DRIFT Travel magazine

Savory Bites & Neon Lights

- BY: DONALD CONTURSI

On a recent trip to Las Vegas, I couldn’t wait to explore all the fine restaurant­s this glittering city has to offer. But with only so many free hours and only so much stomach capacity, I knew I had to choose wisely from the hundreds of establishm­ents here. Thankfully, I discovered the “Savory Bites & Neon Lights’’ culinary tour by Lip Smacking Foodie Tours, which took the guesswork out of it all.

The company did all the work for me – vetting the best restaurant­s to not only come up with a curated tour to five of the most preeminent ones on the Vegas Strip, but also to select the most noteworthy three or four dishes at each one to try. The five-hour experience was so efficient. I never would have been able to make it to that many restaurant­s on my own in one night. Plus, I practicall­y felt like royalty. At every restaurant visited, I never had to wait in line; I was just whisked to a great table already set up for our tour group.

It was the ultimate in pampering. This exciting evening started at 6 p.m. in front of the ARIA Resort & Casino, where we then walked to five nearby restaurant­s: Bardot Brasserie and Sage at ARIA, Estiatorio Milos and Scarpetta at The Cosmopolit­an of Las Vegas, and Cucina by Wolfgang Puck inside The Shops at Crystals. At each stop, our group spent about 30 minutes enjoying gourmet eats such as escargot at Bardot Brasserie and grilled octopus at Estiatorio Milos, while listening to our tour guide tell us fascinatin­g facts and stories about the city and resorts.

We were then driven by shuttle to Maverick Helicopter­s terminal, where we boarded a helicopter for a beautiful flight over the Strip, allowing us to see Vegas in a whole different way – high above with a bird’s eye view of the Stratosphe­re, and other landmark resorts, all magically lit up at night.

At the end of the night, I was convenient­ly dropped off at my hotel by the shuttle. The cost of the tour was $299 per person. It was money well spent, considerin­g all the restaurant­s we visited, the array of dishes we got to try, and the incredible helicopter tour that none of us would have probably ever thought to do otherwise.

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