Lola's on Charleston

I've had Lola's on my radar for a while, but I've never been a huge fan of Cajun food. I decided to give in and come here for a post Christmas celebration with my OG.

We walked in and we were seated quickly. Everything looked pretty good but I decided on the bronzed shrimp and grits and my friend ordered the jambalaya with added shrimp.

My dish was great. The grits were nice and cheesy and the shrimp had a great kick. Very spicy. My friend enjoyed his dish quite a bit and said his was incredibly spicy too, in a positive way.

Service was attentive and friendly. Luckily they were very good about keeping the refills coming, it was definitely appreciated with the spice levels they serve.

Items sampled: shrimp and grits, jambalaya

Location: 241 W Charleston Blvd, Ste 101, Las Vegas, NV 89102

Ping Pang Pong

PIt's had been some time since my last visit to Ping Pang Pong so I decided to give it a try for our pre-holiday dim sum meal with friends.

We arrived around 1pm and the line was pretty long. We were seated by 1:30 at a table that was a little on the right side for our party. 

Drinks and refills were plentiful, but the cart service was extremely disappointing. They were slow with the carts and despite us trying to flag them down, they were hard to catch and skipped us a few times which irked me and my friends. We eventually got their attention and got everything we had hoped for, but the bad attitude and service was annoying. 

The food ranged for just ok to downright flavorless. I can't think of a single dish that stood out to me as being good and I think I can safely cross Ping Pang Pong off my dim sum list from now on.

Items sampled: egg tarts, Singapore noodles, shrimp rolls, shumai, bbq pork buns

Location: 4000 W Flamingo Rd, 4000 W Flamingo Rd, Las Vegas, NV 89103

Johnny Mac's

With restaurant.com coupon in hand I came here with friends for some pizza and wings. 

I had my heart set on the watermelon sauce. We took a long time looking over the menu deciding what we wanted to order. Once our waitress came she dashed our hopes by not only letting us know they were out of the watermelon sauce, they were also out of chicken breast for the pasta we wanted.

Take two on ordering. We were disappointed but decided on the half rack of ribs, large pizza with meatballs and wings with garlic cilantro, bbq and lemon pepper. 

The ribs were ok. The sauce was good but the meat was a little on the dry side. I enjoyed the cole slaw quite a bit. The pizza had good flavor and I enjoyed the meatballs, but the sauce was sweeter than I would have liked and the crust would have been better if it was a little more well done. The wing sauces were tasty, but the wings were a little overcooked for my taste.

Service was spot on. Our server was incredibly pleasant and she was so sweet and attentive. 

I don't see myself going out of my way to try this place again, but it's decent if you're in the area. They advertise a pizza and wing buffer for $10 including a drink on Sunday which sounds like a great deal.

Items sampled: half rack ribs, pizza with meatballs and wings.

Location: 842 S Boulder Hwy, Henderson, NV 89015

P.F. Changs - Summerlin

Here for a quick bite with coworkers who had a hankering for some wonton soup to help them get over a pesky cold. We shared a combination dinner with wonton soup and lettuce wraps to start, Mongolian Beef and garlic noodles. It was plenty for the three of us to share.

The food was good and the service was superb. Everyone was really pleasant and the manager even came by to make sure we were enjoying our meal and take our dessert order. We ended our meal with the salted caramel cake and we had plenty of food to take home as leftovers.

Items sampled: wonton soup, Mongolian beef, garlic noodles, lettuce wraps and salted caramel cake.

Location: 1095 S Rampart Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89145

Ace Donuts

I have had my eye in thai location for a little bit. I saw the coming soon sign and when I started seeing the reviews slowly trickle in I was excited that they finally opened up.

I walked in around 7am and they were well stocked on goodies. They offer mini versions of their croissant donuts as well as fritters. I bought a few different donuts to share with my coworkers. 

The croissant donut was delicious. Not at all greasy and have a great crunch and was still moist inside. The cruller was perfectly cooked and had a nice texture. The blueberry cruller was nice as well. Lots of berries in the fritter and not overly glazed, which is a big plus for me.

Service was nice and their prices are on par with other donut shops in the valley. I'll be back.

