Food&Music at Ferraro’s Has Patrons Shouting “Bravissimo!” - Part 1

Ferraro's Restaurant & Wine Bar

One of the great misconceptions about Las Vegas (and there are many) is that it’s truly a 24-hour town.  There are really very few places to grab a fantastic late-night (11pm to 2am) dinner.  As a matter of fact, since the closing of Las Vegas' venerable Venetian Restaurant on West Sahara, the number of restaurants where someone staying on the Strip could grab a gourmet meal (i.e. not in a coffee shop) could be counted on one hand (Bootlegger Bistro, Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, etc…).  It was only with the advent of casinos opening restaurants in collaboration with nightlife operators (i.e. Light Group’s FIX at Bellagio and STACK at The Mirage, TAO Group’s LAVO at Palazzo, Las Vegas Nightlife Group’s Society Café at Encore at Wynn Las Vegas, etc.) that restaurants would seat customers after 10pm; and even now, this practice is usually limited to weekends or during busy convention weeks.

Mimmo and Gino Ferraro

It was with this in mind that Gino Ferraro and his son Mimmo – owner and Chef of Ferraro’s Italian Restaurant, respectively – decided that the time had come to make some changes to the restaurant bearing their name.  Located on West Flamingo Road in the southwest area of Las Vegas (where it had been an off-Strip mainstay since 1985), the venerable restaurant’s reputation had been sturdily built upon a quarter-century old foundation of attentive service, a warm and intimate décor, and a great Osso Bucco, with the result that Ferraro’s was one of the few Valley restaurants with a reputation strong enough to warrant tourists cabbing-it from their restaurant-laden casino/resorts into the hinterlands of suburbia.  And while the quality and service never wavered, their venue had grown a bit long in the tooth; and in a city where convenience and modernity add-up to an unstoppable one-two punch in the arena of fine dining, suburbia just wasn’t cutting-it any more.

Ferraro's Italian Restaurant & Wine Bar located on the corner of Paradise Road and Harmon Avenue

So, when the space previously occupied by Rainbow Bar & Grill became available, on East Harmon Avenue directly across Paradise Road from the newly remodeled Hard Rock Hotel, Gino and Mimmo jumped on the venue.  After an extensive multi-million dollar renovation (and closing the doors of their original restaurant) father and son proudly reopened their doors as Ferraro’s Italian Restaurant & Wine Bar.

Food&Music - Wednesday Nights at Ferraro's Italian Restaurant & Wine Bar

Enter brand marketing wizard, James Foster of Whispering Giants, from whom the idea of Food&Music was conceived.  Taking advantage of the restaurant’s late hours of operation (until 2am, seven nights/week), Foster proposed the production of a weekly Wednesday night event at Ferraro’s, from 9pm until 2am, that would feature the full menu – offered at 50% off – as well as a sexy mélange of ambient music spun by the ever entrancing DJ Shoe (née Matthew Tuttle).

I’ll admit I was a bit skeptical at first.  “Okay,” I thought.  “Impress me.  Bring it on, and let’s see what you’ve got!”  And you know what?  I’m impressed.  I’m also still full from last night.  Seriously – I haven’t eaten all day (and how often does that happen?).

Come back, next time, and get into the actual food and music, in question.  Until then...