The Rio’s Newest Restaurant, a Henderson Bistro, a Salad Bar, and More New Openings (2024)

If you’re on the hunt for new restaurants, bars, or cafes to explore this weekend, you may have noticed the handful of debuts that were made over the last or so. Among them, the Rio has welcomed its newest British-style tavern, the Arts District has seen two newcomers, and Henderson has gotten in on the action with two new dinner spots. Perhaps most surprising of all — three of the below restaurants have turned to indoor trees as a design centerpiece.

Luckley Tavern

Drawing on the English hilltown of Cotswold, this British-style pub replaces the inside the Rio Las Vegas. The lunch and dinner menus feature dishes like lollipop-style buffalo wings, lobster pot pie, and a 32-ounce tomahawk steak. And for dessert, a roving cart sidles up tableside for ice cream sundaes. You’ll also find draft beers, fine wines, and co*cktails inside this wood-paneled restaurant with homages to classic rock music spanning the walls. It’s open from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday through Sunday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

Rio Las Vegas

Ortikia Mediterranean Grill

On the heels of the opening of , Ortikia Mediterranean Grill at Green Valley Ranch in Henderson debuts inside the Henderson resort’s new promenade. The centerpiece of Ortikia is an open kitchen with a fire grill and rotisserie and a wood-burning oven — just right for cooking salt-baked and grilled seafood, rotisserie-cooked meats, and grilled vegetables. A seafood counter and crudo bar offers tuna crudo and oysters and a reverse happy hour has bites starting at $4 and drinks starting at $7. Reservations are open and Ortikia is open Sunday through Thursday from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Ortikia Mediterranean Grill

Happy Leaf

The newest spot inside the Proper Eats Food Hall at the Aria slots in between the Korean fried chicken Seoul Bird space and Steve Aoki’s Pizzaoki counter. The salad-focused Happy Leaf offers four salad choices — a Caesar salad ($14) with garlic bread crumbs and baby kale, a spicy Buffalo chicken salad ($20) with grilled buffalo chicken thigh and ranch or bleu cheese dressing, a Waldorf chicken salad ($20) with candied walnuts and poppyseed vinaigrette, and a salmon salad ($22) with soy sesame glazed salmon and garlic confit ponzu dressing.

If none of those options quite do it for you, a build-your-own-salad option is $15. The new eatery is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Chris Wessling

Iwana Specialty Coffee

The Arts District — also known as Brewery Row and, presumably, now also the Coffee District — has welcomed another coffee shop. Iwana Specialty Coffee is now open at 61 West Utah Avenue, around the corner from fellow newcomer District Deli & Coffee. The new cafe is broad and airy with plenty of windows and is decorated with a faux tree at the center, bold purple touches, and disco balls. Owner Karol Rodriguez Borrero imports all the coffee from Columbian roasters for use in espresso, drip coffee, and lattes topped with a slightly sweet purple ube foam. Also on the menu are salads, sandwiches, and wraps. Iwana is open daily from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Janna Karel

Gong Cha

Chinatown gets a new bubble tea shop with a location from the Gong Cha chain. The menu offers milk tea and slush drinks, with toppings of boba, pearl jelly, basil seeds, coconut jelly, and Oreo crumbs. Also on the menu: bubble waffles.

Palate

Another new entrant to the Las Vegas Arts District, Palate is now open on Main Street inside the Colorado building at 1301 S. Main Street, Suite 110. It opens with Sunday brunch, patio dining, live music, and co*cktails made with rose petals and matcha foam. Chef Sterling Buckley, who has previously helmed the kitchens at restaurants like La Cave at the Wynn and Honey Salt in Summerlin populates the menu with soy-charred short ribs, longganisa sliders made with the sweet Filipino sausage, and charcuterie. The cozy restaurant is filled with opulent purple furnishings, crystal chandeliers, and faux indoor trees and is open from 3 to 10 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday, 3 p.m. to midnight on Friday and Saturday, and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for Sunday brunch.

Janna Karel

Lexie’s Bistro

Two Las Vegas chefs and veterans of powerhouse restaurants are turning their talents to Henderson, with an Italian restaurant located inside a new apartment complex near the M Resort. The menu highlights dishes like a shrimp ceviche with blue corn, a pizza topped with prosciutto and soppressata, smash burgers, mushroom bolognese pasta, and braised short ribs with polenta. The restaurant, another that is decorated with indoor trees, offers bartop gaming and patio seating. It’s open at 3610 Sunridge Hts Pkwy Suite 100 daily from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Lexie’s Bistro