Restaurants

This thread is to be used to discuss restaurants and dining available at Palms.

Ate at Gardunos on 12/22/10. VERY disappointed. As I mentioned to my dining companions, this was probably the worst Mexican I've ever had, and that includes Taco Bell. I ordered the Carne Avogado (sp?). It was made with red chile, but was totally smothered in it, and the heat completely overwhelmed the flavor of the pork. They gave two tortillas for the meat, which wasn't enough. The potatoes on the side were obviously frozen hashbrowns; absolutely horrid and shocking that they would serve such a thing. My father got the fish tacos and they were completely bland and tasteless, and the sauce was garden-variety mayo. My mom got a chile relleno and a burrito, I think, which she didn't complain about, which I guess is a compliment for this place. We ordered a guacamole appetizer that was cold and had obviously been sitting pre-made in the fridge for a long time. Completely flavorless and an insult to avocados everywhere.

They do have a nice salsa bar with a good variety of salsas, including a mango salsa. That is the only high point. I see they have won some awards for Best Mexican Restaurant in Las Vegas, so I hope I just caught them on a bad night, but there is no way I can recommend this restaurant to anyone.

Quote: teddys

Ate at Gardunos on 12/22/10. VERY disappointed. As I mentioned to my dining companions, this was probably the worst Mexican I've ever had, and that includes Taco Bell. I ordered the Carne Avogado (sp?). It was made with red chile, but was totally smothered in it, and the heat completely overwhelmed the flavor of the pork. They gave two tortillas for the meat, which wasn't enough. The potatoes on the side were obviously frozen hashbrowns; absolutely horrid and shocking that they would serve such a thing. My father got the fish tacos and they were completely bland and tasteless, and the sauce was garden-variety mayo. My mom got a chile relleno and a burrito, I think, which she didn't complain about, which I guess is a compliment for this place. We ordered a guacamole appetizer that was cold and had obviously been sitting pre-made in the fridge for a long time. Completely flavorless and an insult to avocados everywhere.

They do have a nice salsa bar with a good variety of salsas, including a mango salsa. That is the only high point. I see they have won some awards for Best Mexican Restaurant in Las Vegas, so I hope I just caught them on a bad night, but there is no way I can recommend this restaurant to anyone.

Teddy, you're still learning. I've eaten at Gardunos many times and have never been disappointed, so you must have either hit them on a bad night or are not used to authentic Mexican food. My wife is from Mexico and she loves the place also. Where are you from?

That guacamole appetizer: Did you get the fresh-made one or some other? If it was sitting in the fridge then it was not fresh-made, so if you ordered that one and it was cold you should have sent it back.

I'm from The States but I have been to Mexico and love Mexican food. I think Gardunos advertises as "New Mexican," whatever that means. We just ordered "guacamole;" didn't see any options for fresh made.

I value your opinion, and am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt since it was dead week and they may have been operating with a skeleton staff. But I won't be returning. There are too many better options in Las Vegas.

Perhaps to prove our lack of refined "taste" for Mexican food, my wife and I enjoy Gonzalez y Gonzalez in the village area at NYNY. Large portions for the prices, and better than what we encounter around here in NC. We got our introduction to Mexican food when we lived in southern NM in '69-'71.

Quote: teddys

I think Gardunos advertises as "New Mexican," whatever that means.

In addition to the Palms, there is also a Garduno's at the Fiesta Rancho.

We live in Albuquerque, the "Hometown" of Garduno's. They've had a real struggle here. Closing multiple locations around town the past few years and filing for bankruptcy Article.

We've been to eat there a couple of times and were always disappointed.

New Mexican Food is indeed something different than Mexican Cuisine. There is a preponderance of chili's in most of the dishes, Red or Green are the usual choices.

Quote: JerryLogan

...or are not used to authentic Mexican food.

Sorry, Jerry, It's not "authentic" Mexican food. It's New Mexican, a BLEND of "Native American, Mexican, Spanish and United States Cultures."

Quote: teddys

I ordered the Carne Avogado (sp?). It was made with red chile, but was totally smothered in it, and the heat completely overwhelmed the flavor of the pork. They gave two tortillas for the meat, which wasn't enough. The potatoes on the side were obviously frozen hashbrowns; absolutely horrid and shocking that they would serve such a thing.

Sounds like "carne adobada." that's how it's prepared and served. I agree, though, that two tortillas may not be enough, and hash browns shouldn't have been served with it. Red rice or re-fried beans would be a better choice.

Quote: ten2win

Sorry, Jerry, It's not "authentic" Mexican food. It's New Mexican, a BLEND of "Native American, Mexican, Spanish and United States Cultures."

