Grand Lux Cafe

Restaurant: Grand Lux Cafe
Cuisine: American
Last visited: August 24, 09

Area: Las Vegas - Multiple
The Venetian Hotel & Casino 3355 Las Vegas Blvd
Price Range: $10-20

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 3.5
Service: 5
Ambiance: 3
Overall: 3
Additional comments:

• Founder of The Cheesecake Factory
• I prefer The Cheesecake Factory
• Big portions, large menu selection
• Very reasonably priced, a bit more expensive than Cheesecake Factory
• European decor, with typical American food
• Nothing gourmet, but just good/big portions of food served in a comfortable & nice atmosphere
• Casual
• Open 24 hours
• Breakfast served all day in Vegas location
• Lunch specials until 5pm

**Recommendation: Short Rib Grilled Cheese, The Max Burger, Chicken Pot Pie

I got this recommendation from the person sitting next to me on my flight down. I was staying at The Venetian and got in quite late so I thought it would be convenient to check it out. I didn't know it was from the same founders of The Cheesecake Factory, but after I found out it was quite obvious. Large portions, all American food, and that luxurious European cafe feel - overall a casual restaurant where you get a bang for your buck. I like the menu and food better at The Cheesecake Factory and they're almost the same menu, but Cheesecake Factory has an even larger menu.

Note: I got some of my photos off the internet, but I only used them if they were close to identical to what I was served. So these are trustworthy photos.

On the table:

• Crabcakes 4/6
• These were really good. They are a bit on the expensive side for I think $13 for 2 relatively normal sized crab cakes. A bit larger and thicker than a hockey puck. You do get a lot of dungeness crab though (just look at the picture) - so it's reasonable for what they charge.
  
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• You can actually break away at the crab with your fork and you don't get those cheap additional fillers, so you're actually eating a crab cake and not a shrimp cake. This isn't a high end restaurant or anything so I was quite impressed with the quality of crab cake I got. It wasn't the best I've had or anything, but for this type of chain restaurant I think it was great. It's served very lightly battered and golden brown with a spicy mustard sauce - I would share this if I were to order it again - 2 crab cakes gets a little repetitive and sickening, but one is good.


• **The Max Burger 5/6
• One of their famous selections. Certified Angus beef with cheddar cheese, bacon, sauteed mushrooms, onions and roasted short ribs. Served with fries.

• If you're a fan of a great tasting burger, you have to give this a shot. For me, I would normally pass on a burger at a restaurant like this because there's so many more options I would want to try something different. But my friend ordered it, and I'm glad he did. It's really big though, you have ahard time eating it cause the toppings keep slipping out. The great thing about this burger isn't the size though, it's the quality of the beef patty they used. You can tell that the patty is an Angus beef patty and it's nice and juicy, not dry at all. This isn't a diner or fast food burger and it's not a gourmet burger either (it's still served on a regular burger bun)...but it's just a classic American burger done well.
• Chicken Meatball Sandwich 2/6
• House-made chicken meatballs with melted Fontina cheese and marinara sauce on a buttered roll. Served with fries.

• This was kind of disappointing. Its drenched in marinara sauce so it's kind of hard to eat too. Really messy and soggy. Yes the meatballs are house made and they're quite large, but I think beef/pork meatballs are generally better. They weren't dry, but they come off as a dry because the beef meatballs we're typically used to are just juicier. They kinds of have this aftertaste that wasn't ideal too. I'm not sure what the herb or spice was cause I couldn't really put my finger on it - but it wasn't something you really want to remember. It's edible and ok tasting, but not something I'd care to order again.
• **Short Rib Grilled Cheese Sandwich 5/6
• Slow roasted short ribs, caramelized onions and lots of melted cheese on grilled bread. Served with fries.

• This is a great tasting sandwich. I would actually prefer it to the Max Burger. It tastes as good as it sounds, again well done on the execution. It was a tad greasy, but that's expected when you order something like this. I like that the bread they used, which is a country bread because it gave it this rustic texture and taste to the sandwich. It has a crispy/buttery exterior and it's not too thick so you can bite into it easily without the sandwich being too messy. You get a great amount of short ribs that are really tender, and a good amount of cheese too. I think it's just a cheddar cheese they use, maybe mixed with some Mozzarella too.
• Grilled Ahi Tuna Burger 2/6
• The description on the menu tells you nothing, except that its served on a brioche bun. It's served with grilled onions, lettuce and tomatoes though. It doesn't look great, and it's pretty plain and bland, it kind of was.

• This was good becuase we were hungry. I've had better before for sure! (Still the best at Joey's). This was better tasting than the one from Le Grande Orange Cafe though. The quality of tuna was alright, but it's very basic and something you could put together at home. There's no specialty here, so don't expect to be blown away or anything. I feel like they added it on the menu, just to have it on, but they didn't really put care into making it good - probably cause the clientèle wouldn't really order it. They did a great job on the grilled onions though - and it's nice to a have a brioche bun with this type of sandwich.
• Salisbury Chopped Steak 4/6
• Chopped steak mixed with onions, mushrooms, and garlic. Served with mashed potatoes, pickled shredded red beets, and veggies.

• This thing is HUGE! It's a lot of meat served with mashed potatoes in a rolled layer on top. Its the combination of the steak and the creamy whipped potatoes that made this really good. It's quite saucy and tastes like a traditional Salisbury steak - all American flavours and tastes. The meat was really ground up and it was almost like a meatloaf, but a bit drier - not dry though. Just drier compared to a meatloaf. The veggies were all ground into this steak patty so you weren't biting into chunks of it or anything. This was quite tasty - but I guess you can't really go wrong with beef, gravy, and creamy mashed potatoes. The steak was flavourful and tender on it's own, but when it's covered by gravy and mashed potatoes you can't really tell...whatever it was still good for what it was though; I can't rate this like I would a fine dining place, cause it's not.
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• The red beets were good, but I wasn't a fan of them being pickled. Thy taste better with this meal not pickled. It was almost like eating red sauerkraut.
• **Chicken Pot Pie
• I did not order this - but I will next time. The man next to me ordered it and it was SO big. The biggest I've seen. It came in a large bowl with a huge crust baked on top...so the bowl holds the filling and not the crust. It looked really impressive and tasty - all of us wanted to try it. We were considering going back to order this. The crust is made in house, and it's really big so I think the ratio of crust to pie filling would be perfect. I don't know how it tastes, but I will try it for sure!
• It was so big, I had to take a picture of it from the guy who ordered it beside me. The picture I used for this blog isn't the picture I took though...but it's almost the same, I just think this one was a better angle. (I had to take mine from a distance - which is understandable because it wasn't even my order...how odd would that have been?)