Visit to Guy Fieri's Vegas Kitchen & Bar

If you follow me, you know that I recently spent a day hopping through a few Vegas restaurants run by some famous TV chefs.  The first stop that day was to Guy Fieri's Vegas Kitchen & Bar.  This is located in The Quad, formerly known as Imperial Palace and I recently learned that it is scheduled to be renamed as The Linq Hotel & Casino in the Fall of 2014.

Guy Fieri's Vegas Kitchen & Bar has his name written all over it - which is awesome!  If you watch any of his shows, you'll know what I mean.  A cool vibe, a unique menu, and plenty of variety.  This place has bar seating as well as plenty of indoor and outdoor tables.  It's open pretty much all day serving brunch, lunch, dinner, and late night meals.

For starters, Guy Fieri's Vegas Kitchen & Bar has a decent cocktail menu offering 16 craft beers, along with unique cocktails, and a frozen tap system shot bar. Pretty cool if you ask me!  I chose the Brooklyn Brewery Summer Ale - perfect to cool off in the 100+ degree heat of Las Vegas in July....

You can go here to see the full drink menu.  Here is a sneak peek at his Cocktail Menu....

A couple of friends joined me for the day - we didn't want to eat a huge lunch because we knew we would be hitting other hot spots, but wanted to share what we enjoyed.

I couldn't resist selecting the Vegas Fries - I knew it wasn't the healthiest choice, but they sounded so good! Sidewinder cut fries topped with blue cheese crumbles and served with spicy buffalo sauce alongside Guy's blue-sabi sauce.  Wow.  These were amazingly delicious!  There were so many, it seemed as though I barely made a dent!  My male companions had no problem helping me devour them!

One of my friends enjoyed a Bloody Mary with his Sashimi Won-Tacos.  He loved them.  Sashimi grade Ahi with mango-jicima salsa packed into wonton taco shells then drizzled with sweet soy and wow-sabi cream.   They were gone in no time!

On the other side of me at the bar, my friend first cooled off with a margarita on the rocks and then ordered the Drunken Fish Tacos from the "Old Skool Street Tacos" section of the menu (so Guy Fieri....so awesome!)  These tacos are filled with grilled chunks of tequila-citrus tilapia, avocado, fresh veggies, and mojo de ajo - and once again - these were consumed at the speed of light!  He was excited about being part of the blog and used his best "here's my food" display hand in the photo.

Overall, we really enjoyed our experience at Guy Fieri's Vegas Kitchen & Bar.  It was reasonable priced, fun, great food, and owned by a pretty cool chef.  I will definitely head back the next time I'm in Vegas.  Thanks Guy Fieri!

Visit to Baci Italian Bistro

I grew up in a large Italian family who owned an amazing Italian restaurant.  For over 40 years, my Uncle Ray owned Valente’s Italian Restaurant in Wheat Ridge, Colorado.  For as long as I can remember, my family ate countless meals, celebrated birthdays, attended family reunions, and gathered after funerals there.  A few years ago, my great uncle retired and closed the business.  Although I haven’t lived in the Denver area for years, I continue to be on the lookout for a “go to” Italian establishment that I want to visit again and again.   

I may have found this restaurant, right here in the Southeast Valley.  My family visited Baci Italian Bistro in Mesa a couple of weeks ago and it was delicious!  This family owned restaurant exceeded my expectations by delivering quality service, a family friendly atmosphere, and authentic Italian cuisine at reasonable prices.   

My choice for dinner that night was the Pasta Ala Baci – sausage, peppers, mushrooms, and onions sautéed in a marinara sauce served over my choice of pasta.  I’m not a huge fan of mushrooms – so opted against those – and chose a traditional spaghetti noodle. I am, however, fairly picky about Italian sausage as well as marinara sauce.  Both of these in this dish hit the mark for me!   

The hubby enjoyed the Gnocchi Florentine which is baby leaf spinach sautéed in Alfredo sauce and served with gnocchi.  He is a huge fan of gnocchi and was very impressed by this dish.   

One of my boys ordered spaghetti with a meatball from the children’s menu and the other chicken tenders – not sure what was up with the chicken tender order, but he enjoyed it nonetheless! 

My older one was recently introduced to tiramisu – so when that was presented as an option for dessert, it was the number one choice.  The entire family shared the classic Italian dessert and devoured it.

I would highly recommend visiting Baci Italian Bistro – you can find their hours of operation, phone number, and address on their website at www.baciitalianbistro.com.