A Quick Peek Inside MGM Grand’s Nellie’s Southern Kitchen

By Scott Roeben, on May 26 2022
2 min read 3 comments
Las Vegas Las Vegas Restaurants

Nellie’s Southern Kitchen, from the Jonas Brothers family, opens June 4, 2022.

We couldn’t wait to take a look inside the new restaurant and bar at MGM Grand.

Exterior first.

Early designs called for a spork, but the Jonas brothers have spared no expense.

Nellie’s sits where Hecho en Vegas used to be, not far from the MGM Grand Arena entrance.

Nellie’s is fully built out and it’s a beauty.

The new restaurant is a collaboration between Denise and Kevin Jonas, Sr., their sons Kevin II, Joe and Nick (the Jonas Brothers), Franklin (the “Bonus Jonas”) and TLI Bedrock LLC, an investment firm.

It’s obvious there’s was a substantial investment in Nellie’s.

Not sure what we expected, but it wasn’t this. Fancy.

The term being used to describe Nellie’s is “polished casual dining.”

The original Nellie’s opened in North Carolina in 2016.

Like every good Las Vegas restaurant, Nellie’s features impressive busts.

The menu will feature comfort food like biscuits, chicken and dumplings, pulled pork sandwiches, chicken and gravy, chicken and waffles and meatloaf, for starters.

Executive Chef Mario Nichols will helm Nellie’s, with Michael Savage doing the General Manager duties. Savage has been involved with Kerry’s Gourmet Burgers (formerly at Harrah’s), Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill (formerly at Harrah’s) and Nine Fine Irishmen at New York-New York.

There’s been a lot of activity inside Nellie’s recently, with restaurant and bar staff being hired and trained. The tables are set, so it appears Nellie’s is ready to go for its June 4 opening.

The decor is largely white, with some interesting touches, like the table legs being shaped like the legs of horses.

Today we learned horses have elbows.

The decor was inspired by “the weathered barnwood, white shiplap cottage walls and the unique handmade furnishings and artwork inspired by the beautiful Smoky Mountains.”

Shout-out to the “folkloric aesthetic.” While we don’t know what that means, we like it.

As you might expect, Nellie’s will have live music. We’ll reserve judgment on that until we measure the decibel level. Typically, live music and conversation don’t mix.

Speaking of live music, plans for a Jonas Brothers residency in Las Vegas back in 2020 were thwarted by the pandemic. The brothers will be back onstage at Park MGM for shows on June 3, 4, 9, 10 and 11, 2022.

The food sounds like it’s right on our culinary sweet spot, and the space is visually appealing, so we’re looking forward to checking out Nellie’s Southern Kitchen at MGM Grand, Captain and biscuits and gravywise.