Chef Todd English’s food hall opens with pizzas, vegan fare, barbecue, and more

Chef Todd English marks the beginning of his return to Las Vegas when he opened the Beast Food Hall at Area15, the 200,000-square-foot entertainment venue with interactive artwork. Since the venue opened in September, English served his food as a pop-up, but now the entire 6,500-square-foot food hall reveals its dishes.

Unlike a food court that generally offers a variety fast-food national chains, a food hall mixes smaller artisan restaurants. English set up the food hall as a test kitchen for his restaurants around the globe. Different stations focus on specific cuisines, with a wok station, burning station for Roman-style flatbreads, barbecue station, and even a vegan stall serving dishes. English plans to rotate the menu, and chefs will bring different recipes that, if successful, will roll out to English’s restaurants worldwide.

One stall features pizzas in Caprese, Peking duck, smoked mushroom with Camembert, fig and prosciutto, vegan with Beyond Meat sausage, Buffalo cauliflower, and more. Breakfast dishes at a stall called Whacky Waffle Bar offers waffle dogs with all natural franks, while the Beast Breath Smoke House serves skewers of wagyu beef, black dry rub brisket, smoked short rib churrasco, Alabama white barbecue, and more. Other options include the Amsterdam burger made with house pastrami, Gruyere, and kraut at the Beast Burger; Singapore street noodles and pineapple fried rice at Wok the Wok; truffle cacio e pepe over pappardelle with toasted garlic at the Pasta Beast; and a black bean burger with mango ketchup at the Veggie Beast. Korean corn dogs, wings, salad bowls, macarons, and doughnuts round out the menu.

English at one time had Olives at the Bellagio, now occupied by Wolfgang Puck’s Spago, as well as Todd English P.U.B. at the Shops at Crystals, now called just the Pub. English’s most enduring venture, Olives, debuted with the Bellagio in October 1998. The Bellagio announced the restaurant would close back in 2013 before a very surprising reprieve. The Mediterranean-inspired restaurant closed for good in January 2018. Todd English P.U.B. closed in December 2017. English was also once behind the menu for Beso, the Las Vegas restaurant and nightclub fronted by actress Eva Longoria that closed in 2011 a few steps away from his former pub. When Virgin Hotels opens, English revives Olives at the resort that’s renovating the former Hard Rock Hotel.

The Beast Food Hall, Area15, 3215 S. Rancho Drive. Free admission. Hours vary.