The Food Trends That Excited — and Frustrated — Us in 2022

It’s time again for the Year in Eater — where we look back at the last twelve months of Las Vegas’s restaurant scene. We reached out to Vegas’s finest food writers, reporters, and bloggers to get their takes on local trends, recent standouts, and notable newcomers. Here, they reflect on the biggest trends of the year.

It was great to see more plant-based and alcohol-free options popping up on menus everywhere. The move towards wellness in general is refreshing, since food doesn’t need to be bad for you to taste good. As for trends that are tired, I think fake flower walls are passe. Vegas is also overrun with speakeasies.
-Emmy Kasten, Eater Vegas Contributor

I actually have been happy to see more restaurants charging for bread. They’re charging because they’re taking bread seriously.
-Heidi Knapp Rinella, Eater Vegas Contributor

It’s not just local but I’m getting a little tired of the nonstop parade of dessert and sweet beverage spots popping up. It would be great to see more places that also cater to those with dietary restrictions.
-Melanie Lee, Editor-in-Chief at WhereTraveler.com

My most exciting Sunday dining moment of 2022 were burger and natural wine pop ups — burgers from Burger Trip, Stay Tuned burgers and wine from KellySomm and Alt Imports.
-Melinda Sheckells, Freelance Writer

It was great to see so many chefs elevating East-Coast Italian red-sauce dishes. Many of those classic menu items were in need of some newfound respect. But I’m hoping people are ready to move on to some new things.
-Al Mancini, Neon Feast

As someone who loves a spectacle, the trend of cocktails emerging from smoke-filled boxes, topped with bubbles, and garnished with flowers and glitter has been very fun for me. Caviar is also appearing on more plates lately, and I’m curious to see how the luxury food plays on less high-end menus next year. More critically, QR code menus have got to go.
-Janna Karel, Editor of Eater Vegas

Being a social media foodie, I do love that the performance and presentation aspect of dining has stepped up quite a bit and seems like it will continue to do so with new spots like Villa Azur.
-Philip Tzeng. Food Blogger @LasVegasFill

Food halls are exciting. More food halls, please!
-Louiie Victa, Eater Vegas Contributor