Pizzeria Toro
This is the best wood-fired pizza in town, hands down. The place is bustling. The back room has a small bar and a few tables where you can sit and eat. The front room has a long communal table, plus a number of four- and two-tops. Pizzas are made in the center of the room in a huge, wood-fired oven. The result are crispy, thin-crust pies with wonderful toppings such as lamb sausage with kale, fennel sausage with roasted peppers and provolone. There are also a number of delicious salads, soups and desserts, but we never have room for anything more than the pizza, infused with the flavors of the wood-fired stove, liberal use of kosher salt and quality ingredients.

Warpigs Brewpub
Warpigs is a joint venture between American brewery 3Floyds and the Danish Mikkeller microbrewery, who set up shop in the Meatpacking District to bring authentic Texas barbecue and great beer to Copenhagen. There are 20 beers on tap to go with your choice of classic Texan style slow-smoked ribs, pork shoulder, brisket, sausage and other barbecue classics. The chicken is a totally underestimated menu item that’ll knock your socks off. And don’t forget to order a serving of hush puppies and pickles. Top off your meat with one of the four delicious homemade secret barbecue sauces!

Kdbyens Fiskebar
One of the pioneers in the now popular Meatpacking District, Kødbyens Fiskebar – as the name suggests – specializes in high quality fish and seafood. The menu has all the best the ocean has to offer, from a selection of oysters to steamed mussels, scallops and freshly caught fish. Their signature dish is the fish and chips: lightly smoked cod in a light, crispy batter, served with scrumptious triple-fried chips, seasoned with sea salt, capers and herbs. The cod is fried in a pleasantly non-fatty batter, and the flesh is flaky and dense with a lovely smoky flavor. The fish and chips are served with a homemade Danish remoulade sauce.

Ulysses Prime Steakhouse
There are few restaurants on the Space Coast more suitable for a special occasion. Ulysses is one of two award-winning eateries owned and operated by Alex and Pam Litras in Belair Courtyard, built in the 1920s in historic downtown Cocoa Village. The interior, evocative of an elegant gentleman’s club, is replete in rich, dark colors and swirling art glass mimicking the flames of the grill. In the kitchen, Chef Kevin Johnson oversees a traditional menu of prime aged steaks, including grass-fed American Wagyu and Japanese Kobe cuts, lobster and sides. An appetizer highlight is the Seared Duck Liver sautéed with sauterne braised figs, drizzled with mandarin black pepper gastrique and served on date-infused challah toast. An evening special of shallots sautéed in goat cheese is outstanding paired with the Audition Cut.

Khoury's Mediterranean Restaurant
Khoury’s blows us away with its incredible selection of mezze: small, usually vegetarian plates that precede the main course in Arabic, Persian and other Mediterranean or Middle Eastern meals. (FYI: the word mezze comes from the Turkish word meze, which means "taste, flavor, snack or relish," which, in turn, is borrowed from the Persian word mazze for a "snack, taste.") These facts (and this etymology) drive most Greeks (my tribe) crazy, especially when they see the word "mezze" pop up on a Greek menu ... which means, in Vegas at least, that the place is most likely run by Persians or Turks or someone even worse. Khoury's does these mazze or mezze or meze or whatever you want to call them better than any Mediterranean restaurant in town, and no local Greek joint (some of which are now run by Russians and Bulgarians) can top what it does with fantastic falafel, heavenly hummus, smoky baba ganoush, delightful dolmades, luscious loubieh (green beans with garlic and tomatoes), and all sorts of mashed and seasoned cheeses, yogurt and vegetables. All together, they make the perfect foil for the fantastic, nutty, fresh-from-the-oven baked pita bread you will use reflexively to dip into every one of the dishes. It’s enough to make Zeus jealous.

Sage
hawn McClain is one of America’s more reserved celebrity chefs. Despite his major chops and successes in Chicago and Las Vegas, you rarely see him strutting in front of TV cameras or over-extending his brand in slavish pursuit of the almighty dollar. Sage is his flagship in Vegas and it continually puts out jaw-dropping, beautiful food as creative and tasty as any in town. It does so in a dramatic space that is as well-known for its soaring ceilings and absinthe service as it is for the stunning food and crackerjack service. The large and lavish bar in front is also one of the Strip’s best watering holes. The lamb belly is a perfect example of the on-point cooking you find here: crispy, yet meltingly tender, possessed of just a tinge of gaminess set off by a decadent sauce, caramelized onions and peas and pomegranate seeds – each accent strutting its stuff without overwhelming the other or the star of the show. If there’s such a thing as a perfect marriage of meat and veggies, this is it. And if there’s a better dish to go with a fruity, young, premier cru Burgundy, we haven’t found it.

Table 10
Bacon makes everything taste better, right? And who doesn’t like candy? So, in a bit of genius, Emeril Lagasse and his chefs came up with thick cutting slabs of fresh-cured and smoked pork belly, and then slow roasting them with a maple syrup glaze. The result is tender strips of melt-in-your-mouth porcine goodness that satisfies the sweet and savory tooth in just about everyone. (Serving them with the artisanal Noble Tonic Maple Syrup as a dipping sauce may seem like gilding the lily to some, but to us it just makes perfect sense. Vegetarians beware: these things are so addictive they could make a big game hunter out of a Buddhist. Table 10 is in one of the pricier shopping malls in Las Vegas, but from its (interesting/reasonable) wine list to the Creole specialties like authentic gumbo and rabbit stew, it fills the bill and fills you up without busting your wallet. Just make sure to order a couple plates of the bacon candy. One is never enough, even for one.

Brauerei zur Malzmhle
There are many legends surrounding the origins of the Halver Hahn. In one report, a guest requested a bread roll in a pub in Cologne and was brought a whole roll instead of just a half, whereby he commented, ”But I only wanted a half.” Another theory suggests the name was adopted during the war, when cheese was cheap but bread was not and pub patrons would ask, “Kann isch och ne halve han?” (Can I just have a half?). For one of the best examples of this iconic Cologne invention, head to this convivial beer hall off the beaten tourist path. Their rye roll stuffed with Gouda cheese, pickles, butter and mustard is the perfect accompaniment for the house-brewed Kölsch beer.

Peters Brauhaus
Better known as liver wurst, this sophisticated snack of meaty goodness traditionally comes served with sliced red onion and a bun. The spreadable sausage meat made of pork and pork liver can be picked up from supermarkets and delicatessens, but you will also see it on a number of brauhaus menus. At Peters Brauhaus, a beautifully restored 19th-century pub, the service is so attentive, you might want to stay for more than a snack.

Bei Oma Kleinmann
Named for its long-time owner, who cooked almost to her last day at age 95 in 2009, this perennially booked, graffiti-covered restaurant serves oodles of oversized schnitzel, made with pork or veal. A serving of the breaded and golden fried meat, paired with Oma’s famous mushroom sauce and potatoes, is so large it can barely fit on the plate. Pull up a seat at one of the small wooden tables for a classic Cologne night out.