Carson Kitchen

Carson Kitchen is one of the restaurants that brought new life to Downtown Las Vegas, and it remains a favourite with locals for creative comfort food in a relaxed setting. It opened in 2014 as a partnership between restaurateur Cory Harwell and the late chef Kerry Simon, who died in 2015, and it occupies the corner of Carson Avenue and 6th Street inside the John E. Carson Hotel building, a few minutes' walk from Fremont Street.

The restaurant specialises in creative American cuisine and carefully made cocktails, with a menu that reimagines comfort food using approachable fine-dining ingredients. Small plates and sharing dishes make up much of the menu. Devil's eggs are a signature, and other dishes have included grilled oysters, gyro tacos and tempura green beans, alongside larger plates such as a pork chop with sage beurre blanc and a ginger pear salad. Ordering several plates for the table is the best way to eat here.

Upstairs, an outdoor rooftop and bar give the restaurant extra space and a pleasant spot for a drink on a warm evening. On weekdays, a happy hour from 3pm to 5pm in the bar area includes the devil's eggs at a reduced price, which makes it a good stop between sightseeing and dinner.

Carson Kitchen is open every day from 11.30am, closing at 10pm from Sunday to Thursday and at 11pm on Friday and Saturday. Reservations are available through the restaurant's website and are recommended for dinner and at weekends. It suits couples, groups of friends and anyone looking for a mid-priced meal with plenty of character, and its all-day hours make it an easy lunch stop too.

Because the menu is built around sharing plates, a group of three or four can try a good spread of dishes, and the bar suits solo diners.

The restaurant is in the Fremont East area of Downtown, so it is ideally placed for an evening that continues under the Fremont Street Experience canopy or at the cocktail bars nearby. The Mob Museum is a short walk away, and the Neon Museum is a quick ride north, making Carson Kitchen a natural lunch or dinner stop on a day spent exploring Downtown.