The Best Affordable Restaurants In Las Vegas

Tacos El Gordo, the Mexican restaurant with Tijuana roots, has been in the taco business since 1972, opening it first Las Vegas location on the north end of the Strip near Wynn Las Vegas in 2010. The restaurant offers handmade corn tortillas, a variety of meats, and guacamole and salsas made from scratch daily. Go for the adobo spiced pork taco on a corn tortilla with a choice of fresh toppings.

Hussong’s Cantina, the Mexican restaurant in the Shoppes at Mandalay Place specializes in margaritas, a cocktail the restaurant created in Ensenada in Baja California, Mexico, in 1941. Pair a margarita with Baja beer-battered fish, Baja shrimp, seared pork belly, or carne asada without breaking the bank. The restaurant serves lunch and dinner. 

Las Vegas-born nacho specialist Nacho Daddy finds a home at the Miracle Mile Shoppes at Planet Hollywood Resort. A menu of 10 different nacho concoctions come with chicken Tinga, pork carnitas, Buffalo chicken, or even southern fried, while a gourmet version of the dish features filet mignon, spicy shrimp, lobster and crab, or Thai chicken. The restaurant’s motto, “Never a Dry Chip,” ensures an equal smattering of homemade queso on every chip. Do be sure to order a scorpion shot if you’re feeling daring. 

Technically, the hidden restaurant on the second level of the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas is called The Pizzeria, but everyone knows it as Secret Pizza. The pizza restaurant that stays open until 4 a.m. with a line out the door serves New York slices and whole pies, along with Pabst Blue Ribbon on tap. Album covers line the walls.  

The Downtown Grand’s Pizza Rock from 13-time World Pizza Champion Tony Gemignani offers Italian and American pizza styles including Neapolitan, classic Italian, classic American, Sicilian, Roman, and gluten-free, all cooked in one of the restaurant's four different ovens. Do look for the replica of the big rig inside the restaurant. 

Coal-fired pizzas straight out of New York City have a couple homes on the Strip: Fashion Show mall and the Grand Canal Shoppes at the Palazzo. Grimaldi's Pizzeria only sells whole pies using handmade mozzarella, a secret recipe for its dough, and pizza sauce made in house. The Palazzo location stays open until midnight on weeknights and 2 a.m. on the weekend. 

Order a Guinness and take a seat at Rí Rá Irish Pub at the Shoppes at Mandalay Place. The pub features an interior made from a restored pub from Ireland shipped to Las Vegas, and a lively line-up of live music and food from breakfast until late at night. Order an all-day Irish breakfast, corned beef and cabbage, fish and chips, or even bangers and mash. Even the non-pub lover can find burgers, pork chops, or chicken pot pie. 

The host of “Restaurant Impossible” serves pub fare at Robert Irvine’s Public House at the Tropicana. While British staples such as fish and chips and Shepherds pie appear on the menu, diners can order build-your-own burgers, a rack of St. Louis ribs, and steak frites leave everyone satisfied. Do order the English Banofee pie with banana and toffee for a decadent finish to any meal. 

Head next door to the Race & Sports Book at Venetian for dim sum or noodle dishes at Noodle Asia, serving from lunch until 3 a.m. Dishes here range from rice and congee dishes, to barbecue pork and roast duck noodles in broth, as well as Singapore vermicelli, shrimp-fried rice, and more. Everything is meant to come out quickly as well. 

Find dishes from Hong Kong at this casual restaurant at the Palazzo. A rice roll with X.O. sauce, Macau-style roasted pork belly, fried fish ball with curry, baked Chilean sea bass, pan-seared scallop with Sichuan pepper sauce, and pepper-crusted beef tenderloin with golden garlic flakes are just some of the specialities served at lunch and dinner at Hong Kong Cafe.

No trip to Las Vegas is complete without a stop at the 24-hour Peppermill, a Las Vegas classic just north of Wynn Las Vegas. The 10-page menu spans breakfast round the clock, a hefty list of sandwiches and burgers, steaks, and entrees such as Southwestern beef kabobs, a creamy chicken dijon, and barbecue pork ribs. Do stop inside the Fireside Lounge for a retro cocktail around the fire pit. 

Planet Hollywood Resort’s ode to Hollywood keeps American classics coming out 24 hours a day. Big portions for breakfast, six-cheese macaroni and cheese, barbecue ribs, a crispy fried chicken sandwich, and monster-sized shakes fuel any adventure in Las Vegas. Cafe Hollywood even has a late-night menu featuring fried rice or ramen, omelets, pancakes, and burgers. 

The 24-hour diner The Henry at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas specializes in breakfast dishes such as the short rib Benedict and a huge portion of brioche French toast. A wedge salad and French dip cover lunch to late night, while gluten-free diners can find a menu catering to their dietary needs. 

Shake Shack at New York-New York brings easy-to-eat burgers, hot dogs, and chicken sandwiches along with crinkle cut fries to its restaurant on the Strip. Diners can find a small menu of beer and wine, as well as custard shakes. 

Many a Vegas visitor swings through the California burger giant for a Double Double. At the Linq Promenade, it’s hard to miss the neon signs, fries made from fresh potatoes and shakes spun with real ice cream. This location even has a Company Store for any In-N-Out Burger gift needs. While In-N-Out Burger has a number of locations in Las Vegas, this one at The Linq Promenade is the easiest to access without a car.

For more than 30 years, The Steak House at Circus Circus has served its Midwestern beef, dry-aged in house in a glass-enclosed room that diners can see from the main dining room. Diners can even watch their meals cooked in the exhibition-style, open-hearth mesquite charcoal broiler.

A jungle scene and animatronic animals await the kids at Rainforest Cafe at Harmon Corner. Mini hot dogs and burgers, a small pizza, grilled chicken, dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets, and pasta topped with Alfredo, marinara, or butter come in pint-sized portions, while sides include corn, steamed vegetables, fresh fruit, and apple sauce.