Beerhaus Brat

Beerhaus Brat at Beerhaus
Beerhaus is exactly the kind of place where you want to pregame before going to a hockey game or a massive rock concert, and that's why it's planted next to the new T-Mobile Arena on the Las Vegas Strip. The menu is mostly beer with a few tasty snacks and sandwiches, and this brat is one of the highlights: An IPA-infused cheddarwurst topped with smoked bacon and onion jam and crispy fried shallots. It does feel like it needs some cheese on top, perhaps instead of these fancy condiments, because you just get a taste of cheese from within the sausage. But the flavors are otherwise on point, and the snappy brat is just the right size of snack so you won't get weighed down for the rest of the night. You might have to come back for another after the show.


New England Lobster Roll

New England Lobster Roll at The Oyster Bar
A super legit lobster roll might seem an unlikely find inside of a neighborhood casino way out in northwest Las Vegas, but it actually makes a lot of sense when you consider the Oyster Bar at Palace Station (more centrally located) is a Vegas seafood institution and Station Casinos has attempted to mimic its success with a location at this more distant Santa Fe Station property. The original, however, is known more for raw shellfish, gumbo and pan roasts. That stuff is on the menu at Santa Fe, too, but then you discover this New England treat, nice-sized chunks of sweet lobster meat in a fresh, vegetable-crisp, not-too-saucy salad, crammed into a buttery, toasty cube of delicious bread. It's a bit unlike the traditional lobster roll but it's certainly satisfying and misleadingly large. Delicious Cajun spice-dusted fries are a perfect complement, but this sandwich—a knife-and-fork job for real—gets the job done all by itself. There could be a better lobster roll in the desert, but we have yet to find it.