Las Vegas Featured on Netflix’s “Somebody Feed Phil”
The newest season of “Somebody Feed Phil” has dropped on Netflix, and the Las Vegas episode features a number of Sin City chefs and restaurants.
Screw you, James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards. We snub your snub!
Our chefs would rather get kudos from Phil Rosenthal, creator and executive producer of the hit sitcom “Everybody Loves Raymond,” rather than some lame medallion any day.
This is the eighth season of “Somebody Feed Phil,” making it the longest-running non-scripted show on Netflix. A streaming service. In case you’ve been living under a kugel, whatever that might actually be.
We knew Phil Rosenthal back when we worked at the Writers Guild of America, west, and he is a mensch. If he seems awkward, it’s because he’s not an actor, he’s a writer, so awkward is his natural state of being.
Rosenthal starts out the Vegas episode playing pool with Ray Romano and Brad Garrett at Fontainebleau. Both actors have strong ties to Las Vegas.
Rosenthal strolls down Fremont Street. It looks like green screen, but upon further examination, it appears he was actually on the street.
Rosenthal tells a story about how during his first visit to Las Vegas, he lost $40 playing craps and hasn’t gambled since.
“So, here’s what I do when I come to Vegas,” says Rosenthal. “I eat and I see shows. And I go to the spa and this is money very well spent because there’s no better place than Vegas for all those things. It is the entertainment capital of the world, as they say.”
We’re pretty sure the LVCVA (Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority) chipped in to pay for this episode. In an interview, Rosenthal does admit he gets lots of invitations from tourism boards.
Rosenthal gives a quick overview of the history of Las Vegas, sidestepping the part about how the mob built the town.
Gritz Cafe is featured, wherever that may be. Donny Osmond joins the meal, and there’s a solid plug for Osmond’s show at Harrah’s.
The conversation is uncomfortable, but there’s lots of nervous laughter and dad jokes to make up for it.
Rosenthal then hits Omega Mart at Area 15 of all places. He seems to love it almost as much as we do. What this has to do with being fed is a little unclear, but parts of Omega Mart do resemble a grocery store. That’s just the front of the massive interactive and twisted art exhibit with a mystery to solve if you’re into that kind of thing.
Next, the show takes us to the Arts District. Then the show jumps to the Container Park (not part of the Arts District). Then we’re back at Esther’s Kitchen. Which is actually in the Arts District.
Rosenthal dines at Esther’s Kitchen with his son, Ben, and his new wife, Delaney, probably because they were willing to work for scale.
The star of the show at Esther’s is Chef James Trees. Trees shares his backstory and his passion for Vegas and food shine through. There was a bunch of food, but the chicken parm sandwich is our favorite thing on the menu, so we only really paid attention to that.
As with so many travel shows featuring Las Vegas, this one strays off course with a helicopter ride to Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon. We love Maverick Helicopters (because of their incredible aerial photography of The Strip), but Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon aren’t Las Vegas. So there.
Back to Vegas and Rosenthal visits Milpa, a Mexican restaurant, with our friend Maria Silva, host of “Bienvenidos a Las Vegas” on PBS. She was previously a reporter and anchor at Univision and Channel 3.
We then meet Peter Marakhovskyy, artistic director of “Mystere” at TI.
Yep, this show is definitely one big plug coordinated by the LVCVA. There’s a page on the “Somebody Feed Phil” Web site with all the venues and links to their sites.
Rosenthal does the perfunctory dressing up in a Cirque costume and making a guest appearance in “Mystere.”
In a more surprising twist, Rosenthal visits the beloved but overrated Luv-It Frozen Custard with the also overrated Ted Pappageorge and a group of Culinary Union members.
The union members were endearing, many with decades of experience at casinos up and down The Strip.
Next up: Back to the Arts District and Good Pie. He grabbed a slice but didn’t mention the restaurant or owner Vincent Rotolo. Odd. Our best tip for Good Pie is to avoid disappointment by skipping the standard slice, get the Sicilian.
Moving on to Chinatown, it’s Big Dan Shanxi Taste.
This restaurant is run by siblings Daniel and Dan Xing. Dan is a woman and the restaurant is named after her. Big Dan Shanxi Taste appears to be inside a grocery store in the Pacific Asia Plaza.
Fergusons Downtown is next on the agenda, where Rosenthal visits a black-youth-owned business T-shirt store, Tofu Tees.
Back to Fontainebleau and Don’s Prime, one of the best and most overlooked steakhouses in America. Ray Romano and Brad Garrett are back for dinner.
There are jokes. And food.
Roy Choi wasn’t going to miss out on an appearance, so Best Friend at Park MGM was the final stop on the foodie and friends tour. All the dinner guests from throughout the episode join Rosenthal for a Last Supper at this Strip restaurant.
“Somebody Feed Phil” covers a lot of ground and the affable host seems genuinely appreciative of the culinary offerings Las Vegas puts in his face.
If you’re a Phil Rosenthal fan, he’s doing a date at Venetian on Nov. 1, 2025, “An Evening With Phil Rosenthal.” He invites special guests to join him for a Q&A. Our money is on Brad Garrett.
The folks appearing on the show put our town’s best foot forward.
Best tongue forward? You know what we mean.
This episode is well worth a watch, mostly because it’s one of the few food shows where you’re pretty much guaranteed to know more about food than the host. All due respect.
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