Review: Top of the World Restaurant (Stratosphere, Las Vegas, NV)

Last weekend I spent two days exploring Las Vegas with Crystal, her mother, and her brother. It was my first visit to the unholy city that never sleeps, and I was quickly immersed in the unique culture and feeling of anticipation that ever-present gambling and general sloven behavior creates. We had fun, but the entire experience felt a bit rushed, as we only had two days to visit all of the sites.

For lunch on our first day we decided to make a reservation at the “Top of the World Restaurant and Lounge” that is located on one of the top levels of the Stratosphere Hotel and Casino tower. This restaurant’s claim to fame is mainly it’s height from the ground, although it’s cuisine has also been well received by the food critic community. Since I don’t consider myself a refined food critic, I will try my best to review the entire experience, as well as the food.

Making the reservation was relatively easy - the woman who I spoke to on the phone was courteous and friendly, but I did have a hard time understanding her at times, due to her strong accent. I am not sure if this is a common trait among operators at the reservation call center, but it was definitely a negative factor during my phone call.

The support staff, everyone from our server to the elevator operators were all courteous and nice to us. Our server may have been a bit overloaded with tables, as she forgot a few minor things, and didn’t visit our table as often as I am used to. I can imagine that working in a circular restaurant which sits 1,000 feet off of the ground, and which rotates slowly over time can add a bit of stress to an already stressful job, so I won’t hold it against her. The revolving restaurant thing is actually pretty cool, and our meal lasted nearly two hours, so from our vantage point we were able to see nearly a 360 degree view of the Las Vegas landscape. The one downside to rotating for so long is, I felt a bit off-center for the rest of the day on Sunday.

We were served complimentary champagne at the start of the meal. We decided to maximize our variety of food by ordering the special four course lunch that was being offered. Thankfully our server allowed us to split our meals - this allowed us to share the large amount of food, and keep our total meal price reasonable (at $39 each, splitting the meals helped a lot). Each course offered us a few different choices, and for the first course we chose the smoked salmon appetizer. This was an interesting course - a large piece of smoked salmon was topped with diced asparagus, a white sauce that I couldn’t identify, and some artfully placed potato chips. The salmon was delicious, and the topping added the perfect amount of texture and variety.

For our second course we chose soup instead of salad, and each of us got a very tasty lobster bisque. Being a salt-fiend I added a bit of salt to mine, but it was a very tasty bisque either way (sorry, we forgot to take a picture of the soup!).

We chose the steak and shrimp for our main course, and we each received a very tender piece of juicy steak served over a bed of shredded lettuce and topped with a large shrimp and a delectable cream sauce. My steak was cooked perfectly, and I was left craving seconds. The cream sauce added a lot to the flavor variety, for both the shrimp and the steak.

For dessert we were served a chocolate “stratosphere” tower which was filled with raspberry chocolate mousse, and topped with vanilla sauce table-side. While somewhat gimmicky and hard to dismantle, this was a tasty dessert and a good end to the meal.

Included in our meal was complimentary access to the stratosphere tower observation floor above the restaurant, where we were able to see a slightly taller view of Vegas, and visit the gift shop (Crystal got me a t-shirt - thanks Crystal!). Overall, I enjoyed our visit to the Top of the World Restaurant - it gave us a unique vantage point from which to view Las Vegas, and it was a very nice (though slightly dizzying) atmosphere in which to enjoy a great meal - even for someone who is afraid of heights (me). All of our food was gratifying and presented in a somewhat unique style. I would definitely recommend this restaurant (given that you can fit it in your budget) to anyone visiting Las Vegas in the future. Also, it might be interesting to check out their, “Private Dining with a View” option, for a romantic dinner date.

Top of the World Restaurant (Stratosphere, Las Vegas, NV): 4.5/5

Have you ever been to the Top of The World Restaurant in Vegas? Have you ever been to the top of the stratosphere tower? What did you think of either?

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