My wife and I went to Esther's Kitchen about 6 weeks ago. They charged us for all of the extra bread dipping sauces. The food was flatly poor. The restaurant was incredibly loud. We will never go back! Bootlegger is great as are numerous other Italian restaurants on and off the strip.
100% agree with you. It's adds up pretty fast at Esther's. Bootlegger is much better. We'll be doing some more Italian reviews later this summer. Thanks for watching and commenting!
You're very welcome! There are definitely some excellent items at Esther's. I know we criticized a number of dishes, but loved many others. Glad we could help you identify the ones to get when you go there. Thanks for watching and commenting!
Another well articulated review. I so appreciate your thoughts regarding the menu descriptions, food and serving size. When you have been to Italy or come from an Italian background we make pasta homemade. It’s cheap in terms of ingredients but does take some manpower to make…. But I think the servings were a little small for the price…. And Nonna says Mangia per favore mangia, no one leaves the table hungry. Have to say the bread and spreads got me I’m a sucker for that and could enjoy that for my supper. I liked how you inserted an audience laughing…. I was laughing at the same time…. Don’t ever lose your sense of humour!!! Another great review!!!
Thank you, Sandy! As for the cost to make pasta, we had a diverse menu at our restaurant and the pasta dishes were by far the most profitable items. They're making the pasta from scratch which may be labor intensive but they probably have a machine to make the pasta which would make the cost far less once you swallow the cost of the machine. As for the serving size, very very small. I could eat any one of those pasta dishes in no time and still be looking for more, lol. Totally agree with you on the bread and spreads...we're already planning a return visit just for that! And, THANK YOU for noting the laugh track, lol, you're the first to mention it and we were wondering how that was going to be received. Thanks for supporting our channel, 😁😁💖💖
Canada here we have always felt American pasta portions were so small compared to us. But everything else you serve is twice the portion we get in Canada it’s so weird
Well, as a former restaurant owner I can tell you there is extreme profit in Italian food. It's very inexpensive to make, quick to serve, and not very demanding for the kitchen staff once ordered. Anyway, we used to give large portions in recognition of the low cost to make it but most places definitely don't do that here in the states.
You should reconsider. My wife and I are foodies who visit Vegas once or twice a year. Our meal at Esther’s last April was one of the best we’ve ever had.
Half of my family is swiss Italian, so alot of northern Italian inspired recipes all my life. This food did not really do it for me. Yes, the bread and the 8 toppings looked interesting as well as the spaghetti with tomato sauce looked the tastiest. Good honest review, I don't think it's a place I would want to try, there is way better in Vegas. Thanks. Karla in Cali.
My wife and I had their Sunday brunch last year, and have been meaning to return because we enjoyed what we had, and I don't remember the brunch menu being particularly pretentious (or particularly Italian). At any rate, looks like we need to go back. Thanks for another great video!
Agreed! Went to Bootlegger a few months ago and LOVED it. I'm very hard to please with regard to Italian food and was very pleasantly surprised by Bootlegger. We'll be doing a review of them soon! Thanks for watching and commenting, 😁😁💖💖
thank you, I agree with everything you mentioned, there's enough diners that buy the pretentiousness and will pay more for less with a good story, plenty of other places that just serve good food in larger portions and lower prices
Bread and spreads and few pastas, but pretty expensive and small portions, 😔. I would return, though, for the bread and one or two of the spreads. Thanks for watching and commenting!
Esters is decent, the new location is a step up from the old and more importantly, it is not incredibly loud. The bread is good, the pasta is decent, but what really lets it down for me is the amount of time it takes to eat a meal. I am not someone that likes to eat fast, but on a busy night the kitchen is just not big enough to deal with the number of orders coming in, it was literally 90 minutes between salads and the pasta courses, not good. My go to place is Los Olivos on DI at Sandhill, basic food that is cooked oh so well, give it a try.
Very good point about the time to get the food. I forgot about that aspect of our visit. When you're filming a meal you lose track of time and so we didn't notice it so much, but It did take a long time to get the bread and spreads and it was even slower to get the entree dishes. Thanks for the excellent observation! The size of the kitchen, as you pointed out, may also account for the numerous missteps in our meal.
