Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill - Caesar's Palace - Las Vegas

Newsflash: Vegas April 2006 Booby Flay's Mesa Grill update We have changed our opinion after our second visit to Flay's Las Vegas outpost. Read about the
sorry demise of the world's best burger here.

Visited November 2004
We were wandering through Caesar's Palace some time just after noon when Fred declared himself to be hungry. "Well, lets have some lunch then", I suggested. We turned a corner to see what appeared to be some kind of fairly cool looking restaurant to our left. We struggled to see a name and eventually made out the word Mesa almost hidden in large square panels near the entrance. There was no menu to be seen outside so we just took a chance, marched in and asked for a table. No problem. We were seated in under 5 minutes.

As I opened the menu, it dawned on me, "Ah this is the restaurant of that guy who does Boy Meets Grill, I exclaimed. Fred of course didn't have a clue what I was talking about. Neither did I, hardly. I'd seen the show only once, over 6 months ago. I am not a big watcher of TV. I seemed to remember I quite liked it and that he gave a few good BBQ tips.


The room is lofty and fairly stylish with a palette of woods and colours that matched Fred's shirt perfectly.

The Menu is what I guess might be described as Southwestern. The lunch menu seemed reasonably priced and I already felt confident it would be better and cheaper than our disappointing meal the night before at Circo .



We ordered a glass, each, of 2002 Sea Smoke Botella Pinot Noir . It was delicious, and so beautifully presented. Each serving in it's own little carafe made by Spiegelau.


The Blue Corn Pancake, barbecued Duck + Habanero Chile Sauce $9 was a small but perfectly formed appetizer. Plump, juicy shreds of duck in a slightly sweet sauce with a spicy kick. The only problem with this dish? It was too small... so delicious - I could have eaten two!


Cotija Crusted Quesadilla with Wild Mushrooms, Cascabel Chiles + White Bean White Truffle Hummus $11 This was a disappointment. The cheese and mushrooms were so mild, they couldn't compete with the spiciness of the hummus and chile pepper coating on the quesadilla, which itself was a little bland, dense and dry. The truffle oil was superfluous to the presentation. This quesadilla did nothing for me. I left about half of it and spent the rest of the time trying to concoct ways to get Fred to part with morsels of his amazing burger.


Mesa Burger, with Double Cheddar Cheese, Grilled Viladia Onion and Horseradish Mustard on a House Roll served with Southwestern fries $11 This was honestly one of the best burgers I have ever had. Fred rated it in a separate category above and beyond all other burgers. The meat was cooked medium rare as ordered, and was tasty and delicious. The toppings really worked well together and the horseradish mustard, which was served separately was just the ticket.. Really spicy and tasty. Perfection. We didn't care for the spicy Southwestern fries however. We would have preferred plain fries as a milder backdrop to the other tasty ingredients in the dish. Fred kindly took pity on me and my half-eaten quesadilla and let me have several bites of his own lunch.


Warm Chocolate and Dulce De Leche Cake with toasted pecan icecream $12
Dessert was another disappointment. Everything was too sweet. The cake was mushy and soggy throughout. A crisp outer surface would have improved it no end. I did like its cardamom flavour, however. A little macaroon embellishment was just too sweet to be of any use to the dish. Icecream was ok, Dulce de Leche was hardly discernible. The only really good part of the dish was a little bed of toasted nut praline underneath the ice cream.

Conclusion: Service was very well-meaning, even though it was a little fussy at some points and a little lost at others. The atmosphere is very friendly and despite the classiness, not too serious. This is a place you can go and have a good time. I am certain if I found myself in Vegas again, I would be drawn to Mesa's Grill, if only to experience another one of those heavenly burgers. Even though I chose 2 less than stellar dishes, I wouldn't hesitate to return to Mesa and give this potentially promising new restaurant another try.


See the full Mesa Menu here .
(This menu shows dinner prices, the lunch prices are markedly cheaper)

Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill - Caesar's Palace - Las Vegas