Las Vegas Dining Pros Talk About the Changes Restaurants Made to Help the Community

Following an Eater tradition, we asked a group of restaurant journalists, bloggers, and friends of the site to weigh in on the year in food. Their answers to the annual Year in Eater survey will be revealed in several posts. Up next, was there one restaurant in particular that you felt really stepped up for your local community? How did they do so?

Philip Tzeng, social media food blogger at LasVegasFill — With soaring prices for ingredients and lack of staff for many places, any local spot that has the time and heart to do anything more than operate gets a gold star in my book.

Scott Roeben, Vital Vegas — I continue to be impressed with the Delivering with Dignity program, co-founded by restaurateur Elizabeth Blau. Her folks at Honey Salt and other partner restaurants have delivered nearly 350,000 meals to vulnerable individuals, including the elderly and those struggling with poverty. Here’s more.

Louiie Victa, Eater Vegas photographer — The restaurant partners at Delivering with Dignity are still doing a fantastic job at providing meals to vulnerable individuals and families despite labor shortages. It’s good to see them continue their efforts in making an impact through food in the Las Vegas community. Chef Nicole Brisson’s work with the Slow Food Movement is also a very welcome addition to our city.

Al Mancini, host of the Food and Loathing podcast — It’s impossible to pick just one. Honestly, it’s really hard to pick just three or four. I’ve been in awe of the way this culinary community responds to tragedy for many, many years, and the pandemic was just another example for me. I was honored to spend some time reporting on what Honey Salt, Valencian Gold, Graffiti Bao and others did for the Delivering With Dignity program. And Liam Dwyer at 7th & Carson seemed to always be looking for ways to help his DTLV neighbors. Yet there are so many more that deserve to be mentioned. #VegasStrong means as much today as it ever did.

Rob Kachelriess, Las Vegas Writer for Thrillist — It’s not an easy time for restaurants right now. Any business that’s retaining employees by fostering a quality environment deserves credit for stepping up. Chef Joel Walsh of Blue Hen Chicken Co. spoke to me about how much he values the mental health of his employees and makes a point to offer everyone on his team health benefits. If a new restaurant like Blue Hen can pull it off, so can others.

Susan Stapleton, editor of Eater Vegas — I love how Dan Krohmer of Other Mama is sharing the profits from his restaurant with his staff. If he can do it, everyone can. Shows how much he appreciates his employees.

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