Q: positive

A: We came to Daniel Boulud's sole Las Vegas restaurant on what would be its last night of service. The Daniel Boulud name just did not attract enough people to the restaurant - evidenced by the restaurant being only half full on its final night during July 4th weekend. We ordered variations of the "Taste of Wynn" fixed menu, as well as a supplemental burger. DB's Onion Soup - cheese, beef shank, guinness: I really enjoyed this soup. Good onion flavor, with a hearty, deep beef flavor imparted by the beef shank. The mixture of the cheeses was delicious as well. Duck Terrine - foie gras, pistachio, country toast: The terrine was nice, with chunks of duck and foie gras mingled throughout. The pistachio added some crunchy texture, which went well in the terrine. Scottish Salmon - asparagus, english peas, sauce bearnaise: The salmon was cooked perfectly. However, I thought the rich bearnaise sauce was a little overpowering for the delicate salmon. Steak Frites - 8 oz. sirloin, watercress, french fries: The steak was great. Tender, flavorful and cooked well. The fries were also delicious, as they came out hot and crispy. The watercress provided a nice counterpoint, adding a light peppery flavor. Original BY DB Burger - 9 oz. sirloin burger stuffed with braised short ribs, foie gras, and black truffle, on a parmesan bun with french fries: Considering we had been to Burger Bar earlier in the day for lunch, we wanted to try this as a sort of comparison. Boulud was one of the pioneers of the high-end burger trend, so I really wanted to give this a try. The burger is just completely stuffed with beef, foie gras and short ribs. Very rich and decadent, you can pick out the beefy flavors of the sirloin and short rib, as well as the foie gras, but I felt the truffles were a bit muted. However, this was still a very good burger, but probably too rich for one person to enjoy. Chocolate Hazelnut Fondant - nougatine crunch, coffee ice cream: I really enjoyed this dessert, however full I was after that burger. The coffee ice cream was delicious, to start, with a deep coffee flavor. The chocolate cake was fairly dense and richly chocolate - chocolate and coffee are a great pairing. Meyer Lemon Tart - candied lemon rind, thai basil ice cream: This was a really pretty dessert. The tart was quite sour, indicative of the meyer lemon, but the sweet lemon rind provided a nice sweetness. The thai basil ice cream was really delicious, and I thought it went pretty well with the strong lemon flavor of the tart. In all, the meal was very solid. Nothing exceptionally creative, per se, but comfortable food executed well. I don't think it deserves to close (there are a ton of restaurants that are worse), but people just weren't coming. Rumor has it that Boulud is looking for other places in Vegas to have a restaurant. Considering the strip's heavy emphasis on name-brand chefs, it's probably only a matter of time.

Q: negative

A: We were not welcomed with a smile. Just a young girl doing her "job". As we were seated in the back room we walked by 5 booths that were empty but not cleared of their dirty dishes. (yuck) There seemed to be lots of help but no one was cleaning. The place was noisy and the floors were very dirty. The back room where we seated was small and looked like a supply closets. Even some kind of big bucket sitting on some clean up table and a broom leaning up against the wall. Our table had spilled liquid on it that we pointed out and the hostess just grabed some napkins and wiped it off quickly. The service was good and we liked out server until she took my drink for a refill. I saw her carry my empty glass and another glass from another table away touching so I assumed I would get a fresh glass. Upon returning I got my glass ( hopefully) with my straw in it. They originally served my drink and gave me a wrapped straw. The food overflowed the plate which did not look good and it was almost tasteless. Two dinners and one lemonade was over $27 without tip. As we left we walked by 5 young men workers near a front desk all talking to each other. No one thanked us nor asked us to come again. We will NOT go again.

Q: positive

A: Loudons has everything you want from a cafe/coffee shop: - Good coffee (Gotta love it when a place makes a heart out of your cappuccino foam. How fancy!) - Delicious lunch - Friendly staff - Tons of cute babies to make funny faces at (Seriously, I challenge you to go to Loudons and NOT see at least one cute baby. It won't happen.). - (and best of all) Free, FAST, Wi-Fi. My best friend and I sit in there all day, drinking coffee and working on our laptops. When we're feeling flush (aka when we're not feeling dirt poor) we splurge for a pesto, mozzarella sandwich or a quiche to split for lunch. The food is really tasty!! Well done, Loudons.

Q: negative

A:
Awful. I was initially attracted by the picture outside that had a rack of mouth-watering ribs (which, by the way, looks nothing like the actual product). I'm so glad I only ordered the half rack, because I found the "watermelon" BBQ sauce nauseating. It lacks any sort of intensity or flavor, so it was almost like I was eating the ribs naked, which essentially tastes like bland pork. However, I did see the people next to me eating wings and they looked a helluva lot better than what I ordered, so maybe I might go back and try something else. But not soon, because I inadvertently under-tipped my waiter by miscalculating the total cost (I had only brought cash). Oh well.