3 Restaurants to Try This Weekend in Las Vegas — February 14

La Fontaine. | Matthew Kang Your handy guide on where to eat on Valentine’s Day Weekend It’s the most pressing question of the weekend: “Where should I eat?” Here, Eater editors issue tried and true recommendations for places to check out this weekend. For Valentine’s Day pals: Best Friend Janna Karel Best Friend. Sure, it may be a little on the nose to visit Best Friend with your best friends, but chef Roy Choi had a vision when he transformed his fast-casual Los Angeles Koreatown fare into a Las Vegas restaurant with speakeasy appeal. A flashy bodega just off the casino floor at Park MGM gives way to a corridor of strip curtains at the rear. Beyond is a restaurant of hanging houseplants, California-cool murals, thumping music, and food that demands to be shared. Choi takes Korean fusion staples — like the short rib tacos from his Kogi food truck — and plusses them up for Vegas, combining grilled tender short rib with salsa roja and slaw made with cilantro, onion, lime, chile, and soy. Kimchi carbonara is rich and creamy with bacon, garlic, and zesty cilantro. Slippery shrimp is a must-order — pillowy bites of shrimp in a crunchy batter with a healthy amount of spicy mayo. And uni dynamite is a standout — salty and buttery uni in a yuzu sriracha sauce with briny pops of ikura. Slushie cocktails in red Solo cups and heaping sundaes in bathtub-shaped dishes make Best Friend just right for a platonic night out. 3770 South Las Vegas Boulevard, Park MGM. — Janna Karel, Editor, Eater Vegas For the Valentine staying in: Yukon Pizza Janna Karel Yukon Pizza. Yukon Pizza got its Las Vegas start in 2020, slinging pies out of the short-lived Vegas Test Kitchen. But it may be more accurate to say that Yukon Pizza got its start 125 years ago when co-owner Alex White’s great-great-grandfather started a yeast culture while living in the Yukon Territories during the Klondike Goldrush of 1897. White still employs that heirloom starter today, tossing rounds of sourdough crust that are satisfyingly bubbly with enough structure to stand up to loaded toppings while retaining flaky bits that earn a delicate char in the wood fire oven. A pizza of spicy sausage and seasoned kale gets a squeeze of chipotle aioli and garlic oil — a combination that just works. And even a simple margherita is done impeccably well — available this weekend for Valentine’s Day festivities in a heart shape. Whether dining in at the counter or ordering to go, the kale Caesar salad is a pizzeria salad worth ordering, with crumbly sourdough croutons and just a touch of heat. 1130 East Charleston Boulevard Suite 160. — Janna Karel, Editor, Eater Vegas For the Valentine’s Day brunch: La Fontaine Matthew Kang La Fontaine. It’s taken a minute for folks to catch onto the Fontainebleau, and the resort always seems to be accused of teetering on the edge of profitability, but for most actually visiting, the place is not only pleasant, it’s gorgeous. Take La Fontaine, a fairly straightforward Vegas resort restaurant that’s improved by leaps and bounds since the resort’s opening a little more than a year ago thanks to the constant guidance of French chef Laëtitia Rouabah. The fine dining veteran and former Alain Ducasse protege doesn’t get bored with the trappings of American breakfast and brunch, with a very good pain perdu, souffle pancakes, and lobster florentine benedict standing out on the menu. A simple egg cocotte topped with bacon and red wine sauce is elegant and balanced, a delicious way to fight a hangover. The surroundings are very nice too, bright without being too jarring. La Fontaine is one of the more underrated daytime spots in Las Vegas, and I can’t wait to go back. 2777 S. Las Vegas Boulevard, Las Vegas, NV 89109. — Matthew Kang, lead editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest