Las Vegas

Firefly

In Vegas, owning a "locals' favorite" is bittersweet, as it means watching other business owners blowing sweet tourist dollars on cocaine orgies/orthodontics for children regrettably conceived during cocaine orgies. Claiming some of those dollars for themselves, Firefly at the Plaza.

Garnering local love for their somewhat inconveniently located, near-UNLV tapas hub since 2003, Firefly's found a second home within the Plaza's Dome: a 2nd floor, spectacularly windowed resto & lounge with a clamorous decor scheme (stained cement floors, leather couches...pink leopard print ottomans) intended to evoke that classic "giant gypsy spaceship into the mouth of the lights and show of the Fremont Street Experience" thing. Not that your father ate tapas, but not-your-father's-tapas runs from Serrano ham/cabrales cheese/caramelized onion-enhanced Filet Mignon Sliders; to grouper/Japanese bread-crumb Firefly Fish Sticks; to mozzarella/garlic cream cheese-stuffed piquillo peppers; to Tiger Shrimp Ceviche -- eat this last to go out with a Yang. Liquid dieting includes three-day marinated sangria, lychee & berry infused vodkas, a tight selection of ports & cognacs, 10 mojitos from watermelon to passion fruit, and martinis stretching from the stately (Stoli w/ blue cheese-stuffed olives) to the state fair (Caramel Apple).

If your idea of "screw it, I'm in Vegas" includes desserts, Firefly offers up plenty, including a platter loaded with caramel flan, tres leches cake, passion-fruit cheesecake, and lemon-berry tart -- at just $12, an affordable orgy that'll ensure you have no teeth left to straighten out.

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