The best Las Vegas Strip restaurants

Fine dining is alive and very well inside the “mansion,” a fitting nickname for Chef of the (last) Century’s opulent Michelin three-star restaurant just off the MGM Grand casino floor. The honorific was awarded by prestigious French culinary guide Gault & Millau in 1989, and as you’d expect, a meal inside Joël Robuchon’s jewel-hued rooms is a once-in-a-lifetime event, so opt for the full experience. The 16-course parade of transcendent French cuisine takes more than three hours, makes ample use of caviar, black truffles and foie gras and won’t leave you contemplating a slice of pizza on the way home. There simply is no dinner more decadent on the Las Vegas Strip.

Don’t call it a steakhouse. According to superstar chef José Andrés, this Philippe Starck–designed restaurant at SLS is a “meathouse,” dedicated to celebrating the bounty of the earth, be it in the form of A5 Kobe straight from Japan, Finnish caviar, or even leeks with charred chipotle sauce. The ingredients—sourced so carefully the R&D team tried more than 500 cuts of meat before opening—are the stars here, but the chefs still have fun showing them off. That means foie gras is offered wrapped in cotton candy and dishes like the classic steak tartare are mixed tableside with plenty of panache. Don’t skip the suckling pig, imported from Spain and served by the quarter. You’ve never had such succulent swine.

Created by legendary toque Guy Savoy with Julien Asseo presiding over the kitchen, this is among the most expensive dining rooms in Vegas. However, it’s worth every penny, providing a level of culinary sophistication rarely glimpsed here. Highlights include the signature artichoke and black truffle soup served with toasted mushroom brioche, and the black truffle menu, which shows a liberal hand with the highly prized ’shrooms. If you have the cash, try the 13-course innovation-inspiration menu or pony up for the Krug chef’s table, where you’ll indulge in a 10-course feast inside the kitchen.

This workshop-style dining room, right next door to Robuchon’s signature restaurant, features a few tables and a counter at which you can sit and watch some of the world’s best dishes (they’re simpler and cheaper than at the other place) being prepared. Push the boat out and go for the seasonal discovery tasting menu; it’s worth the $195 price tag.