Atlantis Manhattan Deli - Reno, NV

Surprised. Pleasantly surprised. As someone whose Jewish upbringing consisted of homemade meals and deliveries from Second Avenue Deli, I didn't expect to enjoy a place called Manhattan Deli at a mega-resort in Reno. 

But here we are, this forced facsimile of something you'd find on a city street, and I find the food is delightful. There's this giant Corned Beef and Pastrami Double Decker, with heights of meat similar to what you'd get from Katz. You'd never get anything this size in NYC, and never for a reasonable price. Both meats are hot and thinly shaved. The corned beef is a bit more of a solid chew, but both are tender, and the pastrami is fall-apart quality. 

The New York Special is a lot lighter. The corned beef is cold, and savory equals creamy-sweet in a matching layer of coleslaw.

Both sandwiches are substantial, and either could be easily shared, but both are surprisingly easy to eat. Each bite invites another, and though you never forget you're in Reno, the spirit of New York is very much present in the hot, heaping generosity between both slices of bread. 

Atlantis Oyster & Sushi Bar - Reno, NV

Seafood in a landlocked city can only be so good, but Reno isn't so far from shore that they can't fly it or drive it in fast enough. 

It's best to stick to simplicity here - they do a fun Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail, for example. Giant shrimp, nice and cold. Drizzle with lemon, dunk in sauce. 

The Sashimi Salad comes with so many slices of seared tuna, and what looks like most of a can of black tobiko. Lots of green stuff beneath, including seaweed salad, and it makes a pretty good lighter lunch. The tuna itself could be fresher, but it's fine. 

Prefer your fish cooked? Probably a better idea here. The Fisherman's Platter is great for sharing, and all that breading is so filling. There's cod, there's crunchy panko prawns, and even the oysters are a pleasant surprise - not even the least bit fishy. 

Plenty of solid choices here, and they have an AYCE deal if you want to stuff yourself with mid-level sushi. This oyster and sushi bar is a decent one if you're staying at the Atlantis. I wouldn't make a special trip here, but it's a good break from diner or fine dining. 

Atlantis Red Bloom - Reno, NV

Usually casino restaurants are pretty well thought-out, with everything strategically placed, especially at mega-resorts like the Atlantis. Their steakhouse is well-known, and they have a few trendier places that the grandparents love to frequent, including the newer Bistro Napa, but I'm pretty sure Red Bloom was an afterthought. Hey, marketing team, you named your Asian restaurant after the deadly algae that infects shellfish, rendering them unfit for human consumption. 

The food is not unfit for human consumption...only unfit for enjoyment, starting with a sad salad. This Vietnamese Chicken Salad has flavorless white chicken, and shredded things, all of which were so incredibly soggy. There was supposed to be a housemade fish sauce, but it seems to have drowned like the salad. 

Shrimp Hargow fell apart immediately. 

Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings are alright. They did taste freshly fried and were quite crunchy. Not much in terms of seasoning, but this was absolutely okay. 

Mongolian Beef and Beef Bulgolgi are interchangeable in flavor and appearance, one slightly sweeter than the other, and the former has some little crispy bits on top. It's fine, it's stir fried respectably, but PF Chang's it is not. 

Service is slow, but it's lunch on a Tuesday so I can cut them some slack, but what I can't forgive is the sake. We ordered it at the beginning, and it came as our dessert. Unfortunately, we did not order dessert so we were stuck awkwardly sipping sake with no food to eat. I have no idea what took that long - I doubt they ferment it themselves. 

Do not eat here. You will not be happy.

Atlantis Purple Parrot - Reno, NV

Oh boy, I never thought I'd have a problem with a greasy-spoon diner in a casino.

They are what they are, and usually that's just fine, but when the grease is so old it permeates all your food, then it becomes a problem. 

A Fresh Vegetable Omelet would have been good as the ingredients were actually fresh vegetables, but nothing could save it from the awful oil. The hash browns had the same aftertaste, like either the oil hadn't been changed for days or the griddle hadn't been cleaned for weeks.

The Biscuit with Gravy wasn't bad. Fine biscuit, fine gravy, hits your hangover like a Vegas buffet. Nothing special, but no complaints. 

I don't know what to think. A dirty grill? Bad oil? Whatever it is, I'm just glad I only ordered one thing. I won't be ordering anything else. 

Bistro Napa - Reno, NV

Situated on the second floor of the Atlantis, this place has all the trappings of casino cuisine. A long list of steaks and high-end cuts of meat make up half the menu, and for their impressive list of wines, they simply hand you an iPad for you to peruse. 

There’s quite a gap between the bread and the appetizers, but the service is attentive and the speed is quite appropriate for a full house on a Friday night. 

But an adorable amuse bouche tries to bridge the gap, a cracker-crostini with a shaved beef salad. 

The appetizers come, for me this Classic Escargot, which is made exactly as it should be. Six wells of tender snails sit in a soup of butter and pungent garlic. Soak up all the sauce with all six toast points - your taste buds will thank you and your breath will peel the paint of the walls.

The server recommended the Caesar Salad, for reasons I cannot comprehend. It looks like something poured out of a supermarket bag, though the dressing tasted a little better. 

At this point I realize that this bistro has a bit a red flag; Beware the boundless menu. At first glance, the wide variety is welcome, but what it translates to is everything good and nothing great.

Their signature Sea Bass is where it starts to show. The fish is cooked properly, but it’s just a little bit fishy, and I can tell it isn’t entirely fresh. The risotto is the highlight here - looks exactly like a stock photo, so creamy with super tender shrimp.

The Cabernet-Braised Short Ribs are also labeled as a signature, but I find them nice but somewhat forgettable. They have a heavy sauce, a rich red wine that savors it up, a fine-dining meat n’ potatoes. Delicious but been done. 

Thrillist lauded this bistro for its California cuisine, but I don’t agree with their description. Praised for their emphasis on seasonality, the sheer size of the menu would suggest otherwise. Aside from serving root veggies in the winter and working some string beans into late spring, there are just too many dishes to not buy in bulk. I like them, and I think they’re exactly right for their target audience (the casino-goer population), but if I want fine dining, I would pick something less generic.