(Hotel restaurants are not eligible in this category)
Gourmet Restaurant
Nicky Blair's
NICKY BLAIR'S
3800 Howard Hughes Parkway
If it's good enough for Frank -- make that Sinatra -- it's good enough for you, bub. The proprietor is a colorful character who used to cook osso buco for all the big Hollywood stars, until he loaded up the truck and moved from Hollywood to the Hughes Center. A few months in Las Vegas have been enough to let him slip past second-place Ferraro's and the more traditional contenders.
Our Pick:
PAMPLEMOUSSE
400 E. Sahara Ave.
Speaking of traditional contenders, Las Vegas doesn't have much in the way of noncasino dining to call its own. But longtimers -- and more than a few conventioneers with expense accounts -- consider a special-occasion French dinner in this romantic little house just off the Strip one of the unique pleasures of living here.