Max Jacobson Wonders Where the Italian Is at B&B

Max Jacobson at Vegas Seven filed his review of B&B Burger & Beer, Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich's newest joint at the Venetian, just days before he was hit by an SUV that ran a red light while he was walking to the gym on Dec. 23. Since, he has been hospitalized and remains in critical condition at Sunrise Hospital Trauma Center.

Jacobson warns diners to keep their expectations of finding anything resembling the chefs at the restaurant, maybe with the exception of the soundtrack put together by Batali. "… if you're expecting the imprimatur of Batali, or anything that resembles regional Italian fare, head upstairs or down the hall to one of his other restaurants," he writes.

Try the Caesars salad, one that Jacobson calls one of the best on the Strip, or the The Morning After burger topped "with sautéed mushrooms, a sunny-side-up egg, Fontina cheese, frisee and truffled aioli. OK, so it isn't Italian, but since it is European, we'll give the boys a pass."

He does find signs of Italy in the creamy milkshakes, one made with Nutella and the other dubbed the "Bourbon Cherry, which comes spiked and gushing with dark, tart Amarena cherries imported from Italy." [VS]

Erik Chudy picks up where he left off reviewing the new Stewart & Ogden at the Downtown Grand and handing out one of his lowest grades ever for the Ogden Burger. "If you're drunk at 3am on Fremont Street, this might be a cool atmosphere, but even heavily intoxicated I couldn't see myself willingly spending that kind of money [$15] in this restaurant again." He hands the burger a 50 out of 100. [VBB]

Mitchell Wilburn heads to Desnudo Tacos, the new Mexican street food restaurant from Christopher Palmeri and Christian Dolias. "All their tacos are no dinky little silver-dollar-sized tortilla thing either. A single order is two tacos, making that and maybe a side of their loaded guacamole … a nice big lunch." [CL]

HKR heads to Sam Marvin's new Echo & Rig at Tivoli Village. She calls the menu "creative" with "reasonable prices" but the "[n]o-reservation policy makes for a chaotic start to the evening," an overall B. [LVRJ]
B&B Burger & Beer [Photo: Cal Bingham]