Only a few parts of Virgin Hotels Las Vegas resemble their former selves from the property’s Hard Rock Hotel days. Two of them are restaurants that were essential pieces of that past, and both have been upgraded and renovated.
Virgin Voyage
It’s rare that a complete casino rebranding sustains a restaurant brand—Bazaar Meat at the Sahara comes to mind as the best example—but the original Nobu in Las Vegas has certainly earned the right to survive the Virgin transition.
It opened in 1999, became one of the hottest tables in the city during the Hard Rock’s heyday and remained consistently popular, especially with local diners, even after Caesars Palace opened one of the largest Nobu restaurants in the world (and a Nobu-branded hotel tower) in 2013.
General manager Bryan Shinohara, who started with the company as a busser at the Hard Rock restaurant in 2001, says bringing the Nobu experience back under the Virgin banner is “so meaningful, I can’t put it into words.”
Though the updated restaurant space wasn’t available during the Weekly’s preview tour of Virgin, the décor has reportedly been refreshed to add new energy and heighten the cozy feeling that has kept regulars returning.
“It wouldn’t be Nobu Las Vegas if it didn’t have that vibe where you can come to the bar or the sushi bar and have chefs communicate and tailor an experience, or having the bartender make a handcrafted cocktail that’s not on the list,” Shinohara says. “Because this location is more intimate, you get to have a more custom experience. It’s not so fast-paced.”
One Steakhouse
On the other end of the property, One Steakhouse houses a striking new lounge that welcomes in guests, enveloping them with light from a 3,000-piece floral glass chandelier that changes colors and covers almost the entire ceiling. The addition of the bar and lounge space marks the biggest change to what was MB Steak, opened by brothers Michael and David Morton in 2017. Working in tandem with the Magic Mike Live show at the former Body English nightclub space, the restaurant injected exciting new energy at the Hard Rock before it closed for the changeover.
The Mortons are the sons of hospitality legend Arnie Morton, founder of Morton’s Steakhouse. Their older brother, Peter Morton, founded the Hard Rock Cafe and created the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas, and Michael Morton created the N9NE Group, operator of wildly successful clubs and restaurants in the early days of the Palms. The family’s connections to this property and Las Vegas run deep.
“For Michael and David, the No. 1 thing is service is, because they’re Mortons and that’s what’s in their blood,” says Jenna Morton, Michael’s wife. “The idea here now is you come in, and it’s an escape from reality. Everything about it is an experience, from the bite of steak to the sound of the music, and the art lends itself to that little bit of an escape, too.”
One Steakhouse also retains the services of executive chef Patrick Munster, who’ll bring additional tableside preparations to the experience, in order to “breathe a little more fun into classic steakhouse food,” he says.
Like the Hard Rock, the steakhouse built a reputation as a casino restaurant Las Vegas residents could call home. The new version will look to build off that.
“People know us, they know the product and the service and I also think people have nostalgia for this property, even as it changes,” Jenna Morton says. “I think Virgin has a leg up with the locals, because we know so many people feel that way.”
