Nicco's Prime Cuts & Fresh Fish — Restaurant in Spring Valley

I booked two reservations at Nicco's on Sunday at 6:00 p.m. Two friendly female hosts greeted us in the front. The host took us to a table for two, where my date sat in a booth, and I sat across from her in a chair. We loved the decor and romantic vibe of the interior, and I especially loved the walled fireplace nearby. Our male waiter welcomed us and brought us food and drink menus. I don't drink alcohol, so I ordered water; the waiter offered me several water options, such as sparkling water, but I only wanted regular water. My date wanted a drink. However, after looking at the menu, the drink menu listed ounces but no prices! A menu with no prices felt like a trap where my date could order a shot and get charged 250.00 or more, so she opted to get water, which she said tasted like tap water, and I agreed. The waiter tried to upsell us on some specials, and I could smell the costliness in his description, so we ordered the reasonably priced items on the menu.

A different waiter brought us some complimentary sourdough bread and butter. At first, I thought the bread was overrated, but when we ate it with the butter, we thought it tasted excellent, and the butter set it off!

My date wanted pasta but didn't know which one to choose, so I asked the waiter which of the two pasta dishes were most popular. The waiter said the Rigatoni alla Vodka pasta was the most popular, an excellent recommendation that my date loved! I liked the pasta I tried off her plate, too! She ordered the macaroni and cheese with bread crumbs on top for her side.

I ordered the crab cake for an appetizer with two crab cakes. The crab cake was good but tasted even better with the creamy sauce! I also ordered the Lobster Bisque and Macorni and cheese and enjoyed them both! My date liked everything she tried off my plate too..

Nicco's is an upscale and beautiful restaurant. The Kansas City Chiefs played the Buffalo Bills in the AFC championship game on the night we went. The restaurant got loud as the game played on several televisions, and the attendees at the bar were primarily Bills fans, hopeful they would win!

The bill came out to 120.00, and I can only imagine how expensive it would have been had my date ordered a drink or we ordered a steak, fish, or the special the waiter pitched. The menu does contain reasonably priced options for upscale restaurant standards, so you don't have to break the bank unless you want to. I had a little food left over, so a waiter bagged it and put it in a beautiful to-go bag ( even the to-go bag looked posh). My date and I enjoyed our food, service, and ambiance, and I highly recommend Niccos, especially for a date night!

After we left, we went to the side of the restaurant and took several beautiful photos and videos of ourselves in front of the fireplace! If you come dressed up, you can take some stunning pictures as the fireplace provides a sultry and eye-catching backdrop for your...

Everything about this place was superb from the incredibly attentive staff, to the ambience and setting of the restaurant and most importantly: the food. Started with the tempura snow crab claws which were fried perfectly and came with the best ponzu sauce I have ever tasted. The ponzu sauce was so good, that I kept it to use with all the other food we tried. DEFINITELY get a side of ponzu if you get their French fries! They should automatically come with that. Next was the artichoke, which I’d never had artichoke this way: sliced horizontally, COVERED in Parmesan cheese and you eat the whole thing instead of just eating the “meat” off the leaf. Very weird but I liked it. That was followed by their take on bluefin tuna: sliced thing and placed upon a semi spicy, vinegar based sauce and topped with crunchy onion straws: it was heavenly. I’d never tried bluefin before so I was glad I tried it. After that, we had to try their wagyu smash burger, $50 and comes with a really nice sized portion of fries. The French fries might be the best French fries I’ve ever had (AND they actually cooked them extra crispy for us!) and the burger was just pure decadence. My gf LOVED the burger (which we got plain, just the patties and cheese with chipotle mayo on the side) she said it was the best burger she’s ever had. I thoroughly enjoyed it too: pure deliciousness in its simplicity. I wish it wasn’t $50 so we could go enjoy a few of them every time we visit Vegas from now on! Lastly, we have the bone in ribeye and a side of creamed spinach. The creamed spinach wasn’t mind blowing like the ones I’ve had from Ruth’s Chris or Gallaghers but just like the cheeseburger, it was delicious in its simplicity. And the steak? Well, you’ve got a choice to make when you order one: straight up flame grilled or marinated and then seared (think pittsburghed). Our server opted for us to get it grilled and boy did it not disappoint! Take note Bavette’s: THIS is what a $100 steak should look and taste like. It’s another item that was so delicious and simple. Simple flavorings and then cooked perfectly on a great open flame. The gf LOVED the steak and the burger, citing them as some of the best she’s ever had. I thought everything was masterfully done. Like a couple of splits here in Vegas, I can’t wait to come back now for that burger and fries and to try the steak the other way. Practically perfection ALL AROUND. Oh, 1 more thing I forgot: they gave us a free piece of pure vanilla bean cheesecake to celebrate her birthday. It was the most pure vanilla thing I’ve ever tasted in my life and it was the best whipped cream I’ve ever tasted in my life. If you have the money, DEFINITELY try...

Had dinner there with family on the 24th. Party of 5, seated toward the back of the restaurant, adjacent to an outdoor seating area (more on this later). We eat at T-Bones at the Red Rock so were looking forward to comparing. Per person cost worked out to $172 before tip, and included one bottle of wine and a couple after dinner drinks.

The Good: Branzino at $55 was one of the best prepared and tasty orders of fish my wife had ever had. I ordered the center cut bone in Ribeye for $91 and it was also very good as expected. The Tristan lobster tails add-on was very good, as it came with two tails. When ordering, the server stated only 1 tail, so we ordered two orders and ended up with 4 tails shared with the table. Only ordering hiccup. The service was absolutely top notch, on par with anything I have experienced. The baked potato with the ribeye had a bit of a tough skin, so maybe not intended for consumption. Crab cakes were very good, though T-Bones version had better taste, same with the chopped house salad. Carpaccio was a beautiful presentation and excellent. The Yellowtail Crudo was also a highlight, as we eat sushi often and the presentation and taste were excellent. Wine list was extensive and not unreasonable (2x retail on a couple bottles I was familiar with). The 18-layer cake was a bit on the dry side, but the cheesecake was excellent.

The Bad: The overall sound level in the restaurant has to be addressed. When the initial server came to the table to greet us, she discussed the daily specials, and made a few other comments. She was standing next to me, and I understood about half of what was said. No one at the table heard a single word. It wasn't possible to have a conversation with anyone at the table except the person right next to you, unless there was a lull in the music. We asked the table greeter about this toward the end of the meal, and she said that the "owner" wanted to create a club like atmosphere, versus a traditional steak house. I think a lot of other customers will find this to be an issue at the prices being charged. Management Suggestion: Let the prospective customers know this is the case, and maybe consider either turning the sound down, or having quiet hours (early dinner) before the clubbers roll in? The outdoor patio was open air, so that would be my choice next time when the weather turns better in the Spring.

Conclusion: Excellent food and service, but noise issues kept it from being a 5-star experience. We ate at T-Bones the next day, in a bar area booth, for a much better...