This week’s 5 best bets for dining in Las Vegas

For friends

Sure, you like to eat out with friends, but what about your best friend? Glutton at 616 E. Carson Ave. in downtown Las Vegas becomes the latest valley restaurant to let you dine with your canine companion, during brunch from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekends. Your pup will get a fresh bowl of water and some dog treats, while you partake of yeast-risen pancakes, shrimp and grits or wood-roasted halibut. Upon arrival, notify the hostess that you’re with a furry friend and you’ll be directed to the shaded patio.

Something new

Here’s one way to cope with soaring summer temperatures: Dom DeMarco’s Pizzeria and Bar, 9785 W. Charleston Ave., recently introduced a new craft cocktail menu. Selections include the Five Boroughs, a white Negroni variation, and Dom’s Bloody Mary, made with vodka infused with Italian Calabrian chilies mixed with San Marzano tomatoes and garnished with house-made fresh mozzarella.

Family fun

Teach the kids a little something about creativity and competition during a pizza cook-off at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Trevi at the Forum Shops at Caesars. Beth Fisher of KTNV-TV, Channel 13, and the Review-Journal’s own Doug Elfman will choose the ingredients for their own specialized pizzas. The winner will get $500 for the charity of their choice and their pizza will be added to the Trevi menu for a limited time. Trevi also will offer its cheese pizzas for $10 on Wednesday, with proceeds also going to the winner’s charity.

Solo trip

You may be a solo diner now, but Border Grill at Mandalay Bay is doing its best to ensure you can change that if you want. At its fourth annual Amor a la Carte, from 6 to 8 p.m. June 17, each participant will dine with someone new for the first four seated courses; the fifth course will be mixer-style. Tickets, which are on sale now, are $99; go to http://bit.ly/20RJS0Y.

Date night

If you like your blues mixed with brews and barbecue, you can get all three at the festival that begins at 4 p.m. Saturday at the Cannery, 2121 E. Craig Road in North Las Vegas. Barbecue will be by Seven Seas Seafood, Road Kill Grill, Ben’s BBQ and more, tunes by musicians including Booker T. Jones and John Lee Hooker Jr., and craft beers and ciders will be available.