60 in advance and $70 at the event. Proceeds will directly benefit New Vista, Nevada’s leading non-profit supporting individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, providing services, training, and housing to people living with IDD in Southern Nevada.

To purchase tickets, click here.

Gaetano’s Ristorante — March 23

Gaetano’s Ristorante will present an Italian Artisanal Charcuterie Social hosted by Anna Gallo of Savella USA Imports with Gaetano’s Co-Owner, Nick Palmeri.

Held from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., Anna and Nick will educate attendees on why charcuterie is so essential to Italian culture, the laws of making specific artisanal salumi and cheeses, how the Spritz cocktail and Lambrusco wine play a vital role, the history of each product, and how to build an ideal charcuterie board.

Attendees will receive a Spritz and glass of Lambrusco, a red sparkling wine, to be served at the event. They will also receive a gift basket to take home featuring premium items for their next charcuterie creation and imported EVOO from Calabria.

Tickets are $60 per person (tax and tip included).

To purchase tickets, click here.

Club Madrid — March 27

Club Madrid inside Sunset Station will match chef-curated bites and drinks with a presentation of the movie Chef.

Held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and priced at $50 per person, the buffet style meal will include:

Spicy Watermelon with cucumber crudo and burrata
Aglio e Olio—spaghetti with olive oil and garlic
Cubano with ham, mojo pork, Swiss cheese, mustard, pickles, and buttered roll
“Melty” Grilled Cheese Bar with sourdough, Havarti, sharp cheddar, boursin, and roasted corn and lime bisque
“It’s Molten!!!” Chocolate Lava Cake

For reservations, call 702-547-7646.

Ortikia — March 28

Ortikia at Green Valley Ranch will host a one-night-only collaboration between chefs Sheldon Simeon (Top Chef finalist and chef-owner of Tiffany’s Restaurant & Bar on Maui) and Bruce Bromberg (co-founder of Blue Ribbon Restaurants), showcasing the art of live-fire cooking.

The menu will include Charred Octopus Gyro with squid ink taramasalata; Chicken Liver Pate with guava jelly and macadamia nut ‘Inamona; Wood Fired Scallop with oxtail and smoked salmon roe; Ahi and Kanpachi Poke with smoked ponzu fina’denne’; Mixed Grill assortment of meat, vegetables, and seafood cooked over open fire; Spit-cooked Lamb with confit shallot; Huli-Huli Quail with adobo jus and Li Hing Mui chayote; Slow Roast Branzino with mesquite smoked bone broth; Dry Aged Pork Porterhouse Chops with chili ‘peppah’ water; and House Made Pistachio Baklava.

The dinner will begin at 5 p.m. and costs $95 per person ($145 with a beverage pairing). To purchase tickets, visit OpenTable.com or call 702-617-7010.

Pick of the Week: Sickies Garage Burgers & Brews

Good things come in 50s at Sickie’s Garage Burgers & Brews at Town Square. Its décor features an immense display of Americana, filling nearly every inch of the walls with nostalgic signs and license plates from all 50 states, 50 draft beers, and more than 50 supercharged burgers.

The garage theme, as well as the moniker, is derived from the founders’ practice of calling in sick to work on cars and eventually getting into making creatively insane burgers. The first location opened in Fargo, North Dakota, in 2012 and was followed by a dozen more in South Dakota, Kansas, Texas, Nebraska, and Florida, with the Las Vegas location at Town Square being its first and only venture out west.

But the eatery with a truly fun decor (check out the old cars and motorbikes hanging from the ceiling) has more than an enormous souped-up burger list. It also offers a wide variety of appetizers, salads, sandwiches, wings, bowls, and shakes, dozens of which are new items.

Newly debuted appetizers include Chicken Tot Pie, a poutine-like tray of tots topped with gravy; Bacon-Wrapped Steak Bites with garlic butter and horseradish mayo dipping sauces; and Brisket Sausage and Fried Pickles with maple-aioli dipping sauce.

One new sandwich is Hot Chicken smothered with mashed potatoes and brown gravy and hand-cut beef tenderloin Steak Bites with melted provolone.

Chicken wings are available in traditional or boneless options in 22 sauces, and new arrivals are Spicy Peach with a spicy chili pepper bite and Figgy Momma combined with Sriracha.

Three new sections of the menu are the Tenderloin Steak Bite Skillets with six choices such as Steak Bites and Tots & Eggs; Mac & Cheese Bowls with five new flavors like Buffalo Chicken topped with crispy fried buffalo chicken and a drizzle of buffalo sauce; and three Mashed Potato Bowls with Chicken Tot Pie with savory chicken pot pie filling, Poutine smothered with fried cheese curds and brown gravy, and Crispy Chicken with fried chicken and country gravy.

