When LA-based chef Ray Garcia signed on to create something at Resorts World Las Vegas, he didn’t want to simply replicate his popular Broken Spanish, considered one of the United States’ best Mexican restaurants.
“I like a good challenge, and this is one,” he says of Viva, which opened with the new Strip megaresort in June. “Vegas has plenty of replicas. I was looking to do something new and to balance what people expect from me, and really just trying to have fun and really connect with a new group of diners, maybe reinvent ourselves a little bit.”
Broken Spanish is known for using artisanal and heirloom ingredients to create dishes that might expand diners’ perception of Mexican food. Viva uses the same approach—with modifications for the Vegas crowd. “There’s a shared culinary DNA,” Garcia says. “It’s just a matter of presenting it in a way that can be more familiar and approachable to take them on a further adventure.”
A delicious example is the piña asada ($15), a fresh vegetarian option built around grilled pineapple with arugula, goat cheese and spiced pecans. Its blend of savory and sweet flavors feels entirely new, and Garcia likes how it “challenges people’s preconceived notions of what Mexican food is. When you go to a restaurant and get a side salad, it’s nothing substantial, where this is kind of exciting and unique on its own.”
Other exciting opening dishes include heirloom corn tortilla chips and salsa tatemada ($5), chorizo taquitos ($16) and prime filet mignon steak tacos with chile poblano ($21). Viva also serves a selection of seafood crudos, albondigas-style duck meatballs ($16) and Tuscan kale and corn tamales ($15) among its smaller plates, along with a take on the wildly popular quesabirria tacos ($17).
Standout larger plates include the bold snapper Zarandeado ($54)—mesquite-grilled fish with citrus adobo and chiles toreados. Its perfect to share with a side order of hand-pressed, house-made tortillas ($5) and tomato sofrito rice ($6), as is the rich barbacoa short-rib ($42) or the crackly pork belly chicharron ($47) with garlic mojo and pickled cabbage.
Viva also does three cuts of steak carne asada-style, served with salsa molcajete, roasted tomatoes and crispy fingerling potatoes, and also offers a curated selection of tequila and mezcal, along with a concise and colorful cocktail menu. It’s all about standing out in the vast sea of Resorts World restaurant offerings and appealing to as many different guests as possible, including curious locals.
“It’s an international market, but there’s that growing local population that we don’t want to overlook,” Garcia says. “We want to create a place they can come in, and not just when they have friends in town.”
VIVA Resorts World, 702-676-6020. Sunday-Thursday, 5-9:30 p.m.; Friday & Saturday, 5-10:30 p.m.; Brunch: Saturday & Sunday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
