The 18 Best Restaurants Worth Leaving the Strip for in Las Vegas | Eater Vegas

"Chef DJ Flores’s Mexican food doesn’t start with his tinga-marinated cauliflower or earthy, braised barbacoa — it starts with his method to using masa itself. Flores approaches tortilla-making with equal parts art and science, sourcing red, yellow, and blue dried corn from small farmers in Mexico, then boiling, milling, forming, pressing, and cooking the tortillas in the restaurant’s kitchen. From there, warm, delicately flavored tortillas find their way into chicken adobo tacos, form into triangle-shaped tetelas filled with spiced squash and mushrooms, or are fried until crisp for chilaquiles. The efforts have paid off: Flores’s cooking at Milpa earned him a 2025 Best Chef: Southwest semifinalist nod from the James Beard Foundation. Tacos, blue corn pancakes, and garlicky cilantro lime shrimp bowls are also served in his casual restaurant, just right for dining in with a michelada — or ordering to go. Best for: Casual neighborhood brunch with dishes you will want to share." - Janna Karel