Gordon Ramsay Pub & Grill

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At a Glance

Full Review

Celebrity Chef Ramsay’s British Invasion of Las Vegas came swiftly and without much warning. In the space of six months he went from no restaurants in Sin City to three, then later five, with a high-end steakhouse at Paris, a burger joint  at Planet Hollywood; a fish & chips place at the Linq Promenade; a Hell’s Kitchen outlet at Caesars Palace; and this, what is ultimately a combination of the steakhouse and the burger joint, also at Caesars.

Designed to be a modern day interpretation of a classic English Pub, the restaurant has a casual, open cafe style section facing the casino near the Colosseum and a more formal dining room done in dark woods, fancy furnishings, and fireplaces. This split personality continues in the menu, with daytime offering “pub” grub (style burgers, sandwiches like Welsh Rarebit and corned beef brisket, salads, and British classics like bangers and mash and shepherd’s pie) while the evening “grill” is more upscale with steaks, seafood, and more English faves like Irish beef cheek stew and fish and chips.

I visited right at the transition between the two styles and was actually a little jealous that my dinner menu didn’t have the huge, fantastic looking burgers that were being consumed a couple of tables over. But me and my dining companions got over it and dove into the grill menu to make up for it.

Starters include crispy fried oysters, lamb riblettes, pork and duck rillettes, and the one we went with, mini-burgers because we hadn’t quite let go of the big burger jealousy. They were almost exactly like the ones we had at Gordon Ramsay Steak a few months earlier, which is to say fantastic, topped with Welsh cheddar cheese and applewood smoked bacon, done with a simple sauce and a sweet bun.

Also similar to the steakhouse restaurant is the English ale onion soup, which is definitely not French onion but still good in a beer-y kind of way. A few other soup and salad options include classic Caesar, confit duck, and chopped chicken.

The flashback continued as one of the people at my table opted for the fish and chips, a carbon copy of those served at the more expensive steakhouse. That was a welcome thing in this case as they were once again declared to be fantastic; not too much batter and a finer than average cod inside. Other seafood options include things like Scottish salmon, mussels and clams with chorizo, and scallops.

The “butchered” section of the menu features items like the aforementioned Irish beef cheek stew plus a dinner sized serving of Shepherd’s Pie, a beef and lamb stew, a couple of steaks, and some lamb, pork, and chicken dishes. We opted for the mustard basted hanger steak, which was not quite as good as the fancier (and much more expensive) cuts we had at Gordon Ramsay Steak but still a success with a smoky woodhouse flavor set off by a zesty red onion puree. We also sampled the Cornish chicken, perfectly herb brined with an unobtrusive truffle stuffing. It was excellent and virtually requires you to add the pureed potatoes side dish, which were so sweet and creamy that they were devoured almost to the point of licking the bowl clean.

Prices are on the high side but not as high as the steakhouse. Starters, soups, and salads are all under $20 and all of the entrees other than the steak and lamb T-bone are under $30. Go for the 32 ounce rib eye and you’ll be paying over $60 but that is an outlier. Lunch prices are more reasonable with all of the main dishes including burgers running between $18 and $30.

Service was terrific throughout the meal.

Because of the similarities of the menus between the various Gordon Ramsay restaurants, you don’t really need to go to all of them to feel as though you have gotten your fix. Go to the steakhouse if you want a fancy meal, the burger joint if you want something simple, and here if you want a combination of both.