Thank you for the review. I watch all of your videos and reviews. Honestly this is the only place I would take a pass on. After Chinese food Italian food is my second favorite but this restaurant didn’t do it for me. Ty.😊
I'm not sure what you're trying to say? They were voted Best Italian. Do you want me to lie about that? Did you watch the video or are you just reacting to the title?
I'm reporting on facts, as far as the Voted Top Italian. Do you want me to lie about that? And, did you watch our video review? I would have to say you didn't for you to conclude that we are "over playing" it.
Did you watch our review? If you did you would realize that we agree that Esther's is not the best and there were many dishes we didn't like. So, again, I'm not sure what your point is other than you have jumped to an incorrect conclusion.
@@LetsEatVegasNow I'm not a sophisticated foodie,so I've enjoyed Bucco di pepo and even Olive Gdn (regardless of apparent it's lack of Italian authenticity) And food has to be accompanied with good company,regardless of how good it's quality! Imo..
We list the prices of everything in the review, however, if I were to go to Esther's and eat until I was full/satisfied, I estimate the cost of the meal would be about $100/person for lunch, quite a bit more for dinner? Appetizer: $8 Two pasta dishes @$17-20/dish = $36? Glass Wine: $14 Dessert: $13 Tax and Tip: $20 Parking: $4 Thanks for watching and commenting!
I'll keep this place in mind . I found one place in Vegas that has my favorite restaurants and I can do my gambling also . I'm not going to promote the place for free they are doing just fine .
That sounds terrific. I just had lasagna and ravioli at a well known Italian place and they were both awful so I'm now on the lookout for some decent Italian food.
It's difficult to find excellent Italian food. Sorry you didn't enjoy Esther's Kitchen. I think the bread is the best thing there..oh, and the Butterscotch Pudding! Thanks for watching and commenting.
I'm not sure what you're trying to say? They were voted Best Italian. Do you want me to lie about that? Did you watch the video or are you just reacting to the title?
@@LetsEatVegas im looking at the food bro. Looks are just as important as taste. Ive been eating italian all my life and that didnt look italian. Lol. And voted by WHO? LOL
Yes, agreed. We state that in the video so make sure to check it out. We've had a lot of complaints from people who thought we were too negative about Esthers!
I took some out-of-town family to the Bootlegger a few years ago, and now they plan trips around it. I'd love to get them to try other places for Italian food - do you recommend any? For whatever reason, they don't want to go to any restaurants in casinos.
@@ebutuoyebutouyAs he says "if you're looking for an authentic Italian experience, this might not be the place for you." We'll, I *am* looking for an authentic Italian experience, and I would appreciate his recommendations. This review quelled any interest I had in dining at Esther's Kitchen - that kind of frou-frou pretension turns me off completely.
Very interesting comment and follow up comment below. We went to bootlegger a few weeks ago and were greatly impressed and that would be my recommendation. We've been to a few others here as well and weren't impressed. To us, Bootlegger felt like an old school Italian meal as I might get at my Grandmother's on Sunday at noon...sharp! As for casino restaurants....eh...over priced mostly, however, Buddy V's All You Can Eat Sunday Brunch as well as LAVO for AYCE Sunday Brunch. Both of those were very good and we've been back several times. We have reviews of both...check out our Italian Playlist: ru-vid.com/group/PLyIKxf4Ch1RE6roalq0fYKz_sSI7FJ0EV Thanks for watching and commenting!
Nora's Italian Cuisine on W Flamingo Rd near Jones Blvd. Reservations required, good quality food, you won't leave hungry, great tasting salad including antipasto dishes plus meat, seafood, chicken, desserts, etc.
