VEGAS DINING NEWS ROUNDUP: World’s Biggest In-N-Out, Venetian Building Food Hall

Posted on: October 15, 2024, 05:23h. 

Last updated on: October 16, 2024, 09:59h.

Corey Levitan Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas, Restaurants, Las Vegas Myths.

A new In-N-Out Burger is currently under construction in Vegas on the third-floor roof deck of The BLVD, the 400K square-foot retail, entertainment and dining plaza being built on the site of the old Hawaiian Marketplace at 3755 S. Las Vegas Blvd.

AI takes a stab at rendering the world’s biggest In-N-Out, currently under construction along with the rest of The BLVD shopping plaza on the Las Vegas Strip. (Image: Google Gemini)

This location will not only double-double In-N-Out’s representation on the Strip to two locations, it’s also believed to be the largest In-N-Out ever built, with 8,000 square feet of indoor dining and another 2,500 on its patio.

The West Coast fast food chain opened its first Strip location across from the Flamingo at the LINQ Promenade in 2022. It now has nearly 14 locations in Las Vegas and more than 400 in the US.

Another Food Hall

A food hall called Via Via will open next summer at the Grand Colonnade at The Venetian, the casino resort announced on Tuesday. Its tenants will include:

  • All’Antico Vinaio, a Florentine sandwich shop often considered the world’s best
  • B.S. Taqueria, a chorizo palace founded in LA by chef Ray Garcia, whose first Las Vegas incarnation was stranded by the closure of another food hall, the Sundry at UnCommons
  • Howlin’ Ray’s, a Nashville hot chicken joint founded by chef Johnny Ray Zone in LA
  • Ivan Ramen, a high-end ramen shop courtesy of Ivan Orkin, the New York chef who earned his ramen creds by launching the concept in Tokyo.
  • Scarr’s Pizza, a New York-tested pizzeria from chef Scarr Pimentel
  • Turkey and the Wolf and Molly’s Rise and Shine, New Orleans eateries both from James Beard-awarded chef and New York Times bestselling author Mason Hereford.

Just last week, the Venetian announced that its Palazzo Tower would also be the new home of Bazaar Meat by José Andrés, which is deserting the Sahara early next year.

The fifth new food hall to open in two years, Via Via will mark the almost complete replacement of the once-ubiquitous Strip buffet by this more expensive (and lucrative for casino companies) food delivery system.

Buffets were a holdover from the days when casinos earned 75% of their revenue from gambling. Offering patrons cheap food, often at an operating loss to the casino, made financial sense then because it kept gamblers from leaving the property, and potentially patronizing competitors when they got hungry.

For the past 20 years, however, casinos have only earned about 25% of their revenue from gambling. The other 75% now comes from hotel operations, dining and entertainment, and the third-party high-end dining, retail, and entertainment tenants who lease space in their properties.

Dining Ins & Outs

Brunello, a new Italian restaurant opened Tuesday in Summerlin at 9320 Sun City Blvd., in the space previously occupied by My Mother’s House.

The Cosmopolitan filed for a trademark for a Naughty Patty’s, according to the “Five Hundy By Midnight” podcast, suggesting a hamburger joint to replace Holsteins — though that space itself has already been promised to Amaya Modern Mexican Restaurant.