Joe's

Hi, I’m Kenneth Watrous. I’m writing about seafood places in Las Vegas, and the opinions here are only mine.

Last month, we went to Aquaknox. This month, we’re writing about Joe’s (not to be confused with Joe’s Crab Shack).

Simply called Joe’s, but named after the original Joe’s Stone Crab, the place is a mixed fine dining seafood restaurant. This one is located inside Caesars Pavilion and Forum shops and has a large selection of dinner types. They offer a different selection of options for lunch and dinner and even have a carry out menu. This is as much known for their fine quality steaks as the crab and seafood. The location is usually pretty busy, but the wait times, while a little long on some items, show the care that comes into making some of the dishes.

For as upscale as the place is, it is still children friendly. They offer a kids selection of options and some worksheets. They even have a kids club where they offer new games over time and get input from the customers on what to offer. This is a good step from a place that could just as easily not bother.

The locations is a working man’s posh with subdued lighting and a lot of wood paneling. The tables have tablecloths and cloth napkins and so on. The wait staff is prompt and does a good job of describing the differences between some of the places more confusing items. They offer three different locations worth of oysters and the staff does a fine job of explaining what to expect from each location. They also work well explaining the different cuts of steak and what to expect from the texture and flavor profiles. They have a fairly consistent, non-seasonal menu, but it is deep and they have to really know a lot to keep all of the flavors and the wine and cocktail pairing straight.

The food is a combination of steak and seafood with a few other options like lamb and chicken tossed in. They also do some quicker style bar food like mahi tacos and even a cheeseburger. I’m usually interested in only one thing when I hit the town for a restaurant experience, but they work hard to really offer something for everyone, which you don’t always see in an upscale place. The combination is often called surf and turf, but I think that isn’t quite right. They really offer both in such quantity that it isn’t an AND it is much more of a BOTH.

The stone crab is the signature draw for the place. Stone crab is served in a bucket and takes some skill to crack and draw out. Stone crab is all about the claw meat and not legs or soft shell meat that can be made into cakes and the such. Stone crab has a clean flavor and is surprisingly one of the more sustainable crab concoctions.

Their fish offerings reflect a solid selection of favorites, halibut, bass, and salmon. They also have a tuna steak with a lot of character. These are all done up with matched sides and are pulled in fresh each day.

This is also a place I will go for a steak because they take a lot of time and have some pretty good options. Their marinated skirt steak with lime butter is something else, certainly. They also do some lobster and other crab products as well as shrimp. All of these are fresh and big portions with a lot of care to make classic flavors. Joe’s is the place to go with an early seafood enthusiast. The flavors show a range of ideas from the east and west coasts but they are simple and classic. Nothing too complicated so that the food speaks for itself without the need to be dressed up a lot.

In their lunch options the dry aged dip which is a shaved rib eye with seasoning puts most hot beef sandwiches to shame. The meat is so tender and piled high. They also do up a tenderloin sandwich that takes a serious commitment to get through, it feels heavy but tastes so worth it.

-Kenneth Watrous

Find more about me on www.kennethwatrous.com or follow me on twitter at @KennethWatrous