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Nearly two years after closing on the Las Vegas Strip, Smith & Wollensky will open once again, this time in the Grand Canal Shoppes at the Venetian.
The chain steakhouse takes over the former Zeffirino Ristorante space at the mall after closing in May 2017. The 14,000-square-foot restaurant seats nearly 400 people, welcoming back old dishes such as a 24-ounce rib-eye steak and a bone-in New York cut, as well as newcomers including an American wagyu beef, a tomahawk steak charred table-side, and rotisserie-roasted chicken, veal, and prime rib. Since May, Gondola Bar has acted as a placeholder in the former Zeffirino space. That restaurant closed at the end of 2017.
Now comes word that construction started on the steakhouse, with a projected April 2019 opening.
Michael Feighery, the CEO and president of Smith & Wollensky Restaurant Group, opened the original Smith & Wollensky near the Showcase Mall on the Strip in December 1998. “I cannot wait to return to the Strip with an all new location,” he says in a press statement. “We are all looking forward to reliving old memories and creating new ones with you soon at our new Grand Canal Shoppes location this spring.”
The 14,000-square-foot space features two stories, greeting diners with those familiar green awnings and latticework. Customers walk into an tavern-like bar and lounge. Above, a wine wall sits on the mezzanine level overlooking the space, while diners can take a peek inside the butcher room. Private parties can head to the glass-encased private dining room that overlooks the bar.
Other Smith & Wollensky touches decorate the space, including antique lighting, glazed brick tile, herringbone dark wood flooring, and plaid mosaic tile. Upstairs, diners will find an Art Deco-inspired 18-seat bar with a lounge outfitted with leather tufted booths and Lincoln chairs. The main dining room has room for up to 300 sitting in leather booths and at tables with nail head trimmed chairs.
