335 Hughes Center Dr.
Las Vegas, NV, 89109
(702) 836-9000

McCormick & Schmick's restaurant Review:

McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurant in the Howard Hughes Center at Flamingo and Paradise Roads is a well-managed eatery with a menu that changes daily "to reflect the freshest seafood selection available." On any given day as many as 30 varieties of fresh fish and shellfish are listed, as well as a selection of steaks, meat and poultry.

Diners can opt for the handsome main restaurant or the swinging bar and café. The dining room is elegant with rich wood paneling and beautiful décor and a clublike ambience.

Featured at lunch are sandwiches and pastas not found on the extensive dinner carte. Among the lunch entrées are a fried shrimp or crab cake platter, seared rare yellowfin tuna, a traditional oyster stew, Florida rock shrimp popcorn and a blackened catfish sandwich with fries. Executive Chef Shawn Bell knows his seafood and how to cook it. Crab cakes are chock-full of crab and may be ordered as an appetizer or entrée. Many of the lunch specialties are available at dinner.

A seafood cobb salad includes crab, bay shrimp and scallops. The fish and chips is a classic?beer-battered cod with French fries and tartar sauce. Homespun and savory, the meatloaf with portobello gravy and mashed potatoes is a reminder of yore. Among my favorites are the Cape May, N.J., monkfish; New England sea scallops; tilapia from Costa Rica; and pan-fried oysters from Willapa Bay, Wash. Most entrées include a vegetable or cole slaw. My favorite broccoli is a brilliant green and always tender.

The casual café has booths and tables and quick service, unless you linger over the handcrafted drinks. There are no blenders at the bar. McCormick & Schmick's bartenders are like chefs?they all have their own style. The variety of drinks is endless?martinis, Irish coffee, single-malt whiskeys and bourbon and contemporary favorites such as lemon drops, cosmopolitans and more.

McCormick & Schmick's is famous for its $1.95 bar menu available only in the café (not at the bar). Typically included are a half-pound burger, Baja fish tacos, three-cheese quesadilla, steamed mussels, oyster shooters, buffalo chicken wings and more.

With 63 locations nationwide, McCormick & Schmick's seafood restaurants are a credit to their namesakes. Bill McCormick and Doug Schmick teamed up in the early '70s. McCormick purchased Jake's Famous Crawfish Restaurant in Portland, Ore. It wasn't too long after he acquired the century-old historic landmark before he brought it back to life.

How did he revitalize the property? "I like nothing better than being a good host," McCormick said.

This astute entrepreneur built a team that included management trainee Doug Schmick. The original McCormick & Schmick's opened in Portland in 1979 to raves and inspired the expansion that continues to grow across the country.

-- Review by Muriel Stevens,

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