6 romantic restaurants in Las Vegas for the best date night

You might think that it's almost impossible to find a romantic restaurant in Las Vegas. If you're under the impression that this Nevada city is all neon, casino gaming tables, and clinking slot machines, you wouldn't be wrong. There are some romantic restaurants in Las Vegas, though, and as long as you haven't been blinded by the flashing lights and can drag yourself away from the casinos, they're really not that hard to find.

You'll come across romantic restaurants on the Las Vegas Strip, called Las Vegas Boulevard, and in Downtown Las Vegas as well as out in the Las Vegas Valley area. That means that whichever part of the city you're in, you won't have far to go to find the perfect romantic restaurant for your date night.

Don't expect that all that will be on offer is steaks and burgers, either. Over the last few years, Las Vegas has begun to develop a fine dining scene that, while it's not second to none, is changing the way people think about eating in the city.

In Las Vegas, there are classy French restaurants, sophisticated Italian restaurants, and stylish restaurants serving modernized American fare that are everything fine dining should be. They're establishing new culinary levels that, while they're not world-class standard, with the exception of maybe Gordon Ramsay's Hell's Kitchen, they're bringing dining up to date in Las Vegas, and that can never be a bad thing.

The one thing that doesn't change in the restaurants in Las Vegas is security. The same as with many other types of establishments in the city, restaurants don't want you turning up laden with bags. They have no idea what's inside them. 

Save yourself the embarrassment of having to stand up your date because you've been turned away at the door and leave any bags you don't need in a Las Vegas luggage storage facility. You can always pick your stuff up later in the evening or even the next day if your date night goes better than expected.

Hell's Kitchen by Gordon Ramsay

Is Hell's Kitchen one of the most romantic restaurants in Las Vegas? Probably not if Mr. Ramsay is in-house and doing his favorite TV episode routine of cussing and throwing undercooked lamb chops at the chefs.

Let's face it, it is good dinnertime entertainment, though, and to be honest, your date will probably be impressed you've even managed to get a table at this renowned 300-seater restaurant, which is in front of Caesar's Palace on the Las Vegas Strip.

While the open kitchen can sometimes disturb the relaxed atmosphere of the main dining room, you know the food will be of a high standard no matter what you order. Whether you and your date decide to enjoy the views from the floor-to-ceiling windows or watch the kitchen dramas unfold, you know you'll have a good time.

The same as with all good restaurants, the menu at Hell's Kitchen is brief and contains plenty of familiar dishes that have been tweaked to achieve culinary perfection. While the quality is guaranteed to be good, they're not the most innovative or romantic of dishes, and if you chose the set menu, you may feel as if you're participating in an episode rerun. Yes, it features those now well-tried, well-tested, and starting to get tired of boring beef wellington and sticky toffee pudding. Which is great if you haven't had them before. Not so good if you have.

Our recommendation

Start with the steak tartare. It's raw, so the chefs can't get it wrong unless they forget the salt and pepper and follow that with the chicken scallopini served with pee wee potatoes and kale. The main good point about this Las Vegas restaurant, apart from its formidable reputation, is the reasonable prices.

Location

3570, S Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV

Price level

$$

Eiffel Tower Restaurant

Put some ooh la la into your date night by going to the Eiffel Tower Restaurant. No, you don't need to hire a private jet to fly you to Paris. Just stroll down the Las Vegas Strip until you find the Paris Las Vegas Hotel.

The Eiffel Tower Restaurant at Paris Las Vegas has an unblemished reputation for being one of the most romantic restaurants in Las Vegas. It won’t be the French cuisine that will woo your date at this French restaurant, but the views of the city and the Bellagio Fountains from the 11th-floor dining room. They're sensational, to say the least, and exactly what you want to be looking at if you want a romantic evening.

While the dishes served here will be top quality, don't expect them to be fancy or even overly French. There are snails and French onion soup on the menu, and that's about the only nod to France there is. The rest of the menu could well have been created by Mr. Ramsay himself as it consists of the same staples like beef wellington, rack of lamb, rib eye steak, and Dover sole that are served at Hell's Kitchen. Still, the views from the Eiffel Tower Restaurant more than make up for the lack of originality where the menu is concerned.

Our recommendation

Put your glad rags on when you're going to dine at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant. If you don't, the servers will be better dressed than you, or you may even get turned away at the door. Book well in advance of your date night too. This restaurant is always busy.

Location

3655 S Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV

Price level

$$$$

Cafe Americano

If you're having a spur-of-the-moment date night and couldn't get a table at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant, there is a solution. Cafe Americano is an atmospheric eatery at Caesar's Palace on the Las Vegas Strip that's open seven days a week, 24 hours a day, so no matter what time you turn up, you'll get a table.

