Jose Andres invades Vegas

[C Simril]

I just discovered that Jose Andres has opened a few restaurants in Vegas. I ate at Jaleo in DC when I was there in 05 and found their Tapas to be the best I'd had outside of Spain, at least in 05. The 60 Minutes piece on Andres said you have a better chance of sitting next to Jack Nicholson at a Lakers game than of getting in Andres' The Bazaar in LA. The same seems to be happening at his Vegas places. Today I tried to make a lunch reservation (12:00) at Jaleo and was told by Open Table that nothing was available within 2 1/2 hours of then. When I tried for a 2:30 reservation, Open Table said there were no reservations available for 2 monthes of my chosen date (Feb). I did get a reservation at China Poblano but I'm more interested in Andres' tapas. The website says walk-ins welcome. Has anyone on egullet walked into Jaleo and gotten in?

[annachan]

Did you try calling the restaurant? I've been able to get tables by calling even when Open Table shows no reservation. Also, you may be able to find out more regarding the walk in situation. Many time, restaurants can tell you about how many tables/seats are reserved for walk ins and when may be a good time to go for those seats.

[weinoo]

Walk in. There must be a bar. Sit at the bar.

[ScottyBoy]

Happened with me so many time with Open Table, says there are none, I call and bingo.

[Hoshe]

I think your reservation difficulty has to do with either Open Table or the way reservations are being made for lunch. I ran into a similar problem not just with Jaleo but most of the Cosmopolitan restaurants in a recent Open Table search. I just checked and you can secure a reservation pretty much any time this Friday for dinner, which is certainly a more difficult reservation to obtain in general. My suspicion is they aren't taking lunch reservations through Open Table at this time.

[annachan]

Also, some restaurants only release a portion of the tables for Open Table reservations. The past few times we went to Vegas, we made all the reservations by phone and got tables at all the fine dining places we wanted to go to.

[C Simril]

Thanks for the advice. I just called them and was told they don't do lunch, unlike what they say on their website. At least I got into China Poblano for lunch. If I'm not too full from the restaurants I'll be dining at in the evening, I might stroll by Jaleo and see if they'll let me in for a late tapa. I'd love to sample the pleasures of the new E micro-restaurant which sounds like a new iteration of Minibar but I would have a better chance of winning a lottery than getting in there. Maybe some lucky diner will post a review of it here.

[mxkupc]

I somehow managed to get an e reservation for this coming week. I'll try to post a short review. Unfortunately I just had to cancel my Twist reservation as I had made it for the same night.

[C Simril]

How was your meal there? I've just returned from Vegas and was quite disappointed with Jaleo, though I was only in the cheap seats. Getting showered with splintered glass from a plate dropped near me was actually not the worst thing that happened to me there (that would be the date/bacon atrocity). Even China Poblano only really made it with the scallops and key limes. One out of six dishes in 2 restaurants being reccommendible is not a good average for a celebrity chef. It isn't much of an average for a dog.

[millions]

I was able to make a reservation at é yesterday for this Saturday night, so maybe things have calmed down a bit.