Mezzo Bistro and Wine — Restaurant in Las Vegas

We decided to try this place for my MIL's birthday. We were a party of 5 with an 8:30 reservation. Strange that they make reservations so late but close the kitchen at 9pm... on a Saturday night. The atmosphere is nice. Kinda old school Italian with candles and wine decor all around. I loved it. It was dark and intimate. My husband thought the menu looked a bit generic (but he's from Jersey and thinks he's Italian by association) but the food was BY FAR, the star!! Even he thought so. When we sat down we were greeted by our server, Steve. Got drinks and warm bread with balsamic & olive oil for dipping, right away (they don't sell hard liquor). Within about 8 minutes of being seated, we were being pressured to order, as we were told that the kitchen was closing at 9. Very strange for a Saturday night and their hours listed were until 10pm. We ordered several appetizers: the portobello mushrooms, calamari and the grilled vegetable platter. They were all EXCEPTIONAL!! The veggies were perfectly cooked. My husband and FIL LOVED the calamari and the slightly spicy red sauce that came with it. Everyone absolutely raved over the portobello mushroom. It was chopped portobellos in a creamy, yummy, delectable cheesy gorgonzola sauce over a bed of fresh spinach. We mixed it all up and thoroughly enjoyed it. Goes well over their soft bread as well. For dinner we ordered the manicotti special, the grilled salmon with asparagus and garlic mashed potatoes, the gorgonzola filet cooked medium with garlic mash and asparagus and the guys both ordered the double pork chop with linguine and vegetables. Everyone was INCREDIBLY happy with their meals. The filet was a tad undercooked but it was so good it didn't matter. The gorgonzola sauce over the filet which bled into the garlic mashed potatoes was like heaven on a plate. The pork chops were perfect and delicious and the grilled salmon was beautiful. It was fresh and tasty with not hint of fishy-ness. The manicotti did not disappoint either. I saw other reviews saying the food wasn't great or that it wasn't authentic. We couldn't disagree more. Even though they closed at 9, we did not feel rushed at all to leave. They were quick to bus our finished plates out of the way and kept checking on us. I quietly asked our server if they did anything for birthdays, he smiled and silently acknowledged me. He came back a few minutes later with a duo of fresh, homemade cannolis. They were delicious. I can't say enough about how beyond satisfied we were after our dinner. Given some of the negative reviews, I was hopeful our experience would be more like the abundant positive reviews instead. It was! We will definitely be back and I will tell everyone I know to check them out. Ignore the negative reviews and give them a try. The food alone is worth it and the prices are reasonable. Our compliments to the Chef and the entire kitchen staff!! Thank you, Mezzo, for a wonderful evening and exceptional dinner...

We go to Mezzo Bistro at least every other week. We know the staff. We enjoy the atmosphere. The food is always amazing and we're so grateful that there is a restaurant like this on our side of town, Rancho and Craig area because it's so hard to find quality homemade, sit down comfort Italian food anywhere other than stupid fast food or the Strip. And the fact that they even have seafood on the menu is absolutely amazing. Because if there's one thing that Las Vegas needs is seafood for its local population, not old, frozen, fish boils that are all too common around the valley but fresh and sometimes exotic seafood. This is what people are really craving. If I could say one thing, I think that they should expand their seafood menu to a more gourmet menu. Higher quality Chilean sea bass, flounder, orange roughy, red snapper, and a few Italian classics from Italian seas , flown in fresh, I'd pay a fortune each plate just for that. They do have fish specials. One is a fish from Australia called barramundi. The problem with it is there cooks don't cook it often enough and it often comes out very tough or because it's super thin their cooks just need to flash it literally for a minute to stop the extreme overcooking. They also do a sea bass selection and the fish meat is often weird and watery not at all melting in your mouth like filet mignon of fish as it should be. I often order their salmon which is a traditional dish on their menu and it is the best salmon I have ever had anywhere. It is so tender and flaky. I've had it every way they make it but I prefer grilled but I love the pan seared as well. Excellent! So just an additional note, the shellfish that they use shrimp, muscles, clams, are absolutely fabulous. They're the large variety, not the little microscopic ones that people would normally get on ones plate, but huge jumbos that are totally awesome!! And one last note for the owner, for the first time ever we tried the chicken Riggies.. We were asked if we would like it spicy or mild. Sir, there is a difference between spicy and absolute unrealistic inferno. My husband asked for spicy thinking it would be just somewhat spicy. It was so hot that it was unbearable. Literally flames coming out of his nose. The chicken was so dry and disgusting. It was horrible. We never ate the plate. We ended up getting our money back. You might want to look into how that plate is made. In fact it was so bad. I would suggest taking it off the menu. You could replace it with something so...

Staying in Vegas to visit 94 yr old Gma, went to dinner with mom and BF , We chose Italian my mother spoke highly of this restaurant. She gave us three options, ( Fish, Mexican, Italian).

This is a restaurant off The LV strip west side of LV so know your not likely gonna get Michelin star dishes..

The ambiance was a bit dark for me, specials are listed on black chalkboards which were hard to read (text was simply too close together) I was the reader for the table. App chosen was Calimari / only 2 of us wanted it, and was just as Calimari can be fresh fried (i think)

Mom ordered Chicken Marsala with angel hair a special , as did the other patrons in my party , i tried to warn them… my comment (possibly rude) “ arent the chef specials food they didn’t sell last night and are trying to off load the ingredients into dishes so they don’t throw them away.” I explain it as , Yes fresh made but with yesterdays fresh ingredients. Most good restaurants receive fresh produce nearly everyday from their vendors.

So I was only patron who ordered directly from the menu, -Ravioli with a Vodka cream sauce. I enjoyed as did my wife as i shared with her.. our perspective may have been that it was the best dish on the menu, we had to stay budget minded, as this trip was unplanned and made in haste but Mom insisted she take us out to dinner , was not going to make mom empty her wallet on my dinner choices.

The other 2 specials were not as good as might to be expected, maybe chef was off his game… -Creamy mushroom risotto lacked a creaminess .and was served with a more than charred 4 slices of baguette. -Chicken Parm plating was separated and a bowl of Penne on the side

I dont try to write bad reviews only how I experienced it on this night , it was overall a good dinner experience, a bit loud on this particular Saturday night, we had some patrons who sat behind us were there before us and were still there after us. A member of their party was very late like after we had our food, 3 ladies and one guy. (They were annoyingly loud)

Service was very polite, server was professional and friendly, attended to our needs ,( drink refills, etc)

Overall food was a bit under par for the price .. specials were priced accordingly , no selling of dishes from the staff was performed, I like to be offered something the chef is proud of creating.

If you choose this place dont order specials, spend the extra $9 and go straight...