Chef Todd English closing Vegas outpost of restaurant that made him famous

Todd English, a marquee chef here for the past 25 years, is closing the Las Vegas outpost of the restaurant that made him famous.

Olives, in Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, is closing after dinner service on June 4, the Review-Journal confirmed in a telephone call to the property. The restaurant opened less than two years ago, in August 2021. The first Olives in Vegas debuted as Bellagio launched in 1998 and was open there for nearly two decades.

English debuted the first Olives in 1989 in Boston, and that restaurant would lead to a culinary group that now stretches from Vegas to Washington, D.C., to Dubai. In Vegas, the chef also has The Beast restaurant at Area15 (opened in early 2021) and The Pepper Club in his English Hotel downtown (opened early last year).

Wood-fire cooking helped anchor the menu at the Virgin Olives, with dishes such as grilled squid and octopus, wood-oven branzino and grilled steaks.

The chef is the winner of multiple James Beard Awards. It’s unclear what might replace Olives at the hotel.

Contact Johnathan L. Wright at jwright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @JLWTaste on Instagram or @ItsJLW on Twitter.