la cave wine & food hideaway

lackluster food & service. we felt ripped off when we left. this restaurant was chosen because we thought the tapas-style dining would be fun for our large party (and we had a vegan in our group). we tried most of the more popular dishes on the menu and none of them stood out. everything was just average. i would have expected much more flavor and creativity from what i thought was a pretty decent menu. i was wrong. even our vegan said her food was either flavorless or overly spicy to the point she couldn't taste any other ingredients. we also had early (5pm) reservations so we could catch a show. the restaurant was pretty empty but we were told our table wasn't ready and to wait in the bar. we felt this was just a ploy to get us to drink and spend more $. it failed and instead left us annoyed that we were kept waiting. another patron we encountered had the same annoying reservation/wait in the bar experience. don't bother with this place!

the service is terrible if not non existant. the only reason people like this place is because it's a relatively inexpensive meal for vegas standards. they have (nonimpressive) flatbread for $20. you can eat here for less than other places, but you're treated like an object -not a person. the food is inflated because it is tastier than normal bar food. but in every other area the restaurant pales. horrible!!!

weak service. food had highs and lows. the gazpacho with a crab salad floating on top was outstanding. we also ordered the jumbo lump crab lettuce cups (bland), thai snapper ceviche and melted raclette potatoes, (both just ok), shaved ham with quail egg pizza and the marinated and grilled prawns (both good).

the staff were gracious when they appeared however service was inattentive and sporadic. wine glasses sat empty and there was no checking in to hear our thoughts on the dishes. apparently there is a steve wynn edict that forbids any restaurant on his property from allowing their servers to "intrude" on guests. i can't say that this is true but in my experience it certainly appears to be the practice.

some good ideas are best left on the white board.

great dining experience. we had the chicken rolls (just "good") and the caramelized onion flatbread (great) and the filet crostini. (undeniably great). the whole thing was a little expensive, but the tastes were great.
don't go there super hungry.
beautiful outdoor dining experience also.....

my mother and me were looking for a nice outdoor restaurant to have lunch and we stop at "la cave" since somebody told us it was very nice.
we were very disappointed with the food!! we order 4 different items including small hamburgers, pizza, grilled meat ( $19 for 5 small little slices) .... and i barely could finish my meal! i also order a glass of rose and they charge me $16 for 4 oz. i could not beleive it!!
just to make it short i will never go back there!!

great little hideaway. ate at la cave when staying at encore a couple of months ago. did a little research ahead of time for a cool wine bar and this sounded like the right spot. and it was. the pizza was unbelievable and really reasonably priced (actually all the food was for the most part). shaved asparagus salad again was awesome. so tasty and the dressing was just hard to explain the amount of flavor it had. the spicy baked clams had the right amount of zip and had a creamy richness....it's lucky there was only 6 or so served or i would have buried double digits easy. had hamachi for the first time as well and that also could have been a favorite of the night. the only thing that was remotely dissapointing was the duck egg dish but it was still ok. food overall?....awesome 4.5/5. beer list was very extensive and had some beer i've never even heard of before and i've sampled a lot of beers from around the world....wine list was extensive as well (like over 300) and they had some reasonable bottles on the list which was awesome. will be returning on my next trip.....lucky we go a few times a year.....

last week, i decided i might as well try out wynn's new tapas bar for late lunch/early dinner. and hey, why not? it's already getting plenty of buzz, and i was already getting mighty hungry.

finally a serious wine bar in vegas with amazing food.

an evening at la cave. yesterday, i decided i might as well try out wynn's new tapas bar for late lunch/early dinner. and hey, why not? it's already getting plenty of buzz, and i was already getting mighty hungry.

and thank goodness curiosity got the best of me! i started off with the buttermilk bleu cheese plate, and a lovely wedge of this stinky goodness arrived alongside toasted mini baguette slices and fig jam. for some reason the bread was at room temperature, but that was quickly forgiven when i dove into the heavenly cheese paired with that divine fig jam! (hopefully in the future, they'll make fresh batches of toasted baguette.)

from there, it was onto my pizza... err, "flatbread". i ordered a flatbread with roasted tomatoes, micro mozzarella, and capers, which is essentially a pizza margherita shaped more rectangularly, and with the basil swapped out in favor of the capers. but whatever one wants to call it, one can't deny it's tasty! the roasted tomatoes were sweet and tangy, and the salty capers provided the perfect balance and contrast. the mozzarella melted beautifully, and the crust was soft and pillowy. this definitely makes my "top 10 pizzas in vegas" list!

and of course, what good meal is complete without dessert? i couldn't help myself, i had to try the "american chocolate cake". and trust me, if you're the kind of american who can never get enough chocolate, you'll love this cake! actually, there's a thin layer of cake hidden somewhere in the midst of a beautiful mold of chocolate mousse covered in chocolate ganache. oh, and there's a thin chocolate wafer cookie on the bottom. and oh my, this was so perfectly sweet and smooth and creamy that i had to hold myself back from licking the plate!

all in all, my first impression of la cave was quite strong. again, my one small quibble was over the toasted baguette, and that can easily be fixed. otherwise, the food was terrific, service was strong, and i'll likely be back soon to take full advantage of their wine list!