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RESTAURANT REVIEW: With a Smile

Fuego goes the extra mile with service worthy of emulation

Memo to the Bros. Fertitta: If you'd like to give credit where it's due, redirect some executive's nice fat fringes to the Fiesta Henderson and reward Debbie, the hostess at Fuego.

I've been carping a lot about service lately, but Debbie was enough to put to rest the bad memories of the lax and the lackadaisical. Arriving without a reservation on an evening when the restaurant was, our waiter later told us, busier than usual, we found it truly refreshing to be met by someone who seemed to understand the concept of the word "hostess." She apologized for what would be a wait of less than five minutes -- and remember, we didn't have a reservation -- and, when we asked for directions to the closest restroom, actually walked outside the restaurant to point the way. Seating us a few minutes later, she said our waiter would be tied up for a few minutes and offered to take our drink order.

Our waiter was indeed busy -- are roller skates part of the uniform? -- but he remained in remarkably good humor and managed to maintain a great level of service after the initial delay Debbie had warned us about.

Management styles filter down to the troops, so it wasn't much of a surprise later to see a manager making the rounds, greeting customers, chatting up regulars and even coming by to offer a bag for our doggie box. In fact, every Fuego employee we came in contact with was personable, polite and bright. How refreshing: a place where customer service is alive and well.

Fantastic, but only part of a restaurant's equation, of course. Let's not forget the food; silk-purse service can't save a pig's-ear kitchen. That really wasn't much of a problem, though.

Fuego -- the newly renovated restaurant that formerly was Tusks -- is a steakhouse, but one with lots more to offer than steak. An appetizer of Drunken Shrimp ($8.99) consisted of four large shrimp cooked just to the point of opacity, so that they were firm but still succulent. The menu said the shrimp were prepared with Cabo Wabo tequila, jalapeño and lime, and we had some trepidation that it might be spicier than we wanted.

Not to worry. The predominant flavors of the marinade were cilantro and lime, with just enough kick to keep things interesting. And there was a great deal of evidence of attention to detail in this dish; a thick slice of lime had been scored along its peel in alternating thin and thick bands for an artful touch and wispy strands of citrus zest formed a crown above the shrimp in the center of the plate.

As I said, our waiter was quicker on the uptake than some, and when we said we wanted the French onion soup ($3.99) as an appetizer, he pointed out that dinners included a choice of soup or salad, so we could have the soup as a starter to be followed by the salad, or simply the soup. We chose the former, and found the soup to be pretty middle ground, with a decent enough stock and a cap of mild cheese.

Salads were crisp and varied, but our waiter killed his description of the house dressing, which had initially sounded interesting, by saying it was "like a Thousand Island." No, thanks.

Prices at Fuego are in the category where you feel you've ordered a steak, not an entire steer, and it's possible to order reasonable sizes as well. Our 7-ounce filet mignon ($16.99; a 10-ounce size was $19.99) was well-flavored, appropriately tender and rare as ordered; it's nice to see some courage in the kitchen. It is true that at these prices, you're not going to get quite the same quality that they serve in the high-end places that charge twice as much but have the luxury of lengthy dry-aging.

Served on the side was a pleasantly peppery (though maybe this was courtesy of our waiter's pepper mill) melange of lightly sautéed squash, mushrooms, beans, onions and peppers, with a garnish of a fried waffle-cut potato that topped the plate like a sail, and a baked potato that was absolutely the largest we've seen in quite some time.

Coconut shrimp ($17.99) was succulent with a nice crunchy exterior and that unique mix of sea and sweet that characterizes this dish. The raspberry dipping sauce on side was too astringent, but the shrimp did just fine on their own.

We were charmed by the idea of baked Alaska ($9.99) for dessert -- it's such a nice touch of old Vegas -- but the reality didn't quite measure up; the meringue exterior ended up charred, the underlying cake layer was average and the chocolate-peanut butter frozen interior was just too rich.

It was, however, a small thing. Overall, Fuego carries the torch quite nicely.

Las Vegas Review-Journal restaurant reviews are unannounced and done anonymously at Review-Journal expense.

A fire pit and a fireplace help reinforce the meaning of Fuego's name.
Photo by Amy Beth Bennett.

what: Fuego

where: Fiesta Henderson (formerly The Reserve), 777 W. Lake Mead Drive, Henderson

phone: 558-7000

overall: B+

food: B+

atmosphere: B

service: A

pluses: Service

minuses: Next time, we'll skip the baked Alaska.