Tom’s Urban
Coffee
Colorado Hot Brown – Shaved turkey and smoked pit ham on sourdough, smothered with pork green chile, pepper jack and cheddar cheese, tomato, applewood-smoked bacon
Sweet potato fries and jerk ketchup
Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes with Caramel Butter
Big Carrot Cake – Six layers of carrot cake with cream cheese, pecans + fresh toasted coconut
Newly opened at New York New York, and apparently part of a trio with additional locations found in Larimer and Los Angeles, Tom’s Urban is not exactly the sort of restaurant one would rush to during opening week yet with the words “Hot Brown” featured prominently on the breakfast menu the sprawling space spilling onto the Strip immediately became a destination, a 6:30 arrival finding the kitchen just firing up as I sat in the two-hundred-plus person room with only the GM, Bartender, and a lovely server named Melissa during a seventy-five minute stay.
Recently redesigned, with urban-rustic flourishes including unfinished ceilings with globe lights above cement floors speckled with plenty of wood and glass, the general feel of Tom’s Urban is of the lively variety and with plenty of LCDs showing a variety of sports the biggest flaw is that the game volume is rendered mute, the restaurant instead opting to blare Iggy Azalea and Taylor Swift at levels clearly intended to draw in traffic from the strip.
Featuring a ‘late night and breakfast’ menu from 11:00pm until an hour before noon the dining options at Tom’s run the gamut of ‘global’ cuisine and with at least fifty selections available there were tough choices to be made – Las Vegas Boulevard pricing yielding $10-for-3 flapjacks and the aforementioned Hot Brown for $21, the $3 cup of coffee kept brimming throughout the meal the only real “bargain,” though aside from false-maple syrup the ingredients were high quality all around.
Waiting and watching Kirk Herbstreit’s mouth move while Katy Perry’s voice poured from speakers overhead it was perhaps fifteen minutes before two plates arrived and greeted by the GM during that time suffice it to say that neither portion was skimpy, the bursting blueberries amongst buttermilk batter not really benefitted by upsold butter but light, fluffy, and flavorful when gilded with syrup brought from home while the “Denver” take on the Louisville staple was anything but authentic with a bold spice profile only serving to enhance the smoky sapor of pork alongside moist turkey on thick, buttery bread.
Originally told that desserts were only available at dinner, but pleading my case that Carrot Cake is a perfectly rational post-breakfast treat, it was with ‘best I’ve ever had’ promises from my server that the moist slice arrived and although certainly not quite matching the high standards set by Jerry’s Nugget or Citizens the $9 six-layer selection was still quite impressive with a restrained spice profile still allowed to shine by keeping the frosting less sweet than most, a spin that may appeal to those desiring a more savory dessert.
THREE STARS: Clearly suffering from Strip-style pricing (and unwilling to offer this info online) those sitting down for a meal at Tom’s Urban are likely to find something they enjoy from the wide ranging menu and although several similar “upscale American” restaurants exist throughout Las Vegas none of them are serving a Hot Brown of any form, nor Duck Wings or an interesting selection of street tacos, before dawn.
RECOMMENDED: Denver Hot Brown.
AVOID: Sitting directly under the speakers, and any expectations of restaurants at any price to spring for good Maple Syrup until people start to demand better.
TIP: Ostensibly seeming to be open 24/7 as listed on the website the restaurant is not yet 100% committed to this from what I was able to gather in a conversation with the hostess or GM – the kitchen currently shutting down for ‘slow hours,’ which considering the fact that I was the only person seated from just after six o’clock until 7:15 could be longer than they presently think.
WHAT THE STARS MEAN: 5 World Class, 4 Excellent, 3 Good, 2 Fair, 1 Poor
http://tomsurban.com/las-vegas/ny-ny-hotel
