Two weeks ago Michael and I dipped out for 3 days and headed to my least favorite city in America… Las Vegas. Why would I torture myself you ask… Michael wanted to see the Detroit Red Wings play the Stanley Cup Champions, the Vegas Knights. Being the perfect wife that I am I said let’s do it and invited two other hockey loving couples to join us. 15 years ago, we visited Vegas for 2 nights on our way to California… we had a room at the Bellagio and enjoyed the hotel, restaurants and Cirque du Soleil. The rest of Vegas did not appeal to me. We don’t gamble, we hate cigarette smoke and I can’t stand being ripped off.
Our stay at MGM Grand was not grand. The hotel is showing its age, its ginormous and takes forever to walk anywhere. It’s stale and smoky, full of noisy machines and depressed gamblers. Slow-moving scooters block your every path. None of the restaurants were open for lunch and dinner choices were extremely pricey. I recall the buffet at the Bellagio being outstanding, the Grand felt like bad hospital food. A bottle of water was 20$. The pool wasn’t heated, was full of kids and closed at 5?!? Yuck. Okay, now for the good. My friends… they crack me up, an easy-going group that was up for anything. I did keep losing them to the craps table, but I think they enjoyed themselves. The hockey game was fun. We lost, but it was still a good competitive game and vegas does put on a good show. Our two dinners out were excellent. Sparrow + Wolf was unique with impeccable service. Best Friend at MGM Park was killer. Roy Choi is the chef. He’s uber cool. Although he is classically trained, he made his mark in the food truck world. Best Friend is a cross between his Korean roots and his L.A. lifestyle. His story inspired my favorite foodie movie CHEF (great soundtrack to boot). The restaurant is designed like a Bodega in the bar area and like an L.A. alley or small neighborhood street in the main dining room. The flavors were bold, bright and super creative. If you’re forced to go to Vegas, Best Friend is a must. Our flight out of Vegas was delayed by 3 hours, then we sat on the tarmac for 2 more hours and we arrived home at 4 am. That’s my last visit to Vegas and (hopefully) my last negative review you’ll ever read. I prefer good vibes. Cheers, Sharon
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