The Las Vegas Strip is reshuffling its dining deck again. Three major restaurants have opened at Aria, Wynn and Sahara since late 2025, while Bellagio and MGM Grand have lost several familiar names in 2026.
The newcomers include Gymkhana, the first U.S. location of the acclaimed London restaurant; Sartiano’s Italian Steakhouse from BOND Hospitality; and Maroon, chef Kwame Onwuachi’s Caribbean-inspired steakhouse. On the other side of the ledger, Le Cirque ended its nearly 28-year Bellagio run in August. MGM Grand Buffet and Nellie’s Southern Kitchen also closed earlier in the year.
That mix of splashy debuts and quick exits captures the Strip’s current restaurant cycle. Resorts are still willing to spend big on destination dining, but no dining room gets a permanent seat at the table. In Las Vegas, even the classics eventually face the count.
Major openings are raising the stakes
The newest wave is not built around one cuisine or one formula. Indian fine dining, Italian steakhouse cooking and Caribbean flavors are all getting prime resort real estate. Each opening also comes with a chef, restaurant group or brand designed to attract diners beyond the casino floor.
Gymkhana gives Aria a major Indian restaurant
Gymkhana at Aria Resort & Casino opened Dec. 4, 2025, as the first U.S. location of the London restaurant created by JKS Restaurants. The original Gymkhana holds two Michelin stars in the United Kingdom.
MGM Resorts described the Las Vegas location as the first Indian restaurant on the Strip. Its menu draws heavily from North India, with additional influences from the country’s southern and western regions. Signature dishes brought over from London include tandoori masala lamb chops, morel mushroom and truffle pilaf, and lasooni wild tiger prawns.
The 175-seat restaurant includes a lounge, the intimate 42 Bar and a secluded dining area called The Vault. This is not a grab-and-go curry counter. It is Aria planting a giant flag for Indian fine dining, right in the middle of one of the Strip’s most competitive restaurant collections.
Sartiano’s adds Italian steakhouse muscle at Wynn
Sartiano’s Italian Steakhouse debuted at Wynn Las Vegas on March 4, 2026. The restaurant comes from BOND Hospitality founder Scott Sartiano and operates alongside the Las Vegas location of Zero Bond, the company’s private membership club.
The concept blends Italian-American cooking with the familiar swagger of a Strip steakhouse. Wynn describes the restaurant as a mix of classic Italian dishes, steaks and seafood served in a dining room overlooking the resort’s golf course.
Its arrival adds another heavyweight to a resort already packed with high-end dining. That is the Wynn playbook: polished room, recognizable operator and a menu built for a long Vegas night. Subtle, it is not.
Maroon brings Caribbean flavors to Sahara
Maroon by chef Kwame Onwuachi opened April 24, 2026, at Sahara Las Vegas. The restaurant is billed as a Caribbean-inspired steakhouse, drawing on Jamaican cooking and the broader African diaspora.
Onwuachi entered the project with national name recognition, including a James Beard Award and acclaimed restaurant Tatiana in New York. At Sahara, Maroon gives the north end of the Strip a chef-led restaurant with a point of view that stands apart from the standard steakhouse script.
The opening also shows how resorts are chasing concepts with a clear identity. A celebrity name helps. A menu diners cannot find in every casino helps more. Maroon checks both boxes.
Closures are clearing out familiar names
The Strip’s restaurant churn is not limited to older rooms quietly reaching the end of a lease. In 2026, the departures included a fine-dining institution, a family-backed Southern restaurant and one of the remaining casino buffets.
Le Cirque ends a landmark Bellagio run
Le Cirque served its final dinner at Bellagio on Aug. 23, 2026. The French restaurant opened in 1998 and became one of the defining dining rooms from the era when Las Vegas was remaking itself as a serious food destination.
Le Cirque earned a Michelin star when the guide covered Las Vegas and maintained a Forbes Five-Star rating. Its colorful, circus-inspired dining room became almost as recognizable as its tasting menus.
Bellagio marked the closing with special farewell menus, but a permanent successor was not announced with the closure. Whatever follows will inherit more than a dining room. It will inherit one of the toughest acts on the Strip.
MGM Grand loses a buffet and a Southern kitchen
MGM Grand saw two notable dining departures in May. Nellie’s Southern Kitchen served its final meal May 25 after four years at the resort. The Jonas family-backed restaurant specialized in comfort food, including fried chicken and waffles, shrimp and grits, meatloaf, and chicken and dumplings.
Six days later, MGM Grand Buffet closed permanently on May 31. The buffet had offered a comparatively casual option inside the massive resort, with breakfast staples and rotating lunch and dinner selections.
Its exit continued a much larger Las Vegas shift. Casino buffets were once treated as basic resort infrastructure. Now only a limited group remains, and the surviving examples increasingly compete as premium experiences rather than cheap all-you-can-eat stops.
MGM Grand has not publicly detailed permanent replacements for both closed restaurants. Until new concepts are announced, the resort’s dining map has two meaningful gaps.
What the turnover means for Strip diners
The latest changes point to a sharper divide in Strip dining. Resorts are favoring restaurants with recognizable chefs, established brands and a story that can travel across social media. Gymkhana brings Michelin-backed London prestige. Sartiano’s combines a New York hospitality name with the steakhouse format. Maroon arrives with a celebrated chef and a distinct Caribbean identity.
At the same time, longevity offers no guarantee. Le Cirque survived nearly three decades and helped define an era, yet Bellagio is moving on. Nellie’s lasted four years. MGM Grand Buffet represented a format that once seemed untouchable in Las Vegas.
For diners, the practical lesson is simple. Check the resort’s official restaurant page before building a night around an old favorite, especially if the reservation is tied to a show or celebration. Announced concepts can also shift their timelines before opening, so a planned debut is not the same as an unlocked door.
The Strip is still hungry for restaurants. It is just getting pickier about what stays on the plate.
