MGM Resorts May Close Some Resorts During the Week as Tourism Remains Down

LAS VEGAS STRIP — Even though every casino and hotel from MGM Resorts International reopened, the largest gaming company in Nevada may start closing some on weekdays. MGM CEO Bill Hornbuckle says that some towers at resorts could close from mid-November through the holidays due to reduced tourism. An MGM spokesperson tells the Las Vegas Sun that any closings would be during the middle of the week. Wynn Las Vegas already shut down Encore for mid-week hotel bookings and closed its restaurants while the resort is dormant from 2 p.m. on Mondays to 2 p.m. on Thursdays. Mid-week hotel occupancy in September reached 39 percent, down 47 percent from the same month in 2019, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. Weekend occupancy was at 66 percent, down 30 percent from September 2019. [LVS]

LOS ANGELES — Japanese restaurant Aburiya Raku quietly closed its five-year-old location, which originally opened in 2015 as a sister location to the Las Vegas Chinatown location. Chefs and food critics, including the late Jonathan Gold, who considered the restaurant to be among the best izakayas Los Angeles, gave the restaurant rave reviews. The restaurant even won a Bib Gourmand in last year’s Michelin Guide. The Las Vegas location remains open. [ELA]

LONDON — Gordon Ramsay plans to open an outlet of Gordon Ramsay Burger inside Harrods later this year. Eater London says the restaurant will probably top burgers with Guinness mustard aioli, Gruyère cheese, mushrooms, and crispy onions on the pub burger; Dubliner cheese and mangalitza pork bacon on the farmhouse burger; and foie gras, chèvre goat’s cheese, port aioli, and frisée on the foie burger, much like those found at his original location at Planet Hollywood Resort. Ramsay plans “to cover the U.K. in 50 burger restaurants.” [ELON]

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