Las Vegas Just Grew Its Restaurant Hall of Fame, and Italian Kitchens Are Leading the Way

The Review-Journal's 2026 Top 100 Restaurants list added a new name to its Hall of Fame this year, and the honor keeps landing on the same kind of place: an Italian dining room that has been quietly perfecting its craft for decades.

The List Vegas Diners Wait All Year For

Every June, the Las Vegas Review-Journal rolls out its Top 100 Restaurants list, and it is one of those rare local rankings that actually carries weight in this town. The dining team does not call ahead or ask for a comped tasting menu. They pay their own way and show up unannounced, sometimes more than once at the same address, specifically so nobody gets treated better than a regular walk-in guest would.

This year's edition, published in late June, folded in a running Hall of Fame section that recognizes restaurants for staying power rather than a single great meal. The paper's own writeup described a dining scene it said now shows more energy, breadth, and ambition than ever, pointing to a record run of James Beard semifinalist nods and the Michelin Guide's long-awaited return to town as evidence the moment is real, not hype.

Why Italian Keeps Showing Up in the Hall of Fame

The Hall of Fame grew to 11 restaurants this year with the addition of one new member, and it is worth noticing how many of the returning names are Italian. These are not flash-in-the-pan openings chasing a trend. They are places that opened when Las Vegas looked completely different than it does today and simply kept cooking, plate after plate, through every boom and slowdown the city has seen since.

That kind of longevity is hard to fake. It takes a kitchen willing to do things the slower way, hand rolling pasta and building sauces from scratch night after night, long after it would have been easier to cut corners once the crowds started showing up regardless.

Ferraro's: Forty-One Years and a World-Class Wine List

Ferraro's Ristorante has been serving Las Vegas since 1985, which puts it at forty-one years old this year, and its trophy case backs up that longevity. Gambero Rosso, one of the most respected authorities on Italian food and wine, awarded the restaurant its top tre forchette rating for 2024 after giving it a tre bottiglie nod for its wine program the year before.

That recognition puts Ferraro's in genuinely rare company. When Gambero Rosso released its international rankings, only eight of the thirty-three restaurants honored worldwide were located in the United States, and Ferraro's held its spot on that short list for a second year running. It is the kind of validation that has nothing to do with a marketing push and everything to do with what actually lands on the plate.

Piero's and Esther's Kitchen: Two Very Different Vegas Stories

Piero's Italian Cuisine has been open since 1982, nearly forty-five years now, and it carries a specific kind of old Vegas cool that is hard to manufacture. It served as a filming location for the 1995 movie Casino, and it still draws the kind of regulars who have been sitting at the same tables for decades.

Esther's Kitchen tells a newer story. It opened downtown in January 2018, a neighborhood many people doubted could support a serious independent restaurant at the time. Instead it flourished, earning its Hall of Fame nod for what the Review-Journal called a groundbreaking role in building out downtown's dining identity, proof that Italian cooking in this city is not stuck in any one era.

What It Tells Us About Sitting Down to Eat Here

None of this is really about rankings for their own sake. It is a reminder that Las Vegas has quietly built real Italian roots alongside the Strip's spectacle, kitchens that have earned their following one honest dinner at a time rather than one viral moment.

We love watching this city's Italian scene grow more crowded and more interesting every year, because a rising tide really does lift every kitchen willing to put in the work. So next time you are craving something handmade and unhurried, we would love to have you pull up a chair with us and taste what decades of doing it the slow way can actually produce.

Vegas Italian Spots Getting the Recognition Right Now

Between the Hall of Fame honorees and the wider Top 100 list, here are a few of the Italian kitchens the Review-Journal's team called out this year.

1. Ferraro's Ristorante: A Hall of Fame regular on Paradise Road, open since 1985 and holder of Gambero Rosso's top tre forchette rating for 2024.
2. Piero's Italian Cuisine: Open since 1982 and steeped in old Vegas history, right down to its cameo in the movie Casino.
3. Esther's Kitchen: Opened downtown in January 2018 and credited with helping prove the neighborhood could support serious independent dining.
4. Casa di Amore: A longtime east-side favorite that made this year's broader Top 100 lineup alongside the Hall of Fame names.
5. La Strega: A Summerlin spot representing the newer generation of Vegas Italian dining rooms on the 2026 list.
6. Monzù Italian Oven & Bar: A Spring Valley neighborhood kitchen the list singled out among the city's growing Italian dining options.
7. Sartiano's Italian Steakhouse: A newer Strip arrival at Wynn that landed on the list as part of this year's expanding Italian showing.

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