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Location Makes Center Stage Worth Dining
Steakhouse Isn't Among City's Best
Rick Garman, Vegas4Visitors.com
Updated: 12:09 p.m. EDT October 6, 2003 The Center Stage Restaurant is one of those landmark places many people don't even know exists. Oh sure, anyone who has been to the Fremont Street Experience has seen it hovering there -- a glass dome at the end of the street in front of the Plaza, perched on a pedestal like some sort of 1970s-era space ship. But don't feel badly if you didn't know there was a restaurant in there -- now you do, and now you don't have any excuse for not visiting the next time you hit the area. Although Vegas is overrun with steakhouses like this one, there aren't many worth noting in the downtown area, and there are none with the ambience of the Center Stage. This is old-school Vegas, complete with caricatures of the famous and powerful lining the walls, a grand piano being played softly in the corner, dim lighting, a tuxedoed maitre 'd, and a fabulous bar where you can practically feel the ghosts of the '70s lurking in the shadows. The whole place has been redone recently, so it's all spiffy, but I'm grateful they didn't throw away the heritage when they painted the joint. It is the main dining area under the dome that is the true lure here. This is important, since there are dining areas elsewhere that don't afford the view, so be sure to specify -- perhaps with a generous tip -- where you want to be seated. The dome has several tables and booths, all offering a terrific view of the light show from the Fremont Street Experience. When the show begins, the lights in the already dim dome dim even further and they pipe in the music being played down on the street. True, it isn't the concert-level sound you'll hear if you're standing outside, and the oblique angle means you might not be able to tell exactly what that particular blob-like animation is supposed to be, but it's still impressive to watch, especially at the end when all of the lights of Glitter Gulch come back on. Say hi to the cowboy Vegas Vic. Ah, but you came here to eat didn't you? This is not the best steakhouse in town. But the food is very good, the service is great, and the prices are a bargain compared to the places considered to be the best steakhouses in town. You could start with appetizers like a traditional shrimp cocktail or clams chardonnay, just to go with that old-school Vegas feeling. I went a different direction and tried the bruschetta (toasted bred with fresh tomatoes, basil and garlic) and was not at all disappointed. Each will run you in the $8 to $9 range. The restaurant only has a couple of salads -- a Caesar and a house -- but you can order them as a meal for $8 or with your entree for only $3. But you don't really need to do that, since each entree comes with bread, your choice of house salad or soup, and one side dish of your choice. That's a heck of a lot of food, so don't waste space with a big Caesar salad. Speaking of entrees, the seafood and poultry section of the menu features Chicken Angelo, a breast sauteed in white wine and cognac, with artichoke hearts and mushrooms; Cornish hen; orange roughy; Pacific salmon; and crab legs and lobster tails. Neither my guest nor I were in a seafood or chicken mood, so we can't vouch for these selections. If you feel like sampling, it'll cost you around $15 for everything, but the market price for crab and lobster. We of course went straight for the meat section. Hey, it's a steakhouse! To heck with the cholesterol, full speed ahead! There's a 14 oz. New York steak served with crispy red-onion rings or a giant version called the magnum cut. The filet mignon is served in a thyme-infused port demi-glaze reduction or a less adventurous bearnaise with sauteed mushrooms. The 20-ounce porterhouse comes with a Creole dipping sauce. And, of course, don't forget about the queen or king cut roasted prime rib. The prime rib was the best thing we sampled. Don't be fooled by that queen/king thing -- the queen cut was big enough for dinner and lunch the next day. It was tender and dripping with juice, just the way prime rib is supposed to be, and we heartily recommend it. The filet mignon was less successful, but only in comparison to filets we've had elsewhere. Viewed on its own, the cut was ample and quite satisfying. The porterhouse was the big disappointment of the night, but we're taking some of the responsibility for that. It was cooked as ordered -- medium-well -- but that's too much cooking for this piece of meat. Had we asked for a standard medium preparation, we think it would have come off much better. It's too bad, because we really did dig that Creole dipping sauce, a kicky twist to an otherwise standard steak. Prices in the steak section ran from $16 to $22, quite a bargain considering all of the things that come with the meal. Among the side dishes at your disposal are garlic mashed or a giant baked potato, lemon-herb rice and a bunch of veggies. As mentioned, you get one with the meal, but if you want an extra -- trust us, you won't need it -- it'll run you $5. A full dessert and after-dinner drink menu follows. We were wiping the chocolate off our faces for hours, and that's all you really need to know. I'll admit it -- if the Center Stage was located in a Strip mall on Maryland Parkway, I wouldn't be talking about it here. It was good but not fantastic, and with a billion steakhouse options you should choose the fantastic ones first. But the Center Stage isn't in a strip mall, it's commanding the throne of the Fremont Street Experience and that turns what would otherwise have been a OK meal into a lively dining experience.
Center Stage Restaurant Vegas4Visitors Grade: B+
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