VEGAS DINING NEWS: Cosmo Eatery Fined, Picasso Replacement Revealed, NoButcher No More
Posted on: July 8, 2025, 06:35h.
Last updated on: July 9, 2025, 10:42h.
The corporate owner of Zuma Las Vegas, an upscale Japanese restaurant operating at the Cosmopolitan since 2017, has agreed to a $3.6 million settlement to resolve allegations of cheating the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to obtain loans during the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown.
According to a news release from the US Department of Justice, the Azumi Corporate Group violated PPP loan limits designed to aid small businesses. The entity had applied for, and received, separate loans for Zuma Las Vegas — as well as four other restaurants in New York, LA and Florida — justifying that each was structured as a separate limited liability company.
“The PPP was meant to support small businesses struggling during COVID, not to be exploited by large corporate groups,” said U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley for the District of Massachusetts. “We’re dedicated to ensuring accountability for those who misused taxpayer-funded relief.”
Carbone Sails into Bellagio
Carbone Riviera will debut this fall in the former Picasso space at the Bellagio, it was announced on Tuesday by MGM Resorts, thus verifying another rumor first reported by Casino.org’s own Vital Vegas.
The coastal Italian seafood spot, which began in New York and already has a location at Aria, will be developed by Major Food Group, the hospitality group that’s also behind Sadelle’s at Bellagio.
Its $16 million redesign will include a 33-foot mini yacht, moored at a new dock on Bellagio Lake outside the restaurant, which will reportedly ferry select diners back and forth either before or after dinner.
“This is without exaggeration one of the most important, not to mention gorgeous, restaurant spaces in America — to say it is an honor to be its latest steward does not do this moment justice,” chef Mario Carbone, co-founder of Major Food Group, said in a statement.
Picasso, a staple of Vegas fine dining founded by culinary icon Julian Serrano in 1998, closed in August.
Lettuce Grieve
NoButcher — the meatless deli ranked 16th on Yelp’s annual list of Top vegan spots in the US last year — has closed both of its locations.
“This may only be temporary, but for now, we are taking a step back,” read an Instagram post from new owner Phillip Shia, who purchased the plant-based sandwich shop last year from co-founders Sebastian Mueller and Alecia Ghilarducci.
“Since taking over, we’ve faced several challenges we couldn’t have predicted, sales are 30 percent lower than what we were originally told, and (we’re) uncovering major building issues that were never disclosed to us,” the post continued. “Despite pouring in our time, energy and resources, it has not become too much to sustain.”
The deli was established in 2019 at 3565 S Rainbow Blvd, Suite 110 in Las Vegas’ Spring Valley suburb. It was joined by a second location, at 2560 St. Rose Parkway in Henderson, in April 2025.
The post concluded by claiming that NoButcher “isn’t gone forever” and that “we’re taking time to reflect on what comes next.”
Dining Ins & Outs
Proper Eats Food Hall will add SunLife Organics, a health-centric eatery based in Malibu, Calif., to its lineup at Aria later this summer.
The Sahara has announced a closing date for Bazaar Meat. The steakhouse, opened there by beloved chef José Andrés in 2014, will serve its last Vaca Vieja on July 31 before opening a new location at The Palazzo. Filling the space at the Sahara will be Maroon, a Carribean steakhouse from James Beard Award-winning chef Kwame Onwuachi.
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