Some friends and I flew into Las Vegas this morning for a convention.
They all wanted to eat dinner tonight at a fancy French restaurant, but
the reservation was for 8:30. That's way too late for me to eat dinner.
So I passed on the reservation. As we drove to the Excalibur where we
are staying for the next few days, I saw a bill board for the Carnegie
Deli in the Mirage. That's when I decided what my dinner would be
tonight. And now I am back in my hotel room stuffed from dinner and
tired from walking all day and my friends are out at Bouchon at the
Venetian eating dinner now.

After trying out the new monorail to go to the Las Vegas Hilton to get
my admission badge for the conference, I went over to the Mirage casino
where I quickly found the Carnegie Deli. I was half expecting this
Carnegie Deli to be like the Stage Deli express that are in two or three
other casinos, but this Carnegie Deli turned out to be a full service
restaurant, not a takeout sandwich shop.

I arrived at the Carnegie Deli around 5:30 and I was quickly seated.
Considering that every hotel in town is full due to the National
Association of Broadcasters Convention (which I am attending), I
expected the place to be packed, but it wasn't.

Several tables were occupied, but I had no problem being seated quickly.
After looking over the menu, I ordered gefilte fish for my appetizer. I
was served a plate with at least eight nice size slices of gefilte fish
layered across lettuce and tomato with a few onion strands. Horse
raddish was offered, but I declined it because I hate that stuff. The
salad ingredients were fresh and the $7.95 price was reasonable.
Unfortunately, the fish was clearly from a jar, not home made. It was no
better than the gefilte fish I buy in jars from a grocery store. The
gefilte fish was also accompanied by some diced boiled potatoes, but I
only ate two or three forks worth because I am on a low carb diet.

For my main course, I ordered a hot brisket sandwich. The sandwich cost
about $12, as I recall and it was HUGE. The rye on which it was served
was okay, but nowhere near as good as my favorite New York deli, the 2nd
Avenue Deli. I only ate a few bites of the bread and I left most of it
behind only because I did not want to eat the carbs. The brisket was
piled high, but it did not have much flavor and it was a bit on the dry
side. Not bad, but nowhere near as good as the brisket I have eaten at
the 2nd Avenue Deli or Katz's in New York City.

The atmosphere at the deli was fine, as was the service. The wait staff
could see I was interested in sitting quietly and reading, so they
remained unobtrusive, yet attentive when they saw I needed my drink
replenished and my pickle bowl. They offered free pickles too, just like
the New York Delis do and the pickles were okay, but not great. The half
sours were passable, but they lacked that crunchy texture that I prefer.

Would I eat there again? Probably. For some reason, the friends who I
tend to visit Las Vegas with all hate Jewish style delis so if I find
myself in a situation where I am dining here in Las Vegas alone again, I
might go back and try some of the other menu items.

I cannot compare the Las Vegas Carnegie to the original in NYC. I don't
remember how the food there in the original Carnegie is because its been
many years since I previously ate there.