Beso: Eastern Europe in the Desert (Las Vegas Restaurant Review)

Another terrific afternoon lunch here at Beso located on South Buffalo, on the west side of Las Vegas, near Spanish Trails. This might be the greatest unknown gem and least-known restaurant in the area. In a bland world of chains and corporate food, this place is a throwback to old-world authenticity, and mostly at a bargain price. Deserves far more love–especially from locals.

Rant coming: i’m sooooooo….. sick of people complaining about boring food and few family run original restaurants and then when one is here they don’t support it. Quit paying $200 for a meal at a casino restaurant that will never remember your name. Please stop! Support your neighbors and real people who care about food.

Wonderful atmosphere, seating, service, specials, and food is consistently tasty and authentic.

This is a very real Eastern European restaurant, with a heavy emphasis on Bulgarian, Albanian, Armenian, Slavic, and other regions (I have a pretty good grasp of the cultures of Eastern Europe but I admit I don’t know the origins of every dish). But the menu is extensive with lots of things a meat and potatoes eater will enjoy so don’t be intimidated. Note that I’m married to an Eastern European, as she grew up with most of these dishes–and since Beso has become one of our favorite restaurants, it meets the golden seal of approval. Today, my wife saw something on the menu that she has not tried in 35 years. I’ll write more about that experience in another report because it’s so interesting.

You’re likely to see a very heavily Eastern European crowd inside here. And what I’m about to say could rub people the wrong way but when I go somewhere I like to give the full picture and also give an idea of why this restaurant is very unique. Lots of fancy cars out in the parking lot, even though it’s a strip mall, but it’s a big restaurant. Everyone seems to speaking one of the Eastern European languages and you can do your own math on that equation. Tuesday afternoon, bunch of muscle guys with perfect hair, and they’re ordering off the menu like it’s the last supper and money is no object. I don’t mean that in a bad way, just that when we have visited in the middle of the afternoon and the restaurant has 20 tables and they’re all speaking various Eastern European languages and they’re nothing but Mercedes and BMWs in the parking lot here in Las Vegas…..well, let’s just say that these people know where to eat! I’ll leave it at that.

East Coast Reference: I think of Sammy’s Roumanian (NYC, Lower East Side)…. some of you may get that comparison, which is a compliment.

I think it’s a shame that more native Americans (non-Europeans) see a bunch of food items they may not recognize, so they don’t come here. The restaurant’s doing well and has live music in the evenings, but we usually tend to come in for lunch mid-afternoon because their specials are so attractive and they seem to be a fraction of what they would cost anywhere else in town. And, I can’t tell you how outstanding the attention to detail is here as far as ingredients and freshness. Daily at least two or three soups made from scratch, which are unbelievably delicious. Salads here are also wonderful.

We’ve probably been here 25+ times in the last three years and they’re open for both lunch and dinner. I usually get the trout which is $18, comes with a side dish and bread with a terrific garlic spread. The Adana kabob which is Turkish is also quite good. Also, I like their schnitzel cutlet, which is basically a future heart attack on a plate. This food is real. I doubt anything is canned or frozen here. The desserts are made in house and they’re outstanding.

Beso deserves a lot more visits and to be perfectly straightforward here, it’s a damn shame that more non-Europeans are not taking advantage of this unique opportunity and experience.

I wish there were many more places like Beso.

Visit their website and see full menu HERE.

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Side Note: Just to show you how authentically Eastern European this restaurant is every time we’ve come in they always have tennis on every television.