On the Road (and Guest Post): Las Vegas, Part 6

Heather's note: Sarah and Cary continue their guest series on eating in Las Vegas. You can catch the beginning of the series here.

After our trip over the hill and through the casinos the night before, we knew we needed to take things easy for our last full day in Vegas. We had big plans both for lunch and dinner, as well as some other things we hoped to do, so believe it or not, we stopped at the Monte Carlo’s buffet for breakfast. Now don’t worry, this isn’t what this review is about another buffet, but simply to say that sometimes you don’t always need to go to most interesting, world-renowned, or most expensive restaurant to get your fill, sometimes the one you have a 2-for-1 coupon to is just as good. It just depends on what you need. Since we knew our lunch and dinner would be special, we opted for the simple and surprisingly tasty offerings at the buffet. Sometime you don’t need to be fancy to get what you need, you just have to stay aware of things like that when you’re traveling.

What this review is about is our stop for lunch at Hubert Keller's Burger Bar, a restaurant where a classically trained French Chef put his spin on the humble American staple, the burger. The result that Chef Keller and his partner came up with is truly wonderful and unlike any other burger either Sarah or I had had before. The restaurant is half sports bar (the front part) and half French bistro (the back-kitchen), and the results are pretty easy on the eyes, pocketbook, and definitely pleasant to the palate. In fact, we even went so far as to buy the "Burger Bar Cookbook" , which made us even bigger fans of Chef Keller with his belief that the home chef doesn’t have to do anything other than experiment and create tasty food.

We of course both opted for burgers of the beef kind, with Sarah choosing the Kobe Beef burger with only cheddar, and my choice being the Black Angus burger with Swiss and bacon. Sarah’s was extremely tender and very juicy, while the Black Angus had a meatier taste than I think I had ever had with a burger - something akin to sirloin steak on a bun.

While the focus of the restaurant is squarely on the burger, the toppings were fresh and bread ample enough to support everything on it. The sweet potato fries were tasty as well, almost like candy, but excellently crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Still, Burger Bar is a perfect example of why quality makes a huge difference and simplicity has its place when dining out, as sometimes the best finds just focus on a few things, and do those things well.

Sarah and I had never heard of Chef Keller before coming to Vegas, and possibly never would have had we not decided to make the trip, but we’re certainly glad we did. In fact, anyone can find world-renowned chefs by following certain cuisines or food fads. Burgers are the popular thing right now (surely you’ve seen Bobby Flay on FoodTV talking about them by now), so a search of best burger in Vegas might bring up a gem. Next might be fish tacos, or even Cajun/Creole (and everyone knows that Emeril isn’t the only chef in New Orleans), so do some research on where you’re going and what food fads are going on now (as always, the NY Times is a great place to start), and you’ll end up with a gem.

Next time we’ll regale you with tales of a (possibly, but hopefully not) once in a lifetime experience, and how, if you do your research (and save a little) ahead of time, a world-class restaurant can be within reach during your travels.