Sid’s Café

Information

At a Glance

Full Review

There is nothing terribly special about Sid’s Café at the Westgate Resort & Casino and that, in and of itself, is what kind of makes it special.

These days restaurants in Vegas want to have some sort of a hook – a theme, a fancy chef pedigree, a cuisine specialty, or some sort of unique location (eat while watching the fountains!). Most of the time this is just an excuse to charge more for food that you could get without those things for significantly less.

Sid’s doesn’t operate under such pretensions. It’s basically a 24 hour diner (although it isn’t open 24 hours) serving up down-home cooking for moderate prices. While the room it’s in seems kind of fancy, with plush chairs and luxe décor, it’s really just a nice coffee shop and I’m a fan of nice coffee shops.

The menu is all over the place. Starters include the cute chicken lollipops, which are chicken wings done in your choice of Buffalo, garlic, or Thai glazes. There are a couple of soups including homemade chicken noodle and matzo ball plus a variety of salads to get you going.

Main courses are mostly of the comfort food variety with items like meatloaf, fried chicken, prime rib, steak, salmon, and a lobster penne if you really want to go crazy. You could also choose from a variety of sandwiches including a lobster roll, cheesesteak, an Italian grinder, ham and cheese, or a build your own burger option. Lunch and dinner offers a couple of breakfast type items (egg dishes) but if you want a bigger selection you’ll have to come at breakfast time.

We sampled the aforementioned chicken lollipops and if I had to choose just one I’d go for the garlic parmesan glaze. The Buffalo was a little too spicy for my tastes and the Thai was a little too bland so garlic felt just right.

The also had an Italian wedding soup special that was fantastic, with a nice juicy meatball and plenty of veggies, done with just the right amount of zesty flavor.

The meatloaf came sitting on top of a bed of mashed potatoes, all drowned in brown gravy, which is not my favorite way to serve this particular dish – I’m more of a tomato sauce fan myself – but it was hearty and rich and entirely too much food for one person to consume. Ditto the prime rib, served in a similar gravy with an open-faced sandwich presentation.

A massive piece of delicious chocolate cake finished off the home-cooked feeling.

Again, nothing here made me want to write sonnets about it, but everything we tried was well-prepared, flavorful, and satisfying, especially when you consider the prices. We did a shared appetizer, two soups, three entrees, and one dessert plus beverages, tax, and tip for around $100. Try that at any diner/café/coffee shop on The Strip.

Is Sid’s worth going out of your way for? Probably not. I’d actually prefer to eat at one of those restaurants that is trying to be special in some way, even if it means paying a few more bucks. But if you’re in the neighborhood and you’re in the mood for a home cooked, comfort food style meal, this is one of the better places to find it.