Max Jacobson
Contributing Editor, Food
Contact: Email
Vegas Seven’s food critic started his career as a food journalist in Japan in the early ’80s. Since then, he has been a columnist for the Los Angeles Times and has written for a variety of national publications, such as Saveur and Gourmet. He's best known as an authority on Asian food, but he has rarely met a cuisine he doesn't like. He has covered the Vegas culinary scene since 2000.
Recent Articles
Diner's Notebook
Gordo’s hat trick, doing the Laundry, and the TI Shacks up
October 11th, 2012
It has now been confirmed that cranky chef Gordon Ramsay—who is also about to open a gastropub-style concept in the former Bradley Ogden space at Caesars Palace—will also open a third restaurant in his constellation here.
Read More »
Diner's Notebook
Chicken flu prompts an international egg scramble
October 4th, 2012
Almost everyone, with the exception of vegans and people on restricted diets, eats eggs. Now, an outbreak of avian flu in Mexico has caused egg prices to spike mildly here and radically in Mexico, where, according to the poultry industry, consumption is 430 eggs per capita each year, or almost twice the number of that in the States.
Read More »
Down (town) Home
New Eat restaurant grants our urbanite wish for both comfort and food
October 4th, 2012
EAT, chef Natalie Young’s modest, yet somehow jazzy restaurant, and downtown seem as made for each other as William and Kate. Springtime and flowers. Bacon and eggs.
Read More »
Too Cool for School
‘Amped-up gastropub’ Culinary Dropout earns high marks for hipsterdom, but misses the mark for its category
September 27th, 2012
Culinary Dropout, the newly opened restaurant at the Hard Rock Hotel, is being called an “amped-up gastropub,” where hipness is on tap, bolstered by a menu conceived by Sam Fox, CEO of the rapidly growing Fox Restaurant Concepts.
Read More »
Diner's Notebook
Lemongrass changes hands, MENUS for kids, and Hoptober has your fall fun on tap
September 27th, 2012
Lemongrass Café, the diner-like Vietnamese restaurant in a mall on Eastern Avenue and Pebble Road in southeast Las Vegas (8820 S. Eastern Ave., 463-1300), has new owners, and the food is better and more diverse than ever.
Read More »
Bacchanal Is a Beast of a Feast
Caesars Palace gets back in the buffet game with a game-changing spread—and with not even a stitch of kitsch
September 20th, 2012
Bacchus is the Roman god of wine. His name is synonymous with sumptuous feasting, and that’s exactly what you get at Bacchanal Buffet, the new blowout buffet at Caesars Palace, featuring a changing menu with more than 500 different items daily.
Read More »
Diner's Notebook
Stealth burgers, wine excellence, and Cali’s foie bust is our boon
September 20th, 2012
I heard shouting about a new burger on the block at Wildburger in the Wildfire Casino (1901 N. Rancho Drive, 646-3447), so I had to stop in for a try. And—surprise!—this might be one of the best burgers in the city: handcrafted, beautifully charred with a variety of toppings, and a nice value.
Read More »
Diner's Notebook
Sammy D’s next act, respite in San Diego, and Max picks Parsley
September 13th, 2012
Sammy DeMarco, a.k.a. Sammy D of First Food & Bar in the Palazzo, is one of our most creative chefs, so when he unfurls a new project, it’s big news. Rattlecan should be open by mid-October at the Venetian, and it’s going to be hip, fun and affordable.
Read More »
Like Mama Used to Make
Sincerity and that Old Vegas Italian charm make this strip-mall mamma e papa joint a contender
September 6th, 2012
I’m constantly trolling the Valley for new neighborhood finds, so when two friends called me with enthusiastic recommendations of a place called Roma Garden, I snapped to attention and made a beeline for it.
Read More »
Diner's Notebook
Vegas’ most lavish buffet, Germany’s best wurst, and the Public House proliferation
September 6th, 2012
Bacchanal Buffet will open in a few days at Caesars Palace in a 25,000-square-foot space formerly home to Café Lago. The design—by Tokyo firm Super Potato, which also did Sensi and Strip Steak—features wood, steel and glass sections, and nine open kitchens, where chefs will cook in front of the customers and discuss the process to boot.
Read More »