What makes Cafe Americano a really romantic restaurant is the décor. It's like an outdoor terrace but completely inside and has the overall appearance of a Parisian street cafe. That said, though, Cafe Americano isn't a French restaurant. It's American-Latino cuisine on the menu here, so think tacos, burgers, St Louis ribs, and chimichurri skirt steak, to name but a few of the delicious dishes.

They have several different menus at Cafe Americano. Depending on what time you go, you could be offered the dinner menu, which includes a special three-course meal, the late-night menu, or if you and your date lost track of time, the breakfast menu.

Tip: If you took your date to see the Bellagio Fountains and don't feel like walking as far as Caesar's Palace, drop in the Cafe Americano at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel. It's exactly the same in appearance as well as food-wise, so you still have that hoped-for romantic evening.

Our recommendation

Start your date on the right foot with a prickly pear margarita, then share a full rack of St Louis ribs and finish with cinnamon-baked apples and ice cream.

Location

3570 Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV

Price level

$$

Michael's Gourmet Room

Michael's Gourmet Room at the South Point Casino is, without a doubt, one of the most romantic restaurants in Las Vegas. The small and very intimate main dining room is a plush affair decked out with deep red velvet and crystal chandeliers. A more romantic setting would be hard to find.

This is a multi-award winning restaurant, and as it only seats 50 guests at any one sitting, making a prior reservation is an absolute must, and so is dressing up to dine here. Casual attire is not permitted, so make sure you have something ultra-smart ready to wear on your date night.

One thing that sets Michael's Gourmet Room above other fine dining restaurants in Las Vegas is the old-style service. Here they debone your fish and toss your salad at the side of the table. That's great if you're on a first date and the conversation is a little stilted because at least you'll have something to watch and take your mind off it. They're old-fashioned in another way, too, and they give your date a menu with no prices on it if you request it.

Our recommendation

The menu here is American cuisine with a dash of French and Italian thrown in. Start with the Scampi Fra Diavolo, followed by a Chateaubriand for two. It'll cost you an arm and a leg, but your date won't know a thing, so it'll be a really romantic meal.

Location

9777 S Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV

Price level

$$$$

 Mizumi Japanese Restaurant

The Mizumi Japanese Restaurant is one to save for that extra special occasion or to celebrate Valentine's Day in style. This restaurant tops just about all the others for being a really romantic setting.

While the main dining room is inside and decorated in an authentic Japanese style, the second dining room is outdoors next to an artificial lake full of koi where there are plants, trees, a floating pagoda table, and a beautifully lit waterfall. The setting is exceptional and definitely world-class.

If all of those stunning features aren't enough, Mizumi also has a private teppanyaki room where you can dine alone with your date while the chef cooks your food in front of you. If you decide against the teppanyaki room and go for food from the main menu, then you'll have plenty of choice between sashimi, sushi, tempura, and robatayaki, as well as soups and noodles.

Our recommendation

This is fine dining Japanese-style, but be careful not to over-order as the majority of dishes are prepared to be shared, so you'll need to come to a decision with your date on food that suits you both.

Location

3131 S Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV

Price level

$$$

Barry's Downtown Prime

Barry's Downtown Prime is a classy and relatively new addition to the romantic restaurant circuit of Las Vegas. It set out to impress from the day it opened in the Circa Resort and Casino and hasn't failed yet.

The dining room is dark but romantically lit with fairy lights that are even strung through the branches of a tree that occupies the middle of the room. It's classic with a modern twist that's as eye-pleasing as it is comfortable.

On the menu of this American-Italian restaurant, you discover a tasty selection of well-known appetizers like short rib ravioli and steak tartare while the entrees, like their signature roast chicken and burger, have been dressed up to give a more sophisticated impression. At Barry's Downtown Prime, they also offer a specialist steak menu with both dry and wet aged steaks as well as American Wagyu. Vegans are not forgotten, and they have their own special menu too.

Our recommendation

Unless you're on a meat-free diet, try the beef tartare followed by the surf and turf. Get through both of those, and you'll have ingested enough protein to keep you going for a week.

Location

8 Freemont Street, Las Vegas, NV

Price level

$$$ to $$$$

Conclusion

You don't need to go to a romantic restaurant in Las Vegas to have a romantic night. Having a wander around this neon-lit city while chowing down on a slice of takeaway pizza can be romantic too. You can get some great street food in Las Vegas, so don't feel limited to a New York or Chicago-style pie. Start or end your date in one of the many rooftop bars in Las Vegas, and your date will think they've hit the jackpot.