Smashed Pig

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At a Glance

Full Review

Downtown Las Vegas’ winning streak of interesting restaurants continues with this latest edition, a tiny slip of an eatery that masquerades as a British pub but really has more of a international flair to it.

Located on Fremont Street in the Fremont East Entertainment District, the Pig is just a stone’s throw from the Fremont Street Experience and in the same block as places like The Commonwealth. It’s a tiny slip of a place with a bar big enough for maybe half a dozen people up front and a dining room in the back with a handful of tables. The decor is what we’ll call warm industrial, which in this case means lots of unfinished cement that is offset by vibrant paintings and multi-hued upholstery on the chairs.

The menu is limited but is a varied as you can get with only about a dozen options. British pub favorites like Yorkshire pudding, fish and chips, and bangers and mash lead the way but then it veers into Asia with French bean tempura, sashimi, and chicken lettuce wraps with water chestnuts and crispy noodles, then back to Europe for steak frites with bearnaise sauce, and into America with a classic pub burger. It’s enough to give you whiplash, but the cool thing is that while it doesn’t seem like it would all work together it does, somehow.

We sampled the fish and chips and the burger, both of which were terrific. The fish was lightly battered and deep fried but not to excess and the burger was deeply smoky, like it had just come off a backyard barbecue grill. Delicious.

And don’t even think about skipping the sea salt garlic fries. They are just as decadent as they sound.

Desserts include sticky toffee pudding, trifle, and crepes with citrus butter among others but we were too stuffed to sample anything. It’s on my “come back later” list.

The service was fantastic and friendly and much more patient than I would have been with the family of screaming children at the table near us.

Prices are a bargain compared to The Strip. Appetizers are all under $10, main courses around $15 (except for the steak, which bumps you up to $24), and desserts all hover around $5. You could easily do a very satisfying meal here for $20 or $25.

Like I said – Downtown Vegas wins again.