Good question! Their menus are not the same from brunch to lunch to dinner, and so we ordered things which were always available so our viewers could be assured they could order what they saw in the review. Most of the big ticket protein items on the lunch menu are found in the form of sandwiches which aren't on the dinner menu so we didn't try those. As for the meatballs, lol, I've been spoiled having been raised by an excellent Italian cook who made fantastic meatballs (and then learned to make them myself as well) and so I almost universally hate restaurant meatballs and never order them. But, next time we do an Italian restaurant I'll have to get some but I don't have high hopes, lol. Thanks for the commenting and for watching our review/s! 😁😁
So its beyond my comprehension that this place was voted #1 in vegas Italian wise . That pizza ,oh my Forgettable! So without going forward with the other dishes. Not my cup of tea as far as GOOD Italian joints. Great review though!! Honest as always. My take is east coast style . Veal hicken, shrimp parm . Fried calamari with sauce . Veal n pepper's ,lasagna. Chicken or veal franchisee... ❤❤❤ cheers. Happy reviewing ....
In the back of the restaurant, on the way to the restrooms, there is a hallway filled with awards. Top 20 Italian in the country, Top Vegas Chef, etc, etc. The latest Review Journal has a new award for them. So, maybe not the #1, above all else here, but clearly one of the top in the city. It's somewhat hard to figure out exactly what awards they've won. And, yes, I agree with you on all those East coasts items you mentioned...YUMM!
I rarely go to Italian restaurants when eating out; it is often just not worth it. I don't know if I would actually visit this restaurant. I need help understanding bread crumbs on pasta. Hand rubber lettuce, good god, no. I can picture some of the folks I knew in restaurants using their hands to rub anything... puke. That pizza looked very unappetizing. What restaurant did you own?
Same...we rarely go to Italian restaurants as we both had strong homemade Italian food upbringings and most Italian restaurant food is a huge disappointment. It's also usually pricey especially considering how cheap it is to make Italian food. Hmm, well, the bread crumbs act like little sponges and absorb the sauce giving you a bigger hit of sauce flavor, but, I really don't think good sauce needs this. Seems more a gimmick. The hand rubbed lettuce was ridiculous, lol. The margherita pizza was OK although not super good crust and in our case it was burnt and had a very unappetizing bitter aftertaste. The Duck Confit pizza was very awful. Way too sweet and very unappetizing texture to eat. As for our restaurant, to remain anonymous, I'd rather not go into too much detail, but we owned/operated a restaurant in LA. We did quite well, getting on the Food Network, Cooking Channel, and Discovery Channel, but after 8 or 9 years ran into trouble with the landlord who wanted to GREATLY increase the rent and so we decided to sell. It turned out to be great timing as the lockdowns were just around the corner and so we didn't have to deal with any of that as business owners. OK, thanks for watching and supporting our channel, 😁😁
What a crock. Caesar salad is NOT Italian. Sour dough is NOT Italian,. Pasta looks over cooked. Peas DO NOT go in carbonara. If this is the best in Vegas, then it is a poor city.
Sounds as though we are in agreement, although one of the pastas we received was borderline inedible due to being undercooked. Fortunately, as a lad I would always pick out underdone pasta from the boiling water as I couldn't wait for it to be cooked all the way and so am OK with well underdone, lol. There are better Italian places here. We'll be doing future reviews on them. Thanks for watching and commenting! 😁😁
Another cheerleading video. If you seen one of this guys videos you have seen them all. Best this, greatest that, reminded when i was young so dramatic. Take off your pom poms bro.
I think you must have watched someone else's video or maybe you have low comprehension skills. Go watch the video and pay attention this time. There were several things we clearly stated we did NOT like...or are you trying to be funny??
I don't think this guy watched the whole video. There were lots of significant analysis and criticism lodged against several of the dishes and condiments. In listening to this RU-vid video, I was able to appreciate this food critic's evaluation of the origins and also the preparation of the dishes being served. If I do go to this restaurant, I'll know what to order and what to avoid. All in all, I felt this was a very informative and insightful video!!
Thank you very much! Yes, the original comment in this thread is a head scratcher. Anyway, glad we could help you figure out what to try and not try at Esther's, 😋😁
❤❤❤🥖(and the spreads) ❤❤❤Anchovies ❤🥬(Especially the bitter greens as in the first one) ❤🍝(Especially the radiatore) I'll skip the pizza, I'm a diehard NY style pizza gal, cooked well done😋
Yep, right on! You would not have liked this pizza. I'm right there with you on the NY style pizza a bit on the charred side. Thanks for watching and commenting!! 😋😁💖💖💖