Red Rock Resort Spent Its 20th Year Choosing Who Cooks in Its Kitchens

Drew Belcher started out making smashburgers on a Blackstone griddle on his roof. In less than five years he was cooking them for Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta III in what he called the "fully built-out, crazy, James Beard kitchen" at the Red Rock Resorts corporate offices. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that the tasting came before his burger shop, With Love, Always, got a stall in the Red Rock food court this spring.

"Lorenzo gets, like, steaks flown in from Italy and fresh seafood from the Mediterranean, like the craziest s---, and they wanna try our smashburgers," Belcher told the paper.

That story explains most of what has happened at 11011 W. Charleston Blvd. in 2026. In its 20th year the resort has paid close attention to who runs each kitchen. Today, Oct. 29, the tenancies of Lotus of Siam, Naxos Taverna and the Red Rock Oyster Bar outlets come to an end. Tomorrow, Station Casinos runs the Oyster Bar itself.

The Resort Said What It Was Doing

Red Rock opened on April 18, 2006. According to the Review-Journal's anniversary coverage, 206 of the employees who worked there on opening day were still at the resort when it turned 20 this spring. Red Rock cost $925 million to build. General Manager Jordan Seager said "well into nine figures of reinvestment back into the property" has since pushed that total past $1 billion.

Seager described the dining strategy plainly. "What we've done, especially in the last couple of years, is continue to refocus our food efforts back into the community," he told the Review-Journal in May. "We're going after owners and operators that love what they do and that provide an awesome food experience for our guests. … That's become absolutely a priority."

He pointed to Hearthstone Kitchen & Cellar as an example. The Clique Hospitality restaurant closed in 2023 after a decade at Red Rock and came back to the same space this year. FOX5 reported in late January that Hearthstone was open again in its original 6,500-square-foot room. The dining room had been redesigned to "feel familiar yet elevated," and the bar was expanded. The returning restaurant was the first sign of the new direction, and the food court was the next.

Three Stalls, Three New Owners

In May the resort changed tenants in three food court stalls within about a week.

Two of the three new tenants started in Las Vegas, and Belcher said the choice was deliberate. "It was wildly intentional on their part, looking back at it now," he told the Review-Journal. "They hand-selected these concepts because they're built entirely by locals for the community."

Randy's Donuts is the exception, a Southern California name that was already growing in the valley. It opened on Friday, May 8, with free glazed donuts from 6 a.m. to noon, according to the company's announcement.

Good Pie came three days later, on Monday, May 11. FOX5 covered the opening crowd and a White Pie Remix that is only sold at Red Rock. Rotolo designs each of his three locations differently. He calls the Arts District restaurant at 1212 S. Main St. a pizza bar, and the 2024 location at 835 Seven Hills Drive in Henderson is the family-size pizzeria with "bigger tables." The Summerlin outpost is "a counter. It's a pizza shop," with a streamlined menu that keeps "the heavy hitters, the signature dishes."

The Review-Journal announced With Love, Always for May 16. The shop now appears on the resort's Quick Eats directory with its hours posted. The burger shop opened in October 2024 in a corner of a strip mall at 6441 N. Durango Drive. That space seats 12 and has a maximum occupancy of 20, and the lines went out into the parking lot. A second location at The Bend, 8670 W. Sunset Road, opened that December. The patties are just under 3 ounces of Black Angus, formed every morning, served two to a burger on a Martin's potato roll, and the sauces are made in-house.

Restaurant Row Is Next

The food court changes added Las Vegas operators. The change on restaurant row this week puts one kitchen under the resort's own management.

Lotus of Siam opened at Red Rock in November 2022. Naxos Taverna, a Greek restaurant, and Kallisto Oyster Bar, since renamed Red Rock Oyster Bar, followed in February 2023. The Review-Journal reported that the same corporate partnership opened all three. All three tenancies end together today.

Station Casinos made the announcement on Sept. 1. KLAS reported the company's statement: "Station Casinos will resume operations of the Red Rock Oyster Bar Oct. 30 and will continue to offer its signature recipes and dishes that have made it a city-wide favorite. Plans for the other two restaurants will be announced in the coming weeks." Station emphasized that the Oyster Bar is not closing.

"Resume" is accurate. Station already runs the Oyster Bar concept at Sunset Station, Santa Fe Station, Durango, Green Valley Ranch and Palace Station, according to its seafood dining directory. The announcement covers only the Red Rock outlet, which joins the rest of the Station Oyster Bars tomorrow. Station has not published hours for the Red Rock location under its own management, so check the listing before planning a late seafood dinner this weekend.

Two Rooms Still Waiting for an Announcement

As of mid-October, Station had not named replacements for the Lotus of Siam and Naxos Taverna spaces. The only public guidance is still September's "coming weeks."

Based on the rest of the year, whoever moves in will have been chosen with Seager's stated priority in mind, owners and operators who "love what they do." Nothing more about those two rooms has been announced.

You can still get Lotus of Siam's food elsewhere in the valley. The Review-Journal notes that the restaurant is led by a James Beard Award-winning chef and was once named the best Thai restaurant in the country by Gourmet magazine. Its other two locations:

• 953 E. Sahara Ave., Suite A5. This is the original Commercial Center restaurant, which first opened in November 1999. It reopened in May 2026 in a much larger version of its original suite.
• 620 E. Flamingo Road. This location opened in December 2017 and is still operating.

Both are a much longer drive from Charleston and the 215. Naxos Taverna's own site lists only the Red Rock location.

The Resort This Weekend

On Saturday, Oct. 31, the cover band Blue String Theory plays Rocks Lounge at 9 p.m., no cover, 21 and over, according to the Station Casinos entertainment calendar. It falls on the second night of the Oyster Bar under Station, with Hearthstone, Good Pie, With Love, Always and Randy's open on the same property.

Zippy's at Summerlin is across Charleston at 10810 W. Charleston Blvd. The Hawaii-based restaurant opened on Jan. 27 as a bakery, takeout counter and full-service dining room in one building, KSNV reported. Senior regional director Belma Soliven told the station the company looked forward to sharing its "aloha and Hawaii-style hospitality" with Summerlin.

When Station announces who will take the Lotus of Siam and Naxos spaces, the Red Rock dining lineup will have changed more in 2026 than in any year we have covered.

At Vegas Listing Experts, Stephanie Taffanelli keeps track of what opens, closes and changes hands along the Charleston corridor, because for Red Rock Country Club homeowners those changes are part of daily life. If you'd like to talk about the neighborhood you already call home, Schedule a Call.