Items sampled: blueberry fritter, chocolate cruller, strawberry blazed raspberry filled croissant donut and a chocolate croissant donut

Location: 9435 W Tropicana Ave, Ste 103, Las Vegas, NV 89147

Ace Donuts

I have had my eye in thai location for a little bit. I saw the coming soon sign and when I started seeing the reviews slowly trickle in I was excited that they finally opened up.

I walked in around 7am and they were well stocked on goodies. They offer mini versions of their croissant donuts as well as fritters. I bought a few different donuts to share with my coworkers. 

The croissant donut was delicious. Not at all greasy and have a great crunch and was still moist inside. The cruller was perfectly cooked and had a nice texture. The blueberry cruller was nice as well. Lots of berries in the fritter and not overly glazed, which is a big plus for me.

Service was nice and their prices are on par with other donut shops in the valley. I'll be back.

Items sampled: blueberry fritter, chocolate cruller, strawberry blazed raspberry filled croissant donut and a chocolate croissant donut

Location: 9435 W Tropicana Ave, Ste 103, Las Vegas, NV 89147

P.F. Changs - Summerlin

Here for a quick bite with coworkers who had a hankering for some wonton soup to help them get over a pesky cold. We shared a combination dinner with wonton soup and lettuce wraps to start, Mongolian Beef and garlic noodles. It was plenty for the three of us to share.

The food was good and the service was superb. Everyone was really pleasant and the manager even came by to make sure we were enjoying our meal and take our dessert order. We ended our meal with the salted caramel cake and we had plenty of food to take home as leftovers.

Items sampled: wonton soup, Mongolian beef, garlic noodles, lettuce wraps and salted caramel cake.

Location: 1095 S Rampart Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89145

Lee's Sandwiches - S Rainbow Blvd

I was driving in the area and just noticed that this new Lee's location just opened up recently. 

I quickly flipped a U and decided to stop in for some banh mi. Service was friendly and my order was ready quickly. 

I rushed home and the bread was perfectly baked and the sandwich was spicy and had just the right mixture of ingredients. There was plenty of meat and tons of delicious pickled veggies. 

They take credit card for orders over $10. Glad to have a more food options on this side of town.

Items sampled: bbq pork banh mi and taro slush boba

Location: 7537 S Rainbow Blvd, Ste 104, Las Vegas, NV 89139

Sushi Tachi

We were in the area and starving for lunch. We decided against AYCE and instead ordered some lunch specials and a couple of appetizers to share.

We ordered the shumai and gyoza to start. These were decent, but nothing amazing. Two of my dining companions complained about the shumai tasting overly fishy. I ordered the sushi lunch for my entree. It included five pieces of sushi and a California roll. The sushi and roll were not good. The fish was not fresh and the California roll had an unpleasant texture. 

The service was really friendly and they accommodated all the specific requests our table had, but I don't think I would come back even if I was in the area again.

Items sampled: shumai, gyoza, sushi lunch

Location: 2745 W Centennial Pkwy, Ste 130, North Las Vegas, NV 89084

Blue Bayou at Disneyland Park

I am a huge fan of Disneyland and I write this review with a heavy heart as I always hope for the best experiences when I am there. For the amount of money people are expected to spend and then add the extra splurge or dining inside the park, there is no reason the food shouldn't reflect this added expense. 

We decided to come to Blue Bayou to celebrate my fella's birthday. I was steering him towards other dining options since i had been to Blue Bayou in the past and had never been a huge fan but I remember having a few nice lunches there on previous visits. He was set on coming here so I made reservations and remained optimistic. 

We arrived on time for our reservation but still had to wait about 30 minutes for our table. Once seated, the service was superb. Everything you come to expect at the Disney Parks. It was the food that made this experience so lackluster. 

Despite my low expectations for the meal, the food was even worse than I expected. I ordered the lamb and my fella got the surf and turf. He ordered the shrimp cocktail to start and I went with the gumbo. The shrimp cocktail was more like a chopped shrimp salad with mayo and he didn't enjoy it. I offered to trade him for the gumbo since he ended up really liking that. The gumbo was probably the only decent thing we ate. The entrees arrived and they looked so sad on the plate. Brown clumps of soggy meat in sauce. It tasted as badly as it looked. Bland and awful. I debated sending it back, but ended up just sucking it up and waiting for our meal to end.

