Las Vegas Mixtape v34: Poolside With Train, New Chinatown Gem, and Boardwalk to Paradise

Track #4: Mabel’s Bar & Q by Chef Michael Symon @Palms Casino Resort

Chef Michael Symon delivers the goods. (Image: courtesy of Alice Goldstein)

Michael Symon knows his way around a grill. The award-winning Cleveland chef was in town recently for a grill demo and tasting event on the patio of Mabel’s Bar & Q by Chef Michael Symon at the Palms.

With his signature flair, Symon grilled tri-tip, which he noted was an inexpensive cut to smoke and not as popular around the country as it is in California. Everyone got to taste his wonderfully seasoned creation afterward—it was lean, tender, just perfect—and left with a copy of his new “Cooking Out” cookbook. Note to self: I must try the recipe for his “Chocolate Pudding and Pretzel Pie.”

The smoked meatloaf is your passport to heaven. (Image: Vegas 411)

Afterwards, inside the sports bar and restaurant, I ordered the smoked meatloaf. It’s impressive and fancy—served with Gruyère cheese, caramelized onion, and smoked spicy ketchup, topped with crispy onions—and fortunately retains down home appeal, too. Since my focus was on Mabel’s culinary pleasures, I tried to not let the “wall to wall screens” showing sports events distract me from what was on my plate (sorry, I’m not a sports fan).