eatPGH eats Vegas

When you officially announce that you have written a book, you go celebrate at Disney World. In Vegas.

So, I hit up Vegas for a week of sun, gambling, and food. A few blog-worthy highlights of my trip:

‘wichcraft, a sandwich joint by Tom Colicchio. (Also locations in NYC and San Francisco.)

For lunch on day, I ordered the pressed grilled mozzarella, provolone, black olive, and roasted tomato sandwich served on country bread. And, a devil’s food chocolate cupcake.

The pressed sandwich was huge, but honestly, it wasn’t worth the price. I know you are a Top Chef Tom, but I wasn’t blown away with the sandwich. I think the olives had something to do with it. However, I was absolutely blow away by the cupcake. Knocked my flip flops off.

Holy Moly Tom, this is one delicious cupcake. Seriously one of the best cupcakes I have ever had in my life. Why? I’ll tell you. First off, the cupcake is served chilled. Secondly, the cake is delicate and richly chocolate-ly, filled with vanilla cream. And lastly, the cupcake is topped with chocolate whipped cream icing, my absolute favorite. When ordering this cupcake, you have to eat it right away, as the Vegas heat and sun will melt it almost instantaneously, which was fine by me. I devoured these in .5 seconds each.

If you remember Coco’s Cupcakes in Shadyside, this cupcake was a very much close second to those. Coco’s will forever be my favorite cupcake, and naturally when the cupcake joint closed down, I cried for days. Even weeks. I’m actually still crying on the inside. But in Vegas, I found an excellent alternative. I ate three of these bad boys on vacation. Definitely not enough if you ask me. I need this recipe Tom. I need these shipped to me. I need these now!

Moving on: the Heart Attack Grill in Downtown Las Vegas.

This place is cash only and if you weigh over 350 pounds, you eat for free. When you dine here, you must wear hospital gowns. Seriously. And a wristband. You know, I guess if you have an actual heart attack when eating here, you can easily be transported to the nearest medical facility.

This place is called the Heart Attack Grill because everything on the menu may give you a heart attack. Literally.  Fries cooked in lard, unfiltered cigs, butterfat shakes, malt liquor, and a Guinness Book worthy burger.  The star of this menu is the Guinness Book World Record Highest Calorie Burger, that is the Quadruple Bypass Burger, two pounds in weight, loaded with cheese, tomatoes, and onions. And, if that alone doesn’t give you a heart attack, the 20 slices of bacon you can add to it just might.

For those looking to not have a heart attack, there are smaller burgers including the half pound Single Bypass Burger, one pound Double Bypass Burger, and the 1.5 pound Triple Bypass Burger.  I went for the Single Bypass Burger, topped with 5 slices of bacon, and a side of lard fries.

And for all the heart attack hype, this burger was very tasty. A fresh meat patty topped with cheese and thick-cut, non-flimsy bacon, and red onions, all on a soft bun. Seriously, a really good example of a burger. I would recommend these burgers to anyone. The lard fries were flimsy and greasy. I wouldn’t recommend these. But if you are looking to have a heart attack, then get them.

My last blog-worthy food in Las Vegas is the BBQ at Ellis Island Casino & Brewery.

I’ll admit that I’ve never had authentic, smoked BBQ. Ever. But, it is a cuisine I have been so eager to try. Finally, in Vegas I did. Half a BBQ chicken and half a rack of ribs. Both absolutely blew my culinary mind. I am now on the hunt for tasting all things BBQ.

I know I didn’t eat at some of the best restaurants in Sin City, but these few are good in my book! Though eatVegas has a nice ring to it, I’m eatPGH for life.