Nora's Wine Bar & Osteria

02/16/09

Wine bar worth the try. Have to try the food again and trust to what we've had success in ordering.

by tartan at Citysearch

Ok, we're from out of town and a couple of friends who live in Las Vegas took us to Nora's. We did like the wine tasting, although the machines seem a bit pricey, and a little heavy on Australian wines. Still, the chance to try a variety of wines, without buying glasses of each was neat. Kind of like a wine tasting in the Napa Valley, but here you get to try a huge variety of labels and growing regions. I'd give the overall experience on the machines a 4 star rating and worth the trip to Nora's.

But, the olive oil thing with dinner - three different kinds of olive oil and three kinds of salt that come with the bread, kind of was overkill. Just a good EVO, with a little balsamic, or butter, and I'd be happy.

We had the cheese appetizer plate and it was very good, along with the salad. The pasta dishes were so, so. We ordered the linguine with scallops topped with tuna "caviar." It sounded good, but the tuna roe overpowered the dish. We also ordered a wild boar pasta dish in a marinara sauce. Again, sounds great, but the sauce overpowered the boar. We couldn't taste the meat. The best pasta dish was their Pasta Al Forno, which was baked pasta with a ground beef sauce, topped with cheese. The final dish we ordered was the Veal Marsala. This should be their signature dish. It was great. But, they were pretty stingy with the veal. I'd say, except for the veal, the portions are more than adequate for "family style," which is what we did. Took all the pasta leftovers to go and there were plenty. Alas, no veal left.

I think it's worth a try. And, we'll go back. I have a better idea what to order next time. Maybe, and I hope, my rating will go up. By the way, we found the service very good.

• Pros: I'd go for the wine bar, alone.
• Cons: I'll have to find the right combination of dishes.

10/10/08

Overpriced and Over Rated

by CitysearchReviewer89134 at Citysearch

I was totally disappointed in this overpriced and over rated excuse for a family style Italian fare restaurant. The sparce excuse for bread and oils started an extrorinarily unsatisfying evening. There were four of us, and after picking over the three pices of bread and three tablespoons of dipping oil (literally), we finally ordered. Thirty-five minutes later, our meal finally arrived after the waitress showing up once to check on our drinks. I ordered the Orro de Pollo (or something like that), and believe me, it looked like a California Roll in a Sushi Restaraunt, only smaller. Completely forget the "Family Style" cliche...I think that mean "Neuvo Cuisine" in Osteria (sarcarm intentional). My wife ordered the veal...five small strips of lunch meat with an admitably delicious sauce...not worth the price though, belive me.

After spending several wonderful evenings enjoying the Nora's on west Flamingo and their Shrimp Scampi with Garlic over a wonderful Angel Hair Pasta and several other delicious entres, this was the worst comparison I think I can imagine. Before you waste your time and money at Nora's Ostoria and Wine Bar, stick with the West Flamingo Nora's...or Olive Garden...at least the food is better.

03/20/08

Have alway had a good experience

by spottydog at Citysearch

I have dined at Nora's sevral times, the service has alway been great, the wine list is very extensive and the food is great. Try the Ceasar salad and the lamb chops they are our favorites. The somlier, Christina, is alway very helpful, in fact now we just let her order our food and pair the wine. We take all our friends there and they love it too.

• Pros:  Great wine food
• Cons: can be loud and very busy and cramped