Restaurants, bars flourish downtown

Most foodies know that some of the best dishes and cocktails are served in unique locations off the beaten path. According to Bill Arent, director of economic and urban development for the city of Las Vegas, downtown Las Vegas has become just such a place.

"The city has worked hard and put in place incentives to encourage small business growth in the area and that includes restaurants and bars," Arent said. "Most people don't expect to experience memorable meals, unique restaurants and delicious drinks downtown, but thanks to a growing diversity of restaurants, you can almost dine around the world without leaving downtown," he said.

The newest downtown hot spot is Le Thai, on Fremont Street near Sixth Street. Owned and operated by Dan Coughlin, former owner of Mix Zone Cafe, Le Thai is reminiscent of a trip to a small village in Thailand.

"My grandmother brought these recipes with her from her village," said Coughlin. "I grew up watching her prepare these dishes, and when I started cooking them for my college buddies, they could not get enough, so I knew I had just the thing for a successful restaurant."

Across the street, The Beat Coffeehouse has become a popular lunch spot for light fare, as has The Verdict's Inn Cafe on Las Vegas Boulevard near Charleston Boulevard.

Chef Beni Velazquez at Bar + Bistro, an urban eatery with seasonal cuisine and Latin fusion, offers up yet another dining experience sure to please any gourmand. His exotic take on traditional tapas includes sweet platanos, buttered bananas with pomegranate honey glaze; baby back costillas, slow-cooked pork ribs with a honey barbecue sauce; and the popular 5 Cheese Mac, smoked gouda, sharp cheddar, fontina, Manchego, roasted tomato, piquillo peppers and Parmesan crisp.

Down the street in the Holsum Lofts on Charleston Boulevard, diners can enjoy the Southern hospitality of New Orleans at Lola's a Louisiana Kitchen. Lola Pokorny, a Louisiana native, has some of the best Cajun food around. Just ask Guy Fieri of the Food Network's "Diners Drive-Ins and Dives," who recently interviewed her for an upcoming episode.

"I am simply re-creating the recipes I've been making and eating my whole life, and people seem to really enjoy them," Pokorny said. "This restaurant is my dream come true, and I love it more and more every day."

Mundo is another Latin fusion restaurant. Mundo, a Spanish word meaning world, is appropriately located in the Las Vegas Design Center at the World Market Center-Las Vegas. Its menu honors the long and flavorful history of Mexican cuisine, while its décor celebrates Old World Mexico. Dishes with Pan-American roots have been updated with sophisticated touches by a talented Mexican-native chef. A popular lunch spot, it has seen its dinner business take off since the opening of The Smith Center across the street.

Triple George Grill, the Third Street steakhouse, also has reported an increase in dinner business from theatergoers and has designed special menus for Smith Center patrons. The restaurant also recently added a vegan menu. According to Seth Schorr, CEO of Fifth Street Gaming and operator of Triple George, it was something that guests were anticipating.

"We had many guests ask for vegan menu items as they seek healthy dining options," Schorr said. "It was a natural for us to create a special menu that works for a vegan lifestyle. And on Fridays, we now offer specials made with produce from our Downtown 3rd Farmers Market held right around the corner from Triple George."

Health-consious diners also will want to check out the Keep Memory Alive Café, an offshoot of Red Velvet Café that is located at the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. In keeping with the philosophy that good nutrition maintains and promotes brain health, chef Aneesha Tolani, who earned her baking stripes in the kitchen of Thomas Keller's Bouchon, provides guests with a menu of organic and vegan-friendly options. The café claims that no dish is more than 200 calories or 6 grams of fat.

DW Bistro, which serves a mix of Jamaican and New Mexican cuisine, has built quite a following at its southwest Las Vegas restaurant, which opened in the spring of 2010. Now the restaurant is set to repay its loyal customers by bringing a second location to the center of town. Taking over the old Andre's space on Sixth Street, DW Downtown is slated for an early 2013 opening.

Popular downtown mainstays include Chicago Joe's, a cozy Italian restaurant on Fourth Street; and El Sombrero, Casa Don Juan and Dona Maria for those in search of authentic Mexican cuisine.

If your trip around downtown makes you thirsty, some delicious drinks abound at local bars on Fremont East, Downtown 3rd and the Arts District.

Mob Bar in the Downtown 3rd district is the newest bar and is reminiscent of an old-fashioned 1920s speakeasy. The cocktails have been engineered by renown mixologists and food is created by the executive chef of sister restaurant Triple George Grill.

In the Las Vegas Arts District, Lady Silvia is a beautifully decorated, nonsmoking bar that looks like an interior design showroom and caters to a hip, professional crowd that likes to sip fine boutique wines and cool cocktails. The Lady Silvia has no sign; patrons enter through door 140 at Soho Lofts.

It wouldn't be a trip downtown without a stop at the Downtown Cocktail Room or the Vanguard Lounge on East Fremont Street. Both bars offer a sophisticated vibe and perfectly made seasonal cocktails.

Insert Coin(s) a nightclub featuring videogames, recently celebrated its one-year anniversary on Fremont Street and Las Vegas Boulevard.

Construction is humming along inside the former Sears department store at 601 Fremont St., where two businesses will open on the 14,000-square-foot ground floor: a music venue called Fremont Country Club and an upscale sports bar and pool hall, Backstage Billiards.

Another vacant storefront at the corner of Fremont and Sixth streets, once the Hollywood Fashion lingerie and dancewear store, is expected to become the Commonwealth bar by late summer.