Las Vegas Food Review: Eggs and Burgers

By Trevor Stinson

Well hello there. By now, you probably know that I went to Las Vegas a few weekends ago for a quick vacation. While I was there I ate a lot, and I did my best to document everything. So here we have my review/showcase of some of the food that Las Vegas has to offer.

A quick note, due to several limiting logistical factors (travelling with picky eaters and only really being there for two full days, one of which was a road trip into Arizona) I didn’t really have a chance to go to any really nice restaurants. Which is a shame, because Gordon Ramsay Steak and Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen were both within walking distance from where I was staying. Guess I’ll just have to go back. 😏

eggslut

If you don’t know what eggslut is, where have you been? Real quick, they specialize in eggs. Usually these eggs are in some sort of breakfast sandwich. And that’s about all you need to know. So why am I so excited about this? Because their food is fucking tasty.

I knew there was a location in Las Vegas but I didn’t realize it was in the hotel I was staying at until I literally stumbled across it by accident. To celebrate I stood in the long ass lineup and ordered myself a Fairfax sandwich with some orange juice.

I love you and I'm still thinking about you. Please, I need you back in my life.

The Fairfax sandwich is super creamy scrambled eggs (think Gordon Ramsay style), seasoned with chives, placed in a warm brioche bun and topped with caramelized onions, cheddar cheese, and sriracha mayo. I have a big goofy smile on my face right now just thinking about how amazing it was. I’m not one for overly creamy scrambled eggs — I much prefer to have slightly larger and firmer curds. But I can’t deny that these scrambled eggs were heavenly. It was almost like I was eating a nice custard.

My first experience at egglsut was so mind blowing that I went every morning after that. Though I only got the Fairfax once, it was so good that I’d recommend everyone try it if they have the chance.

So what did I get instead of the Fairfax? I went simple and got the bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich.

The perfect way to start a full day of losing money on slot machines.

Like the name implies it was an egg over medium, cheddar cheese, bacon, and some chipotle ketchup (mmm...) all in a warm brioche bun. Like the Fairfax before it, they cooked the egg to perfection. I didn’t know if I would enjoy the chipotle ketchup as I’m not super big on spicy things, but they balanced it perfectly. And it worked well with the bacon and cheese.

It’s hard to accurately describe the food I ate because it was so good and simple. If you’re ever in an area where eggslut is, and you don’t mind possibly waiting in line for a bit, try eggslut. The prices are a bit on the higher side, but the quality of ingredients and the care they put into the dishes are worth the price and the wait, in my opinion.

Wicked Spoon (Hotel Buffet)

Like I said before, I didn’t really get the opportunity to eat at any fancy restaurants while in Las Vegas. The fanciest we got was the buffet at the hotel, which was surprisingly good quality all things considered. I’m not going to spend too much time talking about everything here in detail (it is just pretty standard buffet food after all), so let’s just bombard you with pictures. Also since it's a buffet, the plating is all my own (this was a surprisingly good chance to work on my plating). 

For breakfast at the buffet I opted for simplicity: bacon, sausage, salami, cheese, kale salad, and generic pasta salad.

The literal definition of mediocrity.

When we went for dinner I really had the chance to experiment. The first round of experimentation was Italian — basically just pasta. 

Mac & cheese and mint campanelle with spring peas, asparagus, and truffle cream. I'm fancy. I definitely ate most of it before I remembered to take a picture.

Clockwise from the top left we have: mushroom cavatelli, salami and truffle cheese, bucatini with panchetta and charred tomato, and a generic caesar salad.

My next round of experimentation was some southern style fried food — it is America after all. In all honesty, it was underwhelming. The fried chicken was tough and bland, the barbecue beans were far too sweet for my liking, and the seasonal vegetable mash was oddly spiced and was just plain old nasty. The mashed potatoes were acceptable however. 

Not good. Not good at all. Skip this stuff.

The third and final experimentation round was desert. Nothing too fancy, nothing that stood out. So let's just list them all and carry on. 

Clockwise from the top left: mini chocolate bundt cake, chocolate covered strawberry, almond macaroon, mini chocolate orange tart.

