Hearthstone Reopens at Red Rock Resort in Rare Do-Over
When restaurants close at casino resorts, they tend to stay closed permanently. In the case of Hearthstone at Red Rock, the concept has been given another chance to succeed.
Hearthstone 1.0 was meh. That’s one of the reasons restaurants close: The meh.
Our visit to Hearthstone 2.0 was surprisingly fantastic, so hopes are high the restaurant will fare better the second time around.
The original Hearthstone opened at Red Rock opened in 2014, replacing Hachi. Hearthstone 1.0 closed in April 2023 to make way for a Mexican restaurant, Leoncito. Leoncito opened Nov. 7, 2023.
Leoncito was a huge success, if by “success” you mean “whiff.” See, if it had been successful, it wouldn’t have been replaced after two years of operation. By a concept that wasn’t doing that great in its first iteration. Yes, it’s a little awkward.
Leoncito, it turns out, was an expensive exercise in “If it ain’t broke, don’t break it.”
Leoncito was operated by Wish You Were Here Group, because irony is a lost art.
We were there when the first Hearthstone closed.
Closing night at Hearthstone Kitchen & Cellar @RedRockCasino. Wandered in during a moment of staff quietly mourning the closure of the restaurant after nearly a decade of operation. pic.twitter.com/vJQcWx1PW0
— Vital Vegas (@VitalVegas) May 1, 2023
Look, if you run a resort, you have to be nimble. You can try things you think will do better than what you have, but if the results aren’t there, things need to change (sometimes back). The folks at Red Rock are not afraid to change things up.
This off-Strip resort has had a good amount of churn, some of which we hear is attributable to the whims of the Fertittas. Frank Fertitta is Chairman and CEO of Red Rock Resorts, Inc., also known as Station Casinos, and Lorenzo Fertitta is a board member.
Hearthstone comes from the folks at Clique Hospitality.
Clique Hospitality is responsible for a mixed bag of Vegas venues, including Amaya, Clique Bar & Lounge and Barbershop Cuts & Cocktails at Cosmo, Caspain’s at Caesars Palace, Easy’s Cocktail Lounge at Aria, Gatsby’s Cocktail Lounge at Resorts World, Bel‑Aire Backyard at Durango Casino. A good number of Clique-operated venues are no longer open, including Tailgate Social at Palace Station, Greene St. Kitchen at Palms, Salute and Side Piece at Red Rock, among others.
While other casinos give guests surveys about their dining preferences, Red Rock spent tens of thousands to build out Leoncito to see if a Mexican place would work. Now, they’ve spent even more making Hearthstone lovely. It shows. Here’s the official photo.
A change in personnel accompanied the reopening of Hearthstone. Most importantly, in the pizza realm.
The pizzas are some of the best in Las Vegas, and we have had most of them, which explains our need for a winch just to get out of a hammock.
The menu is replete with comfort food.
And there is a Kids’ Menu, despite the fact children should not be in casinos, even when there are movie theaters and bowling alleys and a Kids Quest and bars.
We got a news release about Hearthstone from Wicked Creative, a public relations firm. We would not normally mention something like that, except the person on the e-mail is named Cheyenne Sky, which is simply an incredible name.
We asked ChatGPT to write something about her name: “Cheyenne Sky is the kind of name that already feels expansive before you know anything else about it. It carries a sense of open land and long horizons, grounded but restless, moving naturally from earth to air. The name evokes distance, freedom and quiet confidence. It feels discovered rather than invented, a name that suggests looking outward, upward and never quite belonging to just one place.”
We will have to ask Cheyenne if any of that rings true.
Public Relations Executives don’t get enough credit. After all, they have to interact with people like us. Do you think they like the snarky comments we make about P.R.? Of course not. Do they have to pretend to like us at media events? Pretty much. Do they have to pretend to like Johnny Kleptometes? Yes, you have never faced a professional challenge like having to pretend to like Johnny Kleptometes, trust us.
Anyway, we were talking about Hearthstone at Red Rock.
Here’s a line from the news release: “Rooted in the tradition of cooking over a hearth, the oldest gathering place where meals are prepared with intention and shared among family and friends, Hearthstone is now continuing its legacy in celebrating comfort cuisine through elevated technique.”
Oh, great, now that we feel a special connection to Cheyenne Sky, we can’t poke fun at that quote.
Here’s another line from the news release: “Led by Executive Chef Jason Janson, the menu showcases approachable, ingredient-driven dishes with a refined touch. The menu showcases handmade pastas, fresh seafood, wood-fired pizzas and signature favorites such as rotisserie-roasted prime rib, pan-seared halibut, double-dredged fried chicken served with Chef Janson’s family biscuit recipe and the cult-favorite ‘Abe Froman’ pizza. A raw bar highlights fresh oysters, a half-chilled Maine lobster tail and more, with $1 Oyster Wednesdays offered weekly.”
We have never understood what food isn’t “ingredient-driven,” but we are not a foodie.
As evidence of that fact, our favorite item on the menu at Hearthstone is the Butter Pasta. It’s literally pasta with butter. And it’s incredible. Mostly for the nostalgia factor. It’s on the Kids’ Menu, so who knows if you can even get it, but drop Cheyenne Sky’s name and you should be set.
We took photos of Hearthstone, but here’s the description of it from the news release, because we used to do public relations, so we know it took a month to get everyone to sign off on this, and it therefore deserves a little of the limelight: “The restaurant’s reimagined interior, designed by Celano Design Studio Co., strikes a balance between familiarity and refinement. A redesigned dining room, expanded bar with classic bar games and an inviting lounge create a space suited for casual dinners, celebrations and lingering conversations. Blending modern sensibility with time-worn charm, the design evokes the feeling of stepping into a beautifully curated home, complete with teal-green wainscoting, sand-toned wallcoverings, deep walnut accents and layered textures of leather, woven fabrics and playful stripes. Mismatched chairs, custom marble-and-wood tabletops and brass details give the space a warm, lived-in feel designed for comfort and connection.”
The lounge is actually fairly awesome. We have no idea why there’s a lounge inside a restaurant, but it’s very inviting and kept an interior designer employed, so why not?
If you’re like us, you try to avoid “lingering conversations” if at all possible. Or any conversations, really. “We’re here for the Butter Pasta, stop talking to us,” we told everyone within listening distance at Hearthstone.
Oh, and because you know us, no.
No, we were not in a high school band named Teal-Green Wainscoting. We started rehearsing, but Kevin kept insisting on wearing parachute pants, which was a deal-breaker, obviously. From that implosion came, wait for it, The Meh.
Anyway, we are going to visit Hearthstone often (we are literally heading there when we hit “publish” on this story, and will try to order items in addition to the Butter Pasta, just so you don’t think we have the palate of a six-year-old.
We can’t wait to try the Mac & Cheese Sticks, too.
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