Don’t forget the shakes. New to the list are Brownie Bites and Caramel Apple.

Of course, there are new burgers, five to be exact: Pepperoni Pizza with pepperoni and melted cheese on pepperoni Texas toast; Figgy Momma with spicy fig jam and peppered bacon; Peach Pit with pulled pork caramelized in sweet and spicy peach pit sauce; Wild Willy Roaster Melt—Texas toast stuffed with a half-pound burger patty and savory pot roast; and Rise & Grind Breakfast—a breakfast burger with jalapeno-brisket sausage and fried egg.

There are also five new $5 desserts: Caramel Apple Nachos or Peach Pie Nachos (cinnamon sugar-dusted chips with warm apple or peach pie filling, topped with a scoop of ice cream and drizzled with caramel sauce), Brownie Sundae (warm fudge brownie with vanilla ice cream and chocolate drizzle), Cookie Sundae (warm chocolate chip cookie with vanilla ice cream and chocolate drizzle), and Key Lime Pie with whipped cream.

Looking for deals?

The weekday lunch special from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. has 10 options priced from $9.99 to $12.99.
Happy Hour runs Sunday through Friday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Specials include $1 off draft pints, $1 off house wine, and $2 off tall domestic and house brews; $5 Fried Pickles or Carport Hamburger; $6 Onions Rings, six Boneless Wings, Tantalizing Tots, or Pretzel Bites; $8.99 six boneless wings and fries; and $10.99 Beer & Burger.
Friday and Saturday include an additional late-night Happy Hour from 9 p.m. to close.

To view the complete menu, visit sickiesburgers.com/locations/las-vegas.

Dining News

Lip Smacking Foodie Tours Introduces Celebrity Chef Tour

Lip Smacking Foodie Tours has launched a new tour: The Celebrity Chef Tour.

The 2.5-hour afternoon dining experience includes visits to four celebrity chef restaurants: Buddy Valastro’s The Boss Cafe within the LINQ Hotel for fresh mozzarella and a Jersey Roast Beef Sandwich on freshly baked bread with warm au jus, Gordon Ramsay’s Fish & Chips at the LINQ Promenade for the classic United Kingdom Street food coated in a special custard powder batter served with French fries and tartar sauce, Guy Fieri’s Vegas Kitchen & Bar at the LINQ Hotel for Trash Can Nachos and Koreatown’ Short Rib Tacos, and Dominique Ansel Vegas at Caesars Palace for pastries and the crispy and caramelized Cronuts (cross between a French croissant and an American donut formed into a muffin-like shape Ansel is known for).

The tour is $99 per person, and an optional beverage package provides one pre-selected alcoholic beverage at three of the stops.

For more information and to book the tour, visit www.lipsmackingfoodietours.com/experiences/celebrity-chef.

Slater’s 50/50 Serving Area 51 Burger Lunch Special

Slater’s 50/50 has launched a lunch special titled The Area 51 Burger.

Available Mon-Fri from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at both its Lake Mead & Buffalo and Silverado Ranch & Bermuda locations and priced at $11.99, three space-themed burgers are offered:

Interstellar Oozer—flame-grilled beef patty, creamy peanut butter, and sweet strawberry jelly
Mushroom Meaty-or—flame-grilled beef patty, sautéed mushrooms, melted Swiss cheese, garlic aioli, lettuce, and tomato
Cosmic Cowburger—flame-grilled beef patty, American cheese, lettuce, tomato, grilled onions, and a cosmic swirl of Thousand Stars Sauce.

All three creations are encased in a UFO-shaped sesame bun.

Entertainment News

“Kings of Las Vegas” at PT’s Stadium — March 22

The STRAT Hotel, Casino & Tower will offer basketball fans an exclusive opportunity to meet three legendary 1990 national championship-winning UNLV Runnin’ Rebels members at the “Kings of Las Vegas” event at PT’s Stadium from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon, and Anderson Hunt will participate in an intimate meet-and-greet, offering fans a rare chance to connect with the players. They will also provide a sneak peek at the highly anticipated documentary Kings of Las Vegas, which offers a behind-the-scenes look at the championship journey through the eyes of all 13 players, a perspective rarely shared.

Fewer than 100 tickets are available. Attendees will receive an autographed photo of the players, one raffle ticket to win one of six autographed jerseys, the chance for personal photos, and the opportunity to participate in a Q&A. Attendees are limited to one piece of memorabilia for autographs and must be present to win the drawing.

Your ticket will also include light bites and access to a limited open bar from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. with one specialty drink, beer, or non-alcoholic beverage (a cash bar will be available for additional drink purchases).

Tickets are $100 and may be purchased here.