Vegas Dining - July Short Bites

A quick month-end round-up of various dining news from around Las Vegas:

• BLT Burger is finally open at The Mirage. The restaurant sits on the former site of the white tiger habitat and average prices range from $8 for a veggie burger to $17 for the American Kobe burger. BLT is open daily at 11am, closing at 2am Sunday through Wednesday and 4am Thursday through Saturday.

• Blue Martini at Town Square (south of Mandalay Bay near South Point) has a great daily happy hour from 4pm until 8pm. Select appetizers and drinks are discounted half-price, such as seared tuna (normally $13), spinach dip and flatbread (normally $8) and lobster tacos (normally $18).  A house martini will set you back a mere $2.50, or splurge and get a Grey Goose one for only $5.

• Border Grill at Mandalay Bay is closed for remodeling. Word is the Picasso-like design is being replaced by a ‘casual, yet elegant wooden decor” that will include an upstairs dining patio with glass walls and a view of the resort’s pool area. There will also be new digital menus at the entrance. The restaurant is scheduled to reopen on August 28.

• Dal Toro, a new restaurant/ultra-lounge, is set to open mid-August adjacent to The Palazzo’s Lamborghini showroom. The upscale eatery will feature custom Italian furnishings and marbled fountains, along with a happy hour every Thursday through Saturday from 6pm until 10pm. I’m assuming there will also be a glass partition to prevent you from drooling on the cars while you eat.

• Also now open at the Shoppes at The Palazzo is New York’s popular SushiSamba. The Vegas version has a 14,000-sq-ft dining room, sushi bar, and attached Brazilian-style lounge called Sugarcane, complete with DJs. The menu features a fusion of Brazilian, Peruvian and Japanese dishes, such as marinated skewered meats, tempura and anticuchos. SushiSamba is open for lunch from 11am until 4pm except on Sundays when they serve a brunch menu from 10am until 4pm. It is then open for dinner from 4pm daily until 12am, when they switch to a smaller late-night menu that is offered until 4am.

• Over at Sam’s Town, Fresh Harvest Cafe has moved to the space formerly housing Fellini’s, which is closed. It has also changed its name to Cafe in the Park. A TGIFriday’s is planned for the now empty space formerly occupied by the Fresh Harvest Cafe.