Tivoli Village got a needed jolt when Ada’s, a bustling Italian eatery, recently opened there. Created by James Trees, the mind behind the stellar Esther’s Kitchen in Downtown’s Arts District, Ada’s (and its outdoor patio) has been brimming with bodies during lunch and dinner hours—and even in between.
Meals usually start with crusty, flavor-dense boules of bread ($4) with cultured butter, olive oil and sea salt on the side. Luscious burrata cheese ($5) and umami-forward anchovy butter ($3) are also available for slathering. In the antipasti category, mussels ($16) with spicy ’nduja sausage, lemon and parsley are a savory and fragrant collection of shellfish. Truffled arancini ($11) with summer corn purée and a hint of chili are crispy, yet ethereally light. The seasonal Market salad ($15) is bright with pickled peaches, hazelnuts and ricotta cheese, and the sautéed rapini ($11) delivers farmhouse goodness with pickled chilis, garlic, lemon and pecorino.
Trees’ handmade pasta dishes have made waves Downtown, and the trend continues at the Summerlin-adjacent Tivoli. On a hot summer day, the best choice is a bowl of gemelli ($15), emerald-green, basil-flavored noodles tossed with pistachio pesto redolent with citrus. Traditionalists, meanwhile, can go for spaghetti with pomodoro sauce ($15) and meatballs ($6 more).
Ada’s features 15 pizzas, starting with familiar ones like the tomato-and-mozz Margherita ($10) and the zesty Calabrian ($13) with salami and ricotta salata. Then it’s on to more advanced pies, including the Veggies ($13), with asparagus, peas and zucchini. Things really go over the moon with the luxurious foie gras ’za ($27) topped with duck liver, pistachio butter and truffled cheese.
As you munch through the menu, sip on tableside-crafted cocktails from the roaming gin cart and choose pours from the well-curated and value-priced wine list ($9-$18 per glass). And Ada’s experience should end with mind-blowing scoops ($4 each) from the attached Best Ice Cream counter, where flavors like spearmint chip, blueberry cheesecake, salted caramel and cherry-almond sorbet take Las Vegas’ frozen dessert game to a sweet new place.
Ada's 410 S. Rampart Blvd., 702-463-7433. Daily, 11 a.m.-11 p.m.
