Guy Fieri’s New Las Vegas Restaurant Is Exploding With Flavor, From Quesa-Birria Mexican Pizza To Donut Burgers

It’s fair to say that Guy Fieri is one of the world’s most recognizable celebrity chefs worldwide. From his array of restaurant concepts to his long roster of food programs, it’s hard to imagine how he does it all – but he does, and he’s just expanded his incredible food empire in a rather splashy way.

Fieri has just opened his latest restaurant, and to much fanfare. Located at Horseshoe Las Vegas, Guy Fieri’s Flavortown Sports Kitchen features classics familiar to fans who crave classic favorites like donkey sauce and trash can nachos, but with some exciting new additions.

“This is a monumental day for me, on so many different levels,” said Guy Fieri in an interview. “I went to UNLV, I used to come to Bally’s (now it’s Horseshoe). I love it. To think I would ever be here and have a restaurant… This project here, the new Flavortown Sports Kitchen, this embodies everything that I’m into. I’m a big sports fan, I love the opportunity to participate in sports.”

Fieri wanted to create a space that wasn’t just about watching the sports, or accompanying people who were sports fans, but also made the food just as much a part of the experience rather than an afterthought as may be seen at many sports bars. It wasn’t just about having “some food to eat,” says Fieri, but having “everybody covered.”

“My son said to me, Dad, what was going on when you started to write the menu?” Fieri reflected. “It has everything from a mezcal watermelon salad to a birria quesadilla pizza. I said: The great thing about this [restaurant] is that there are no boundaries. Just as there are no boundaries inside The Horseshoe….if you have a good time here, you don’t want to go anywhere else. We brought it all. If you want to go high-end, if you want a little more of a sit-down meal, we have fried chicken, some real-deal ribs. We do the Trash Can Nachos, but we do cheeseburger nachos here. The skirt burgers! We do partially smashed burgers, but with the frico cheese skirt. There’s a watermelon salad, with an infusion of the mezcal for a little smokiness.”

Standout menu items include the “Do-Nut Try This At Home” Donut Burger, which is exactly what it sounds like – a burger that is also a donut. In this incredibly hearty dish, a beef patty is covered with cheese, bacon, pickles, caramelized onion and Guy’s famous Donkey Sauce before being tempura battered. This rather epic burger is paired with a spicy ketchup dipping sauce. “I saw the donut burger craze going on, but I didn’t want the whole donut, because the donut is too much of the donut… We made our own donut out of brioche bun, but with a little glaze and a ton of bacon on it.” The result is a juxtaposition of the savory and sweet with richness but not too fatty or overwhelming with the sugar.

The ribs are no casual sports bar platter of ribs, either. Guy is a “St. Louis-style ribs guy,” he says. “The thing about ribs, you need a really good smoker. This is an old hickory smoker with a simple dry rub and a great sauce. Go low and slow. When you bite into that rib, it shouldn’t tear off. You should get a nice bite out of it. We’re not just a barbecue restaurant where everything has to be barbecue but anything we do, we’re going to do with authenticity.”

Another Instagram-ready burger is the Crispy Cheese burger, named for its crispy cheese skirt, and the Quesa-Birria Mexican Pizza, which pairs the birra trend (“It’s the Mexican french dip!”) with the always-popular quesadilla. “If you love birria tacos…what we do is slow-braise that beef, shred that beef, and take that broth and make the consomme. You get a quesadilla, that frico crunch, a little bit of a crema and pico de gallo, and can dip this into that. Game changer.” The Quesa-Birria Mexican Pizza is made with braised beef, pico de gallo, crumbled Cotija cheese, cilantro and lime crema on a cheese crust quesadilla served with birria consomé.

For a fun shareable app, there’s a pull-apart pretzel paired with a pale ale fondue, maple-bacon aioli, and bacon dust, that is perfect for enjoying while watching a game on one of the more than 30 TVs. There’s even a 32-foot video wall and a “MVP lounge” with two leather couches that would be a dream party atmosphere – showing that this restaurant may have non-fussy approachable but delicious grub, but there’s nothing basic about this sports bar.

Signature items are available as well, such as the classic Trash Can Nachos, but for the new restaurant they’ve been given an exciting cheeseburger spin. The nachos are made with ground beef, SMC, cheddar, tortilla chips, special sauce, and topped with lettuce, tomato, pickles, and pickled red onion.

Meanwhile, those craving a lighter dish may want to try an option like the Watermelon Mezcal salad, which involves watermelon infused with Santo Mezquila, tomato, cucumber, arugula, pepitas, pickled watermelon + crumbled Cotija.

When asked what his favorite item on the menu is, though, Fieri is thoughtful. “Food isn’t just about consumption, it’s an experience. So, when you are sitting here, and eating some really dynamite ribs, but you aren’t in Kansas City. But you bite into it and taste that smoke, and having some bomb mac and cheese with jalapeno cornbread…those are the things that make the experience.” It’s about being in the moment. “Like fried chicken. Fried chicken is a thing. It has to be brined right, buttermilk, pickle juice, garlic. It has to be dredged right, it has to be pressure fried, like we do at Chicken Guy. I don’t want it greasy, but I want a good crunch but not too much crunch.”

Even the French fries get special treatment, as the burgers and sandwiches are served with a unique fry trio. “We cook all the French fries individually because they are all different sizes. They don’t cook at the same timing, so we cook them separately. If you are going to eat French fries, eat great French fries. Eat an adventure in French fries.”

For Fieri, this restaurant is all about creating a special experience – for everyone who walks inside. “Most people come to Vegas once a year, if they are lucky. For some people, it’s their first visit. There’s all these places they could eat. When we get someone here, I want to make sure, I think it’s my responsibility, that I can give them the best experience they can have when they come to my restaurant. Everyone who participates in the Las Vegas food entertainment scene should be feeling that responsibility of giving people an awesome time. Because if they have an awesome time, they’ll come back. And not just to my restaurant, but to all the restaurants”

Las Vegas has a restaurant scene exploding with talent – but also passion. “A lot of chefs that have restaurants in town are friends of mine, or I know them in some way. A lot of the chefs I know, take that same pride and respect. I tell my team, when people come in, make sure they get the best experience they can. I won’t be here every time to do it, but you are, so take care of them,” said Fieri.

The dining experience in the Las Vegas restaurant world is just continuing to get better.“When I used to come back to Vegas, I was so happy to see the development of the restaurants. I remember when it was all buffets. It wasn’t known to be a culinary destination. That’s what is so awesome about it now. You’re going to find some of the best food in the world. You can get the best of anything in this town.”

And that is exactly what will keep people coming back. “I don’t want this to be the place you come to one time. I want you to come a bunch of times. I want this comfortableness to be here. Not everyone who comes through Vegas is into sports. Not everyone is into gambling. But usually everyone is into food.”

Especially when that food involves crispy cheese skirts and donut burgers…