Located on the far north side of town, Aliante Station is the latest in the very successful chain of Station Casinos, which includes the aforementioned Red Rock and Green Valley plus Sunset Station, Texas Station, Boulder Station, Fiesta Henderson, and more. It falls somewhere in the upper middle of their "fanciness" spectrum but is on the lower end in terms of price.

The town of Scottsdale, Arizona keeps coming up in discussions of the overall design scheme. Think clean and simple lines, lots of earth tones, and extensive use of natural stone, wood, and fibers to give it a desert resort feel. Red Rock is a masterpiece of form and texture and Aliante has a similar vibe.

The hotel has 202 rooms ranging in size from 400 square feet to more than 1,000 for the luxury suites. Each room features a flat panel television in the bedroom and another embedded in the bathroom mirror, iPod docking station, CD player, high-speed Internet, minibar, and all of the usual amenities you find in Vegas rooms like hair dryers, irons and boards, and the like.

Rates are expected to start at around $59 a night, which is crazy cheap for a room of that size with that kind of appointments.

The casino features more than 2,500 slot machines, most multi-denomination (pennies and up) and many that are multi-function so you can play a bunch of different games without having to move. More than 40 table games run the gamut from blackjack to baccarat and a separate poker room featuring low buy-ins. A race and sports book completes the gaming offerings.

As usual for a Station property the place is packed with restaurants: MRKT is their signature steakhouse; Pips serves Italian fare; Camacho's Cantina has Mexican specialties; The Original Pancake House has your breakfasts covered; and TGI Friday's does, well, just about everything. There is also be an edition of their beloved Feast Buffet and a food court with a Capriotti's, Dunkin Donuts, Panda Express, and more.

Several bars and lounges are scattered around the property and although there is no formal nightclub the bar in the center of the casino will have entertainment and dancing.

For entertainment there's a 600-seat showroom, a 16-screen movie theater, and a small video game arcade. There is a large pool area but no spa so you'll have to massage yourself. Wait... that came out wrong.

Sounds fantastic, right? So what's the downside; the thing that will keep most Vegas visitors from ever visiting this particular hotel? The location.

Aliante Station is in North Las Vegas. To get there from The Strip you would hop on I-15 and go north about 13 miles to the I-215 Beltway, which for those in the know is the exit right before the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Then you take the beltway west about 8 or 9 miles to Aliante Parkway - the hotel is just off the freeway. Another option would be to take I-15 to I-95 near Downtown then take I-95 north to the beltway and go east several miles. There are surface street options as well that I won't bore you with here.

But the bottom line is that if there is no traffic the hotel is a solid 15-20 minute drive from The Strip. But of course there is ALWAYS traffic in Las Vegas so you can figure to double that on most days.

That's a barrier that most tourists won't be able to overcome. But those that do may find some rich rewards.

return to the top

Texas de Brazil is a small chain of traditional Brazilian churrascarias (steak house) where you get as much meat (and other stuff) as your stomach can take for a fixed price. Everything is served by wandering gaucho-clad servers carrying big skewers of finely grilled and roasted selections.

But before you even get to the meat portion there's a giant salad bar to get your appetite going. It contains more than 40 items including cheeses, grilled mushrooms, salami, prosciutto, Brazilian hearts of palm, shrimp, rice, soup, and much more. You probably don't want to over-indulge here because, as mentioned, the meat is on its way, but if someone in your group is a vegetarian there is more than enough here from which to create a huge and very satisfying meal.

When you're ready for your main courses, you flip a little card by your place setting from red to green and then, to steal a marketing phrase, "Go Meat."

The offerings may vary but the skewers the night we visited had filet mignon, filet wrapped in bacon, parmesan chicken, bacon wrapped chicken, lamb roast, lamb chops, flank steak, sirloin steak, pork ribs, sausage, picanha... there may have been more but I was lost in a meat haze at that point.

Everything was simply amazing. The filet was juicy and a bit peppery and the bacon-wrapped variety was as good as you'd expect it to be. The sirloin steak and the Brazilian sausages were also high on my list but I really only could find one sour note in the entire bunch and that was the bacon-wrapped chicken, which was just a touch dry on the inside. But that's one of the great things about this kind of execution - if you don't like one thing there's about 12 others to choose from and lots of it.

As mentioned, the meat is served by wandering "guachos" with giant skewers of meat, so you can control how much you are getting. I highly recommend taking small samples of a bunch of different things and then asking for more of the ones you really like.

And if you get really overwhelmed (as I did several times) you can simply flip your card back over to red and the servers bypass your table. Get your second wind and you flip it back to green. You can keep doing this as long as you can keep eating.

A side of garlic mashed potatoes, sweet fried bananas (good palate cleansers), and cheese bread (really more like stuffed dumplings) accompany every meal.

A full selection of desserts - carrot cake, pecan pie, chocolate mousse cake, Bananas Foster pie, and more - is also available if you have any room left over but it is not included in the meal price. Ditto drinks (they have a full bar and extensive wine collection), tax, and gratuity.

The cost for this meat extravaganza is right around $45 per person, which is a terrific deal compared to the cost of most steakhouses in Las Vegas. That's what you'd pay for one ala carte steak at most places on The Strip and here you get that salad bar, sides, and all the meat you can eat.

The service was elegant and attentive and the surroundings are also lovely - upscale Brazilian traditional with dark woods, iron detail work, soft lighting, and splashes of vibrant colors.

The restaurant is located at the Town Square shopping mall about a miles south of Mandalay Bay.

return to the top