Clockwise from top left: mini chocolate muffin, chocolate chip cookie, croissant, M&M cookie.

Shake Shack

It’s no secret, I really am not a fan of hamburgers — the texture of ground beef weirds me out. But, I am trying to change, and I figured, why not try some fast food burgers that I can’t get in Canada? Enter Shake Shack.

Shake Shack is a burger joint that has an interesting beginning involving a hot dog cart in New York city. Today there are 168 locations worldwide. They’re well known for their milkshakes, crinkle cut fries, and hormone & antibiotic free angus beef burgers.

Due to my aversion to ground beef I decided to play it safe and order a single ShackBurger and the Shack-cago dog. The ShackBurger is a fairly standard cheeseburger topped with lettuce, tomato, and shack sauce (no idea what that is). The Shack-cago dog is a good old fashioned hot dog with relish, onion, cucumber, pickle, tomato, sport pepper, celery salt, and mustard. Served with a side of their fries and some sort of sugar laden drink, this was my first taste of American fast food.

East coast burgers aren't my thing. East coast hot dogs are though.

The ShackBurger was okay. I honestly didn’t think it was overly great or life changing. The meat itself tasted a bit bland, as if it were under seasoned. The fries were also okay. Nothing to write home about. The Shack-cago dog however was delicious. There were a ton of flavours and textures going on that all complimented each other perfectly. If I ever found myself at a Shake Shack again, I’d definitely have another Shack-cago dog and I’d skip out on the burger.

What about the milkshake? How was it? Did you even try one? I did, as you can see in the picture. But because me and dairy don’t get along super well anymore, all I'll say is that it was perfectly acceptable. That’s the downside to getting old that no one tells you about — eating ice cream and milkshakes gives you mad gas.

In-N-Out Burger

Amongst my close friends and family, In-N-Out Burger is something of a legend. I have heard nothing but good things about it. So given that there are several of them in Las Vegas (one of which is on the strip) I knew I had to try it.

So I did — but not at their location on the strip. No, that would have been easy and made sense. While we were in Vegas we rented a car and drove to the Hoover dam as well as taking a trip into Arizona to see some of the fabulous Arizona desert scenery.

Cue the banjo music.

While in Arizona we stopped in a city called Kingman, and they happened to have an In-N-Out Burger there. So that’s where we ate.

In-N-Out Burger definitely has their theming down. I felt like I was stepping into an old school California drive in, even though I was in tumbleweed central (for real, I actually saw a tumbleweed roll across the highway on the drive back). Their menu is super simple, you get the choice of a hamburger or a cheeseburger, fries, and drinks (milkshakes or fountain pop). That’s it. I opted for a single cheeseburger, animal style fries (fries topped with cheese sauce, caramelized onions, and thousand island dressing) and a drink.

Awwwwwwww yeah.

So how was it? It. Was. So. Fucking. Good. And this is coming from someone who isn’t into burgers. I don’t know what it was about the In-N-Out Burger, but I finished the entire cheeseburger and was considering going back for another one. Maybe it was the smash style patty. Maybe it’s because they have a secret ingredient a la the Krabby Patty. Whatever it is, it was a life changing burger. The animal style fries were a bit much — next time I’d opt for plain old freedom french fries. There was just too much happening in my mouth with the animal style fries.

If you only take away one thing from this post it’s that you should try In-N-Out Burger if you ever get the chance. I highly recommend it.

Popeye’s (Bonus Round)

The first night we were in Vegas we stopped at a Popeye’s chicken because it was late and we had been travelling all day. Yes, there is a Popeye’s in Edmonton (two as of me writing this), so why am I including this? Because it’s America and they do fried chicken correctly. Also the buttermilk biscuit was to die for. So bask in the glory of unregulated fried chicken.

Freedom fried chicken yo.

So there you have it, a short collection of the food I ate while on vacation. Yes, it was mostly fast food and egg sandwiches. But like I said, there were some logistical limitations. I would love to return to Las Vegas some day and actually try out some non fast-food...food. Until then I hope you enjoyed it and stayed tuned for Brittany’s review of the food on her Japan trip — I promise it will be a much better quality post.

What’s your favourite restaurant in Las Vegas? Let me know in the comments below!