Presentation is important. Every burger restaurant above the fast-food level is well aware its burgers need to be stacked as high as possible with thick, juicy beef and a variety of colorful toppings, even if a skewer is required to hold the thing together. But you know what happens? (You do. You know.) Impressive presentations heighten expectations. You’re excited, but then you’re just eating another burger.
That won’t happen at the new LVB. When old and tired BLT Burger ran its course, the F&B folks at the Mirage wisely recruited their Italian restaurant chef, Michael LaPlaca, to assemble a menu of unboring burgers and accompaniments, and he unsurprisingly knocked it out of the park. These burgers are huge and decked out in high-quality ingredients assembled in creative combinations, and more importantly, they taste as good or better than they look. The BCB ($15) is a bacon cheeseburger dripping with rich beer-cheddar sauce. The KIK (for “kick in the kisser,” $16) brings familiar toppings of fried egg, avocado and fried onions and adds popping pickled jalapeños, pepper jack cheese and tangy sriracha aioli. And while those two, along with the starter Old School Burger ($15), are the most popular plates so far, I’ll direct you instead to the funky duck burger stuffed with muenster cheese ($16); the too-good-to-be-a-turkey-burger with turkey bacon on ciabatta ($17); and the seemingly simple, stunningly fresh AAA burger ($15) layered with boursin cheese, sundried tomatoes, bacon and arugula.
You won’t be able to finish one of these beasts on your own, but that doesn’t mean you should skip the stellar Cajun Buffalo or “Thai-riyaki” flavored chicken wings ($14), the over-the-top boozed-up milkshakes or the insanely delicious boulevard rolls ($8), essentially a cheeseburger in an eggroll. In fact, if you’re not seriously hungry on your first visit, get those rolls and a shake and thank me later. Then return to LVB when you’re ready to tackle some of the most serious burgers on the Strip.
LVB Burgers and Bar Mirage, 702-792-7888. Monday-Thursday, Sunday, 11 a.m.-midnight; Friday & Saturday, 11 a.m.-2 a.m.