Lettuce Entertain You expands portfolio

patrice

Day after day we are seeing articles about the restaurant industry expanding. It is truly a sign the economy is starting to level off.

Prolific multiconcept operator Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises opened two Mexican concepts in Las Vegas on Thursday, a week after debuting its latest Chicago restaurant, M Burger. Located at the Fashion Show Mall on the Las Vegas Strip, El Segundo Sol Taqueria and Margarita Bar serves Mexican fare and offers a wide selection of beer and margaritas. The concept also features a private tequila tasting lounge. Directly in front of El Segundo Sol sits Street Taco, a smaller “taco shack” offering authentic tacos and Mexican street food that will be open later to attract revelers on the Strip.

“We couldn’t think of a better spot to launch El Segundo Sol than overlooking the greatest real estate in the city — the Las Vegas Strip,” said LEYE partner Chris Meers. “El Segundo Sol and Street Taco are two new concepts that capture the flavors, signature dishes and traditional cooking techniques of Mexico, but in a really unique and playful way.”

The 300-seat restaurant serves several flavors of margarita, which are available in sizes ranging from 14 ounces to a 30-ounce drink that sells for $29.95. El Segundo Sol also offers about 100 varieties of tequila by the glass or in flights available either in the dining room or in the chicken-wire-fenced private lounge, which seats 14 people.

The restaurant’s signature tacos come in 10 varieties, including all-natural chicken for $14.95, braised short ribs for $15.95 and lobster for $29.95

The two Las Vegas restaurants opened a week after the March 11 debut of M Burger in Chicago’s River North neighborhood. All the menu items at M Burger are under $5 and made with Midwestern beef and fresh ingredients.

Lettuce Entertain You operates more than 80 restaurants under several dozen different concepts in Illinois, Arizona, Minnesota, Maryland, Virginia, Nevada, Georgia and California.