The Solo Scale:

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Celebrity chefs want you to eat at their Vegas restaurants. They’re banking on name recognition, word of mouth, and in many cases, they’re hoping that you saw a viral menu item online and are desperate to come and try it out. With Chica, there are a few items on the menu (namely the dessert menu) that have social media recognition. The chocolate skull is the one that most people would know and while a delicious dish might be the reason you go to a restaurant, Chica gives you plenty of reasons to stay.

The mood in Chica is a bit low-light, but every table has their own little reading lamp to assist with the menus. Still, even with tables close to one another, it wasn’t too noisy and we had relative privacy at our two-top. To start, our party began with drinks — I tried the Palomita cocktail, which was a good drink, but didn’t measure up to the drinks that we’d had at a cocktail bar just before dinner. It was a little heavy on the ice versus the alcohol, so if I went back, I would opt for the wine instead.

Intent on trying as much as possible, we scoured the appetizer menu and decided on an array of items.

Appetizers & Sides

The Street Corn, which was delicious but had a spicy kick to it. If you’re extremely spice averse, you may want to give this a pass, or split it with someone if you’re not travelling alone

Tuna Tartare. This was incredible and had corn chips to go along with it. The tuna was nice and fresh and all the accompaniments made it a delicious and well-rounded dish, though it was a bit on the smaller side, so it might not be for sharing

The Tostones. I had my doubts about these. They’re not currently on the menu, but they were the actual star of the dish. If you have the chance to have them (they’re crispy fried green plantains), then you should absolutely get them without delay.

Arepas. These were also tasty, but the balance was slightly off. The relish was overpowering the dish, which made me wish I had tasted the rest of the dish. It was still absolutely delicious, but one ingredient too over unexpectedly.

Desserts

What’s a meal without dessert? In hindsight, the two of us could have shared, but instead, we decided to each venture to the dessert menu for a treat.

The Corn. If you’re not going to get the aesthetics of the chocolate skull, this is a good runner-up. The Corn looks exactly as advertised — like a piece of corn, but it’s actually flan and cheesecake cleverly faking a cob of corn.

Churros Con Cafe. This was $20 USD at the time of ordering, but it’s enough to feed a small family. There’s an abundance of Nutella filled churros, which are so good, and then a whole cup of rum-flavoured tiramisu. It was absolutely delicious. It was also absolutely too much for a single person to eat.

If I had to make a nitpick about Chica, it’s that the portion size is inconsistent. Some things are very small and some things are extremely large (See: The Churros con Cafe). However, everything tasted fantastic and the mood was great. The price was also fairly decent for a Las Vegas restaurant, so if you’re looking for a middle of the road restaurant at the Venetian/Palazzo, this might be the choice for you.

Check out the menu and see what catches your eye, and book your table today. Note: The reservation system used will only allow 30 days in advance as opposed to some others that let you reserve much earlier, so don’t be discouraged if it seems sold out. Even when we arrived, there were a few open tables, so walk-ins are still definitely an option!

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