The bill came and we paid quickly and wanted to get out of there utterly disappointed with our meal. I write this review in hopes that they improve as I love everything Disney and the dining experiences should only enhance you visit not detract. 

If you do end up here, just stick with the gumbo and the Monte Christo from the lunch menu. 

Location: Disneyland, 1313 S Harbor Blvd, Anaheim, CA 92802

Buddha Belly

Nice little new spot at 215 and Valle Verde. 

My fella and I came by while we were in the area and had at first thought about taking our food to go and the changed our minds last minute. We decided to share the pho dip, shrimp po boy, dragon breath fries and the shortrib fries. 

The pho dip was ok, I enjoyed the pho au jus, but the sandwich was just ok. The bread just seemed a little too dense for me. I had same the issues with the shrimp po boy. The breading on the shrimp was a tad too thick and the bread was again not for me. My favorite two items we tried were the both the dragon breath and shortrib fries. The dragon breath fries had a great kick. I highly recommend bringing gum or mints if you decide to order this. The shortrib had great flavor and I would order this again in a heartbeat. 

All the food was solid, but I didn't feel the need to finish our food and the leftovers sat in our fridge for a few days untouched before I tossed them in the trash.

The service was extremely attentive and i look forward to giving them another try and hopefully finding some other menu items that suit my tastes a little more.

Items sampled: pho dip, shrimp po boy, dragon breath fries, shortrib fries

Location: 50 North Valle Verde Dr, Ste 110, Henderson, NV 89074

Stacks & Yolks

My fella was craving eggs benedict and I'm always up for trying a new place. 

We arrived around 11 and the place was pretty crowded, but we only had to wait a few minutes to be seated. The table was cramped but we made do. 

I ordered the lumber jack with scrambled eggs, sausage links, home fries and upgraded my pancakes to the lemon blueberry so I could share them with the table. My fella ordered the eggs benedict.

Service was friendly and attentive. They were on the slower side because they were so busy, but when our food did eventually come out it was delicious. The home fries and the lemon blueberry pancakes were my favorites. The pancakes are probably some of my favorite that I've tried in vegas, perfectly cooked, the blueberries were flavorful and ripe and the hint of lemon complemented the flavors perfectly.

I am definitely a fan of Stacks & Yolks and look forward to coming back again 

Items sampled: eggs Benedict, lumberjack combo, lemon blueberry stack

Location: 7150 S Durango Dr, Las Vegas, NV 89113

Pot Liquor CAS

This is a cute little bbq spot right across from Yard House in Town Square.

I let my friend for happy hour around 5:30. The restaurant was pretty empty, but it slowly filled up as we sat at the bar. The bartender was nice and attentive to us. My friend ordered a drink and I opted for iced tea. 

It took us a while to decide what to order since we were chatting but I ended up ordering some pork rinds from the happy hour menu and a baby back rib salad. The pork rinds were not good at all. Too salty and the texture was completely off. It was too hard to eat. My salad was decent. There was a good amount of rib on it and the Flavors were well-balanced. My friend got the fried pickles and the burnt ends appetizer. Both of these were pretty good. I don't typically enjoy fried pickles, but these were better than most and they were cubed instead of sliced or speared which was a little different than usual. 

Pot Liquor didn't blow me away, but a majority of the food we ordered was good and I'd come back to try out more of their menu.

Items sampled: burnt ends, fried pickles, pork rinds, baby back salad

Location: 6587 S Las Vegas Blvd, B-196, Las Vegas, NV 89119

Hooligan's Bar & Grill

Walking into this dark and slightly divey bar, you don't expect much as far as food goes. The place was pretty crowded as they were having one of their biweekly poker tournaments. We were the only people that ordered any food, so they seemed to go out of their way to make our visit nice.

We ordered the hangover burger, wings with wedges and fried avocado to share. They took the fried avocado off their menu, but the waitress talked to Chef Bruce and he was more than happy to accommodate any requests we had as long as he has the ingredients. We also really wanted to try their guava habanero for the wings but he had run out so he mixed up a concoction of his pineapple sauce and added a little more kick to it for us. 

Service was great! The bartender / waitress Misty was extremely attentive and was so sweet and friendly. Chef Bruce even came out to make sure we were enjoying everything and made sure to make an extra batch of the fried avocado just for us as well as being out some of their dessert to try.

