In March 2023, Caesars Entertainment and Tao Group Hospitality debuted Stanton Social Prime at Caesars Palace as an offshoot of New York City’s Stanton Social, which closed in 2018. But steak didn’t cut it for the owners — at least not as much as the Stanton connection did.

Executive chef and Stanton Social brand owner Chris Santos traded prime cuts for primavera at Caesars Palace. (Image: Caesars Entertainment)

So the restaurant quickly and quietly switched both its cuisine and name last week to Stanton Social Italian. Former Stanton Social executive chef and co-owner Chris Santos still mans the kitchen, only now it’s prepping primavera instead of prime cuts.

“The next chapter for Stanton Social focuses on classic Italian cuisine by way of New York’s long and storied history of Italian-inspired, iconic neighborhood restaurants from Little Italy to the Bronx,” Santos said in a Friday announcement.

The new menu features a curated selection of modern Italian dishes designed for sharing, including Fritto Misto with calamari, shrimp, squash, cherry peppers, arrabbiata sauce and preserved lemon aioli.

Astonishingly, the restaurant managed to remain open during the change.

Dining Ins & Outs

The Hello Kitty Café opened at Park MGM in July 2019. (Image: sanrio.com)

A third New Hello Kitty Café is coming to the Strip. Kitty White, the icon behind the global pop culture brand, will open the eatery on the second floor of the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace. (The other Hello Kittys are at Park MGM and the Fashion Show mall.)

Zippy’s, the beloved Hawaiian food diner that opened its first Las Vegas location in October 2023, will open its fourth and fifth locations in early 2026: at 10810 W. Charleston Blvd. in Summerlin South and 5485 Camino Al Norte in North Las Vegas. (Its current restaurants are at 7095 Badura Ave. in southwest Las Vegas, 4590 S. Hualapai Way in Spring Valley and 9570 S. Eastern Ave in Henderson.)

Leoncito ya no está en Red Rock Resort.” (Image: Facebook)

The Hush Puppy — comforting Las Vegas and enriching its cardiologists with southern-fried goodies since 1975 — will open its second Las Vegas location, at downtown’s Neonopolis, on November 18.

Red Rock Resort quiet-closed Leoncito modern Mexican in late September. According to Vital Vegas, it will be replaced early next year with Hearthstone Kitchen & Cellar. Bizarrely, this is the very restaurant that Red Rock shuttered in 2023 to create space for Leoncito.

Red Rock also plans to close the oven on Side Piece after four years and replace it with another pizza concept, Good Pie.

Finally, as per Vital Vegas — which we gratefully credit for half of this column’s news — the struggling  Pepper Club at downtown’s English Hotel will close on January 1, 2026. Its replacement is something that the real-estate development group renting the space called “something exciting” in a press statement even though it probably has nothing lined up or it would have mentioned it.

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