Meet the New Italian Restaurant with a Speakeasy on the Strip

The MGM Grand now has an Italian restaurant serving table-side dishes, a speakeasy, and pastas galore.

Ambra Italian Kitchen + Bar features shareable dishes, such as the Ambra Tower with king crab, lobster tail, Wild Gulf shrimp, oysters, and scallop, salmon, and tuna crudos. Diners can start with a prime beef tartare with truffle vinaigrette, walnuts, and black garlic salsa or meatballs al forno, made with Wagyu beef and served on a bed of whipped ricotta.

Anthony Mair

Pastas include lobster spaghetti made with squid ink pasta; a vegetarian lasagna al forno filled with mushroom ragu, fontina cheese, basil pesto, and black truffle; and ravioli stuffed with ricotta cheese and fennel pollen and garnished with Parmegian.

A 45-day dry-aged tomahawk rib-eye steak gets carved table side while shrimp scampi and whole grilled branzino highlight the entrees. The Bellini, a combination of Prosecco granita, blood orange sorbet, granola, and cotton candy, gets lit at the table.

The restaurant also offers chef’s menus with three different options meant for two to share.

Anthony Mair

The main bar features its own cocktail menu, such as Senora’s Spritz, a play on the Italian aperitif with Grey Goose vodka; The Devil is in the Details using Cruzan Single Barrel, Pineau des Charentes, spiced Demerara syrup, coconut water; and the Pera with a semi-sweet blend of Malfy Gin, St. George Spiced Pear Liqueur, lemon, and apple pie bitters. But Privata, the speakeasy within Ambra, goes for more classic drinks, such as the 1850 Sazerac, first created in New Orleans and the 1940 Margarita, originating in Mexico during the turn of the 20th century.

Ambra Italian Kitchen + Bar, MGM Grand, 3799 Las Vegas Blvd. S., 702-891-7600. Open Sunday through Thursday from 5 to 11 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 5 p.m. to midnight.

• All Coverage of Ambra [ELV]

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