The Las Vegas Food Trends That Excited — and Frustrated — Us in 2024
Campfire Old Fashioned at Four Sixes Ranch Steakhouse. | Sabin Orr This year we loved pop-ups but hated paying for overpriced cocktails It’s time again for the Year in Eater — where we look back at the last twelve months of Las Vegas’s restaurant scene. We reached out to Vegas’s finest food writers, reporters, and bloggers to get their takes on local trends, recent standouts, and notable newcomers. Here, they reflect on the biggest trends of the year. Exciting: More diverse offerings off-Strip such as Rang’s (Filipino and Italian), Chamana’s, Loaded Empanadas, and Moia. Pop-ups like Istorya. Infuriating: overpriced smoked cocktails.— Louiie Victa, freelance photographer for Eater and more The sheer decibel levels in some of these restaurants has reached critical levels. No degree of atmosphere is worth the ear-splittingly loud volume. Please don’t make me yell across the table just to order a Caesar salad. On the exciting side, I’ve been having a lot of fun with the proliferation of tableside service this year. When done right, the presentation can make a great dinner feel all the more special. And as someone who doesn’t always want booze with her meal, I’ve been loving the innovation on mocktail menus this year.— Janna Karel, Editor at Eater Vegas Vegas seems to love pop-ups right now. We saw a lot of them this past year — Safta 1964, Four Sixes Ranch Steakhouse, Story of a Muse, and Retro by Voltaggio — and I wouldn’t mind seeing more in 2025. On the infuriating side: Strip prices don’t belong off the Strip.— Rob Kachelriess, Hey Las Vegas Editor at City Cast Las Vegas An infuriating one is the overuse of dessert sparklers. When they rival the wattage of dynamite sticks, it distracts from the dish itself.— Jen Avison Smith, freelance writer for Eater Vegas, Desert Companion, and more I’m excited to see more and more Korean cuisine everywhere — from snacky tteokbokki to steamy seolleongtang in Chinatown and beyond. Diners who like Korean food are no longer limited to kimchi, Korean barbecue, and fried chicken.— Emmy Kasten, freelance writer for Eater, the Infatuation, and more A frustrating trend is opening strong and then “Vegas-ifying the menu.” I have had several favorite restaurants that took truly inventive items off the menu because they were too creative for Vegas clientele. Pop-ups, dine-arounds, and special dinners haven’t been executed well. And local restaurants charging Strip prices and overall inflation and price gouging is a frustrating trend.— Melinda Sheckells, editor of the Town Magazine and writer for Hollywood Reporter and more
Tomas Kauer - Las Vegas Syndicated News 
This year we loved pop-ups but hated paying for overpriced cocktails
It’s time again for the Year in Eater — where we look back at the last twelve months of Las Vegas’s restaurant scene. We reached out to Vegas’s finest food writers, reporters, and bloggers to get their takes on local trends, recent standouts, and notable newcomers. Here, they reflect on the biggest trends of the year.
Exciting: More diverse offerings off-Strip such as Rang’s (Filipino and Italian), Chamana’s, Loaded Empanadas, and Moia. Pop-ups like Istorya.
Infuriating: overpriced smoked cocktails.
— Louiie Victa, freelance photographer for Eater and more
The sheer decibel levels in some of these restaurants has reached critical levels. No degree of atmosphere is worth the ear-splittingly loud volume. Please don’t make me yell across the table just to order a Caesar salad. On the exciting side, I’ve been having a lot of fun with the proliferation of tableside service this year. When done right, the presentation can make a great dinner feel all the more special. And as someone who doesn’t always want booze with her meal, I’ve been loving the innovation on mocktail menus this year.
— Janna Karel, Editor at Eater Vegas
Vegas seems to love pop-ups right now. We saw a lot of them this past year — Safta 1964, Four Sixes Ranch Steakhouse, Story of a Muse, and Retro by Voltaggio — and I wouldn’t mind seeing more in 2025. On the infuriating side: Strip prices don’t belong off the Strip.
— Rob Kachelriess, Hey Las Vegas Editor at City Cast Las Vegas
An infuriating one is the overuse of dessert sparklers. When they rival the wattage of dynamite sticks, it distracts from the dish itself.
— Jen Avison Smith, freelance writer for Eater Vegas, Desert Companion, and more
I’m excited to see more and more Korean cuisine everywhere — from snacky tteokbokki to steamy seolleongtang in Chinatown and beyond. Diners who like Korean food are no longer limited to kimchi, Korean barbecue, and fried chicken.
— Emmy Kasten, freelance writer for Eater, the Infatuation, and more
A frustrating trend is opening strong and then “Vegas-ifying the menu.” I have had several favorite restaurants that took truly inventive items off the menu because they were too creative for Vegas clientele. Pop-ups, dine-arounds, and special dinners haven’t been executed well. And local restaurants charging Strip prices and overall inflation and price gouging is a frustrating trend.
— Melinda Sheckells, editor of the Town Magazine and writer for Hollywood Reporter and more