Sure it is, if you order the Mexican entrees and appetizers. Every restaurant can advertise multiple cultures and it's a good plan if they're trying to get multiple ethnicities in. But the Mexican food on their menu is absolutely authentic, and I and my Mexican wife enjoy it once a year.

I did not know they were in bankruptcy. Kind of odd that NM is their home base. That state has one of the weirdest Governors in the country, perhaps THE weirdest, and I've read on Yahoo that quite a few people stay away from the state because of him. Could be a reason for the restaurant's financial difficulties.

Ate at NOVE Italiano at the Palms last night. Probably one of the best meals I've ever had. The restaurant is on the 52nd floor of the Fantasy Tower. You give your name to the hostess, get on the elevator, and they maitre d greets you by name when you get off. We went for the Thursday 6-10 Happy Hour, and sat at the bar. The view is amazing for those who sit at a table near the window. Appetizers were $7, and drinks were $6 including a selection of four wines. We ordered from the regular menu as well. The total bill came to $122, and I paid for it with the tons of Palms points I have on my card.

For drinks, we first tried a Sangiovese blend from Italy, which was a nice to start off with and very easy drinking. After finishing, we ordered California Zinfandel, "Old Vines," which was a real beast of a wine. Probably my favorite. My friend got two glasses, and some Tawny Port for dessert.

We ordered five appetizers from the happy hour menu: Nana's meatballs, Rock Shrimp Polpette, Oysters Rockefeller, Fried Calamari and Prosciutto sliders with basil pesto and fontina cheese. They also brought out a comped bruschetta with pate and pesto. The first four were uniformly excellent; just the best expression of those dishes I have every had. The calamari had hot peppers in it, and was lightly fried with a spritz of fresh lemon. Just delicious. The polpette were dough balls with shrimp baked inside. Surprisingly tasty. The meatballs had amazing depth of flavor. The one app I think they were weak on were the sliders. The bread was not toasted, and there was very little prosciutto or pesto on the sandwiches. Good, but didn't measure up to the other stuff. The sliders also came with a side of sort-of-meh shoestring fries.

The bartender gave us two comped cocktails; one a cantaloupe juice and tequila and something else mixture, which was really good. He followed that up with a shot that had chilled fresh-brewed espresso and some other liquor in it. It was even better if that is possible. I really need to drink more fancy cocktails. Just outstanding.

We decided to order grilled baby octopus from the main menu just to try it. It was delicious; very meaty, not fishy tasting at all, and well seasoned. I'd take this over a steak any day. It came on top of some sort of green salad.

For dessert, we got chocolate ganache, and cannoli. The chocolate ganache is not on the menu; you have to special order it . The staff said it is one of their favorite desserts. It is a spread, kind of like nutella, but richer and more chocolately. It is seasoned with sea salt, and comes with a side of raisin bread. It was very good, although the bread was kind of heavy for dessert. I really like the make-you-own cannoli. This is a real highlight: they bring you five small cannoli shells, a pastry tube of mascarpone cheese, and a sectioned dish with nine toppings, like chocolate chips, white chocolate, granola, and raspberry and apricot spread. Fun to experiment with combinations, and scrumptious.

All in all, NOVE did not disappoint, and the staff was great, as well. One of the lesser known restaurants, I recommend venturing off-strip for a trip there, either for happy hour or the regular dinner service. Five stars.

Went back for another visit to NOVE Italiano. This was on a Friday, so they didn't have the happy hour specials, but like I said above, it is still worth going to. Say hello to Micah, Marcus, and Josip at the bar -- these guys are some of the best bartenders I've seen. We had about four specialty cocktails between us -- started off with a bottle of Four Vines Zinfandel, and polished that off pretty quickly. (Delicious!) Mike got a passionfruit mojito, some other fruit thing, and a "Cable Car 2.0," which was really, really good. Damned if I can remember what was in it, but it had an apple cinnamon rim, and some kind of honey. I had a "Second Cousin," which was a mix of aperol, root liqueur, and elderflower liqueur. A nice little apertif, although I had it with my meal.

I ordered the Caesar salad, and it was excellent, with full leaves of Romaine lettuce, awesome dressing, and fresh anchovies. Mike got the 16 oz. bone-in ribeye, and it was probably the best steak I've ever tasted. Just incredibly thick and juicy. We also got the Nana's Meatballs again, and some gnocchi. For dessert, we ordered the cannoli, and some gelato. Both were excellent. We noticed some bottles of Macallan 30 year behind the bar, and asked the price for a shot. $119! So we went with the 18 year, which was slightly less expensive. So good ... Of course, we got the comped shots of espresso/kahlua cocktail. Another great experience at NOVE.