.png)
If the last year was the debut season for Emmitt’s Vegas on the Strip, this dining destination should probably be considered for Rookie of the Year honors.
The restaurant’s namesake and founder, NFL legend Emmitt Smith, won that award in 1990. Obviously, it wasn’t a fluke, as Smith went on to a Hall of Fame career and is still football’s all-time leading rusher. Now his Las Vegas restaurant is poised to follow up on its own early success, and according to executive chef Antwan Ellis, it’s all about putting the right players in the right positions.
“There has most definitely been a learning curve. I’ve been doing this for 27 years, from a very young age, but the biggest thing when I came here was making sure we chose the right people to work with to be able to be successful,” Ellis says. “I need to be able to learn from the team, and show them my skills, also. We feed off each other, and you have to do that because in Las Vegas, it’s a different market.”
Emmitt’s opened on March 28, 2024, after various delays dashed original plans to open in 2023 at Fashion Show Las Vegas. Ellis was living in Bermuda and vacationing in the States when he was approached about leading the kitchen, and although he knew very little about American football or Smith, that didn’t stop an instant connection from forming.
“It was one of those things where you meet someone and things feel right,” Ellis says. “As I learned more about him and realized the level of athlete he was and the achievements he’s had, the level of humility he displays for who he is, I thought that was amazing.”
The chef notes the restaurant still maintains many team members that opened it up last year, “and that’s the driving force ensuring we understood the goal Emmitt had, the path he wanted the restaurant to go. We stuck to it and here we are, making sure we continue to get better and improve on everything because we do want to be one of the best in the city.”
The menu at Emmitt’s spans weekend brunch and lunch and nightly dinner and offers more than meets the eye. It splits the difference between a steakhouse and a seafood restaurant, with familiar classics mixed in. And there’s a clear focus on special-occasion dining, evidenced by the recent Easter brunch extravaganza and the upcoming Mother’s Day menu.
Weekend favorites range from Creole shrimp ($25) and hamachi carpaccio ($26) with crispy garlic and jalapeño, to a wild mushroom and spinach frittata ($18) or a shaved prime rib cheesesteak sandwich ($27).
Evening diners don’t skip the sushi—complemented by seafood towers and raw bar offerings—including the Emmitt Roll ($22), layered with tuna, king salmon, hamachi, avocado, spicy serrano chilies and sweet eel sauce.
In addition to prime wet-aged steaks and the signature 44-ounce tomahawk ribeye from acclaimed purveyor Pat LaFrieda Meats, main dish options could also go the oceanic route with Maine lobster tempura ($65) or jumbo lump crab cake ($35), or stay on solid terrain with a thick pork chop ($56) served with butternut puree and green apple fennel slaw or the indulgent Bolognese on pappardelle pasta ($34) made with dry-aged beef trim.
Next up in the Emmitt’s playbook is converting the upstairs area into “more of an elegantly casual place people can come on the daily to have a more relaxed meal,” Ellis says. This Strip-front space was formerly the Sugar Factory, and the transformation is all but complete. “We want to do something that follows what we do downstairs, not pretentious, very welcoming, and be able to offer a slightly tailgate-ish type of atmosphere upstairs.”
Sounds like the right play to call.
EMMITT’S VEGAS Fashion Show, 702-688-7000, emmittsvegas.com. Monday-Friday, 4-10 p.m.; Saturday & Sunday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m.
English (US) ·