Vegas
Vegas
Mavens
Carnevino Restaurant at Palazzo
Just The Facts, Please.
Location
Palazzo
Dining Hours
5pm - 11pm
Chef
Celebrity Chef Mario Batali, Executive Chef Zach Allen and Winemaker Joe Bastianich
Cuisine
Italian Steakhouse
Price Range
Expect $75+
Suggested Attire
Dressy
Notes
Carnevino offers a "Beef Tasting" option for $95.
Hand-Cut Carne Cruda
with brioche and local egg
Beef Cheek Ravioli
with aceto balsamico
Wet Aged Beef
with asparagus, snap peas and chilis
Dry Aged "BBL" Beef
with trio of heirloom potatoes
Strawberry Yogurt Panna Cotta
with lavender honey whole wheat biscuit
Sample Menu Items
House-Cured Pastrami: local duck egg and asparagus $17 appetizer
Ravioli di Stratcotto: $17; +$15 for dinner portion duck livers and acero balsamico
Veal Chop $75 20 oz Bone in
'LA FIORENTINA' classic Florentine porterhouse for 2 - $70 per person
SAUCES $5
CV STEAK SAUCE - BLACK TRUFFLE VINAIGRETTE - PORCINI BEARNAISE - BAROLO RISTRETTO - SALSA VERDE
CHOPPED PICKLED PEPPERS - GORGONZOLA MASCARPONE - HORSERADISH BLACK PEPPER ZABAGLIONE
Mavens Overview: Carnevino
I'm not a big fan of restaurants with cutesy names, but for sheer practicality in naming, "Carnevino" seems to work. Carne + Vino = Carnevino. Carnevino is part of Mario Batali's growing empire of high-end restaurants. Even though Carnevino is primarily a Steakhouse, leave it to Mario to infuse it with his flare for Italian cuisine.
Carnevino faces stiff competition for title of "Carnivore's Heaven" in Las Vegas, with all the other high-end Steakhouses plus the Rodizios which bring an unlimited supply of skewered meats directly to your table, but, Carnevino's "Beef Tasting Option", for $95, guarantees that title to Carnevino.
The Internet Buzz is mostly favorable for Carnevino, with plenty of rave reviews. There is definitely some quibbling on the prices, and more than a few comments about nickel and diming of diners, such as an extra $5 for sauce on your steak. As with most high-end restaurants, the kitchen has a strong bias for cooking meats to the temperature of rare. If a truly rare steak is not what you have in mind, you might want to kick-up your temperature request a notch or two. The Wine list is extensive and expensive. Some strongly negative comments on the retail multiples, such as $100 for a$17 retail bottle, ouch.
As with most of the top restaurants in Las Vegas, if you put the menu prices aside, most diners are extremely happy to have had the opportunity to eat at Carnevino, the food tastes even better if you can get someone else to cover the check.
Internet Buzz: Carnevino
- Italian + Steak. What a heavenly combination. From start to finish my business dinner here was pretty fan-freaking-tastic. Impeccable service and some amazing food.
- If you're a connoisseur of aged beef, order one of the 6-to-8-month-old, dry-aged beauties from Molto Mario's Italian steakhouse in The Palazzo. These steaks alone would qualify Carnevino for our top spot, but it also features Batali's boffo pastas and Italian specialties, most of which take a back seat to none in town. Combine all of this with one of the best Italian wine lists on the planet, and you have the recipe for Las Vegas's greatest steak house.
- I ordered the bone in New York steak and two sides. The meat was choice at best (not prime aged 65 days like advertised) poorly seasoned and prepared. It was warm, not hot and it was served on a cold plate.
- You can order a fabulous Florentine porterhouse steak for two and enjoy the leisurely spectacle of your service team slicing it off the bone and plating it — and then shaving 5 grams of black truffle over it.
- Service was professional and courteous. I enjoyed my NY strip. All told the steak was cooked exactly as I like it. All told though I'm not convinced that this meal was worth the $100 or so it set me back. While the food was good, the restaurant was a bit loud, the wine list overwhelmingly overpriced and compared to other high dollar steak houses, this one didn't seem as impressive.
- Beef Carpaccio: PERFECT cut of "melt-in-your-mouth" meat, with crostini on the side. I was so happy with it that it nearly brought tears to my eyes.
- Wine list. What a treasure trove of Italian wines they have. For those not on a budget this wine list is killer. Their beer list is also ridiculously good might I add, but most beers were $15+! There were only 5 wines south of $100 and the markup is among the worst I've seen in Las Vegas. Our $110 wine we drank retails for $17 . Over 500% markup?! Sick for even Las Vegas if you ask me.
- Osso Buco a la Milanese served with saffron orzo and gremolata: THE best osso buco I have ever had! The meat literally fell of the bone and it was seasoned perfectly!
- Sides: Mascarpone and Guanciale mashed potatoes (mashed potatoes+mascarpone+ "super" egg= WHO KNEW?!?!?!) and fried polenta cakes. Both sides were fantastic!
- I did not expect every sauce to be an additional $5. I understand a good steak doesn't need the frills of a sauce but I just thought it was funny even the lamb had an optional $5 mint sauce. Another example of crazy costs is $22 appetizer pasta. That's right, pasta is an appetizer here, haha. It is an additional $15 to make it an entrée. Whatever Batali, you win. You're food is still fantastic. Every bite of food perplexes the mind; even the bread (delicious) with peppered lard that turned out to be pretty good.
- We were warned that a "medium rare" here is the same as rare elsewhere, and that "rare" is pretty much tartar. So we had it medium and it was still too pink for our liking. Across the board at the table we all felt the meat was a little too rare.
- We got the infamous hamburger and a pastrami sandwich, splitting each. The burger came with some with crispy pancetta and bleu cheese, and I believe some grilled onions. My husband swears it's the best burger he's ever eaten ($19). The pastrami ($18) was house-cured and very good - the sandwich's mustard overpowered it somewhat, but the meat itself was excellent.
- I recently went to Carnevino on a friends recommendation and was blown away. The arugula and goat cheese salad was incredible, and the cheeze puffs were as good as they get. I have never been a lamb chops fan, but i am now addicted to them because of this place. The wine was impeccable as well as the service. Go Carnevino!