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

Date night

Chocolate — it’s what’s for dinner. That’s the case if you and your sweetie decide to partake of the Chocolate Spell prix-fixe menu at Hexx, the cocoa bean-to-bar operation at Paris Las Vegas. It starts out with the restaurant’s Simple Salad, butter lettuce with cheddar, chives, white balsamic vinaigrette and candied cocoa nibs, and moves on to a charbroiled 14-ounce rib-eye with asparagus and cocoa butter infused with garlic, concluding with Venezuelan milk chocolate cheesecake with peanut butter caramel and toffee popcorn, and it’s $59.95. Hexx also has introduced the Slushy G&T cocktail for spring, a twist on a classic gin and tonic topped with fresh elderflowers.

Something new

Aliante Casino in North Las Vegas has introduced The Patio at MRKT, an outdoor cafe for the summer months. The menu includes such choices as bacon-wrapped stuffed dates with smoked almonds, $10, a shrimp orzo pasta salad with feta cheese, $14; a prime rib melt with brie and sauteed onions, $12, plus summer cocktails, cold beers and wines available by the bottle or glass. The Patio at MRKT has as entrance separate from the casino.

Family fun

Eating out is tough when you have a family, but these specials from Marie Callender’s might make it a little easier: From 3 to 10 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and all day Sundays, the restaurant chain is offering half off selected appetizers, including crispy chicken tenders, a fresh-avocado-and-shrimp stack, artichoke dip, crispy green beans, mozzarella sticks, a cup of soup or a Caesar salad. And the Crave & Save Menu, available all day, has 16 meals priced at $6 to $9. Marie Callender’s has four locations in Southern Nevada.

Solo trip

Lunching downtown just got a little easier — not to mention more enjoyable — now that the Bronze Cafe of The Gay & Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada has expanded with Bronze Cafe at The Market, at The Market at 611 Fremont St. The new outlet offers groceries in addition to its traditional menu of healthful sandwiches, salads, soups, smoothies, pastries and an espresso bar, with some functions being phased in gradually.

For friends

Following the trend of poker bars upping the ante on the food side of their operations, PT’s Entertainment Group has announced a new menu at its 15 P.T.’s Gold locations, including the newest at 1540 W. Sunset Road in Henderson. New dishes include chicken and waffles, crispy smoked pork butt and a ramen bowl with chicken broth, noodles, spinach, corn, an egg, ginger and onion.