Evan W.
Yelp
The Las Vegas outpost of this midtown Manhattan stalwart makes for a very nice dining experience, though not the very best steak dinner in a city filled with great steak dinner options.
The space is an effective recreation of the original New York location, with deep browns and reds giving you a clubby, convivial feel -- so long as you're looking INTO the restaurant. If your view is of the opposite direction, you can't help but see that the front opens directly onto the casino floor, and that slot machine chaos undermines the efforts to make you feel that you're tucked away in a cozy spot.
Service was stellar, with everyone from the host to the wait staff being friendly and accommodating. Bread service was an attempt at something from a bygone time, a combination of sliced French bread and a more whole grain, cranberry loaf. While the concept is good, the bread itself was cold and unexceptional -- more flavorful iterations, served warm, would have been a home run, but as it was, it was more like an intentional walk.
Much better was my starter of Escargot, served here with puff pastry tops instead of shells. The snails were a good size and properly cooked, leaving them with a plumpness that can often be missing. The ubiquitous sauce of butter and garlic was leagues above the standard issue fare, with a strong herbaceous flavor holding its own against the bite of the garlic. Really, a very well executed Escargot.
For our entree course, my wife and I shared the Center Cut Filet Mignon, which was quite properly cooked to a medium rare+ (a persnickety order, I know). Despite hitting he temperature dead-on, the steak didn't have much seasoning or flavor. We've all become used to the sizzling butter served atop steaks at other places, but there are also plenty of places that serve a steak packed with flavor even without butter or other sauces on the side.
Speaking of sides, we ordered the Potatoes Au Gratin, and we were underwhelmed. Instead of the anticipated thin-sliced potatoes baked in cheese, Gallagher's version consists of tiny potato cubes (a la coffee shop home fries) served in a miniature copper pot with cheese sauce ladled on top... really more like an upscale version of cheese fries that you'd get at a sports bar. Taste was okay, but ultimately it felt like we didn't get what we were expecting.
In the end, this was a very decent meal and I have no regrets per se, but there are many other, better steak dinners to be had in Vegas, and I wouldn't make it a point to return here unless it was a matter of convenience.