The food was decent, I enjoyed the burger, but stuffed burgers aren't my favorite so I'd likely be happier with a basic one minus cheese and all the extra stuff. Simple is always better for me. The burger was cooked perfectly, though. The wings were good, too. I the sauces were still overly sweet for me, but I appreciated that they served them on the side so I could decide how much to use. The fried avocado was delicious, the best thing we had all evening. I also really enjoyed the potato wedges. Perfectly cooked and excellent texture. 

We had a great meal and they had no problem redeeming our restaurant.com coupon. I'll be back soon.

Items sampled: hangover burger, fried avocado, wings, potato wedges, purst and chocolate covered bacon.

Location: 1750 S Rainbow  Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89146

SW Steakhouse

 I asked what my fella wanted for his birthday dinner and said he wanted a really good steak. What my fella wants, my fella gets. We had a reservation and were seated immediately.

Service was superb and so was the food. We started with the half order of the cold seafood platter and I loved everything served. The crab salad was particularly addictive. One thing my fella and I couldn't agree on was what appetizers we wanted to try, but have no fear, they offer half orders of all of these so we were able to try everything our heart's desired. My favorite was the creamed corn. I actually wish I had a full order of this side all to myself. It was rich and creamy and so delicious. 

For our main course, I ordered the bone-in New York and my fella ordered the Bone-in ribeye. Mine was good, but I only ordered it since the birthday boy picked the ribeye that I usually choose and I don't like to order two of the same thing. The ribeye was the star of the show. 

Perfectly cooked and melt in your mouth delicious. We tried to save room for dessert, but no luck. We were stuffed. 

Everything was superb, I only wish the waterfall wasn't so loud. It's a nice view, but ever so loud and distracting. My ears were ringing by the end of the meal.

Items sampled: bone-in Ribeye, bone-in New York, half cold seafood platter, creamed corn, onion rings

Location: 3131 Las Vegas Blvd S, Las Vegas, NV 89109

English's Quintessentially British

English's is an interesting conundrum. With a name like English's Quintessentially British, I was picturing a more quaint cottage feel instead of the ultra modern and sleek decor. They have a nice patio overlooking the center of Town Square and they could really do a lot with this place. 

Unfortunately, there are just as many things to dislike about this place as there are to like. 

The pros: decent drink selection, nice patio area, pleasant staff and relatively fair priced happy hour food.

The cons: some of the food was decent, but is was a crapshoot and nothing blew me away flavor-wise.

Overall, I would recommend English's for happy hour only and I'm still curious to try their afternoon tea.

Items sampled: Strongbow cider, salmon crostini, steak and mushroom pie

Location: Town Square, 6599 Las Vegas Blvd, Ste 210, Las Vegas, NV 89119

Jazz Brunch at Country Club, Wynn Las Vegas

After hearing so many great things about the Jazz Brunch, I was excited to try them today for my mom's birthday meal. 

We arrived at 11 on the dot for our reservation and were seated quickly. Our server took our water order and told us our options for brunch. 

We decided to order some made to order entrees from the menu before venturing up to the buffet line. Nothing from the menu really stood out as exciting, but I held out hope that quality would win out over innovation. Unfortunately this wasn't the case. Flavors were just ok and I didn't enjoy most of the breakfast items we ordered from the print menu. 

The buffet line was pretty small. I enjoyed some of the meats from the carving station, but nothing that blew me away. The king crab was dry and after only a bite or two, I gave up on it entirely. The oysters were just ok and the only things I actually enjoyed were the bacon, cheeses, pastry basket and the asparagus. A sad percentage of the items sampled.

Service was spotty. Our server was very nice, but forgetful. He would say he was bringing refills or replacement silverware and we would wait and wait. He was apologetic, so I gave him the benefit of the doubt of first, but it started becoming ridiculous after a while and we all grew impatient. Despite mentioning it was mom's birthday, they did nothing to acknowledge it. I didn't expect a fanfare, but a nice little dessert with a birthday message would have been appreciated. Our waiter also forgot to bring over the dessert menu after asking a few times, we finally gave up and decided to pay our bill and leave.

The music was fun and the view was nice, but none of these factors made up for the food and service issues we encountered. I won't be back and wouldn't recommend to anyone I know.

Location: 3131 Las Vegas Blvd. South, Las Vegas, NV 89109