Barbecue fans are going "Wow" but for the uninformed, Kirk is one of the most revered BBQ masters in the country, winner of literally hundreds of awards including the champion of the American Royal Open and seven World Barbecue championships. He has even been named to the Barbecue Hall of Fame.

In other words, he knows what he is doing.

The Las Vegas pitmaster is Skip Steele, another veteran of the BBQ world and winner of a cabinet full of awards in his own right.

The concept of RUB is to bring "real" BBQ to an urban environment, something that is rare at best. When you think of the pinnacles of this kind of cooking you think Kansas City, St. Louis, Memphis, and the south but certainly not New York or Las Vegas. Now you can.

The 9,000 square-foot RUB at The Rio takes up space on the second level overlooking the Masquerade Village shopping and casino area (where they have the free show). It is a simple, no-frills design with plenty of booths, tables, a big bar, and viewing windows to watch the smokers if you enjoy that sort of thing.

The menu is huge in scope and I can pretty much guarantee you that there isn't anything on there that your cholesterol conscious doctor isn't going to give you grief about, but that's what BBQ is all about.

Take a look at the appetizers. Chicken wings, empanadas, chili made with slow-smoked brisket and burnt ends - even fried green tomatoes with a Cajun remoulade. But all you really need to see is the BBQ bacon chunks to understand that health conscious is really not a consideration here.

By the way, they were a salty, delicious, crispy delight. I won't tell my doctor if you won't.

If you're there with a group and want to experiment a good way to go might be the meat platters. You can have your choice of pulled pork or chicken, smoked ham or turkey, BBQ chicken or beef brisket, burnt ends, pastrami, and/or sausage of the hot link, spicy, or Italian varieties. It comes with two sides and you can add ribs if you just don't feel like you're getting enough meat in there.

We sampled the brisket and the Italian sausage, and while the former was a bit dry the latter was spot on perfect - tender, juicy, cooked to perfection with no real need for any of the signature BBQ sauces to spice it up.

You can get any of the above by the pound plus BBQ chicken in whole, half, quarter, and light or dark meat styles and St. Louis, baby back, loin back, and other rib varieties. You can also get sandwich versions of any of the meat styles and then, if you choose, add a "sloppy top" of coleslaw for an authentic BBQ experience.

More original sandwiches include things like a BLFGT (bacon, lettuce, and fried green tomatoes), "pulled" Portobello (mushrooms with smoked onions and sauce), or even bacon with peanut butter and bananas. Yes, it's called the Elvis Crusher.

They also have a "specialties" section of the menu that includes a burnt end dinner, Szechwan smoked duck, a couple of sampler meals, and even a whole pig butt, bone-n-all. "We serve, you pull" is the motto on that one.

Desserts? Fresh homemade cobblers and deep fried Oreos. Come on!

I am a BBQ aficionado but I'm not a zealot about the whole thing so I enjoyed RUB. One of my dining companions IS a zealot about the whole thing and was a little underwhelmed, but even she admitted that having a restaurant option like this in Vegas is important and should be on your short list of places to visit for more originality than another buffet or a food court.

Prices are Las Vegas hotel restaurant typical, which is to say higher than what you'd pay normally for this type of food but not out of line for Vegas in general. Appetizers are all around $7.50, sandwiches $7-12, meat platters start at around $14 for one meat and add about $4 for each additional, a whole chicken is around $14 and a whole rack of ribs is $23. Keep in mind that everything is generously proportioned and comes with a laundry list of sides including slaws, potato salad, beans, mac and cheese, fries, cornbread, and more.

The service was terrific - down home friendly as it should be in a BBQ place but efficient.

Good barbecue is hard to find on this side of the Rocky Mountains and nearly impossible out here in the urban desert. Or at least it was until RUB.

RUB
Rio All Suite Hotel & Casino
3700 W. Flamingo Rd.
Las Vegas, NV 89109
702-227-0779
Hours:

Question: I like to shop. My husband calls me a shopaholic but I prefer to think of it as a talent! Every year I come to Vegas and hit the major malls and off-the-beaten-track shops. Is there anything new I should know about?

Answer: The newest and most original (in a retro kind of way) shopping experience in Las Vegas is called Town Square and it really is worth your time, whether you’re a shopaholic or not.

Located about a mile south of Mandalay Bay near the Las Vegas Outlet Center, Town Square opened late last year and is rapidly becoming a favorite for locals and visitors alike. In fact it was recently chosen by the Las Vegas Review Journal editors as the Best Mall in Las Vegas.

The thing that really sets Town Square apart from other malls in town is its design. Done like small-town America, there are roads with street side parking and wide sidewalks that crisscross the massive development. Stores are located in buildings designed to evoke Main Street USA, but not in a Disneyland kind of way. Instead, it has a sun-splashed California kind of ethos - you’d imagine this is what Santa Barbara wishes it could look like.

At the center of the complex is, appropriately enough, a big town square – a park with a pavilion, a picnic area, live entertainment, and a children’s playground complete with a tree house, a hedge maze, and a theater. Lush landscaping and park benches are scattered throughout the entire facility, and overhead is a real live actual sky instead of the fake ones inside the other themed malls in town. Granted, that means that during the insanely hot summer, shopping in the great outdoors might not be the most enjoyable thing in the world, but they have lots of shade, misters, and covered walkways that could make it a little less heatstroke inducing.

At the core of it all are a series of stores, restaurants, and entertainment that may not break the mall mold but are, at least, dependable. Stores include name brands like H&M, Borders, Abercrombie & Fitch, Crabtree & Evelyn, Banana Republic, Juicy Couture, Ann Taylor, Mac Cosmetics, Sephora, and Tommy Bahama among others. And of course because it’s a mall and apparently it’s a law, there is a Gap and a Victoria’s Secret.

Restaurants include California Pizza Kitchen, Claim Jumper, and Yard House along with some interesting originals such as Louis’ Las Vegas, Fish Camp, a martini bar, and an upcoming Whole Foods Market.

The major entertainment facility is an 18-screen Rave Entertainment movie theater complex complete with stadium seating, digital projection, and digital sound.

The only downsides here are the aforementioned potential for heatstroke and the parking/traffic situation. Getting in and out of the place can be a challenge and once you’re there the free parking lots that surround the complex require a bit of a hike to get where you’re going, especially if you have a specific destination in the middle of the place. You can try to find one of the interior street parking spots but they are precious and require you to feed meters.

Since it’s close to the Strip, the bus or a taxi are fine options for transportation if you don’t have your own car at your disposal.

This strikes me as a great place to get away from the Vegas hustle and bustle – stroll the tree lined streets, listen to a band in the park, and get some shopping under your belt all at the same time.

Town Square Las Vegas
6605 Las Vegas Blvd. S.
Las Vegas, NV 89119
702-269-5001
website
Hours