Food and Loathing Restaurant Guide -- Ep. 18: The Barbecue Episode


This week’s episode starts off at Every Grain, the East Charleston Boulevard restaurant run by this week’s guest co-host Jenny Wong and her husband Sheridan Su. Jenny tells us about their signature dish: lo rou fan.

Lo Rou Fan from Every Grain
Rich Johnson

As I run down Jenny’s bio, we mention her restaurant FatChoy in The Eureka. I also mention Eater’s list of the 38 Essential Restaurants in Las Vegas.

During our discussion of places we’ve been recently, I quickly mention another visit to Casa Playa at Wynn Encore – with an emphasis on their desserts.

I go into a bit more detail, however, on the slider takeout spot Berzerker Burger (@berzerker_burger on Instagram), which is adjacent to Star Piano Cocktail Lounge at 3449 S. Sammy Davis Jr. Drive (the former Sonny’s Saloon).

Next, I speak about a return to Firefly, as well as the recent Las Vegas Weekly cover story on Spanish cuisine in Las Vegas.

Jenny compares and contrasts a pair of xiao long bao spots: Shanghai Taste in Chinatown’s Shanghai Plaza, and Xiao Long Dumplings, located in the former Harbor Chinese space at 4275 Spring Mountain Road. (Jenny refers to the latter as Ni Xiao Long – which she tells me is the name in Chinese characters.) I mention the place where I discovered the soup dumplings – China Mama on Jones Boulevard near Spring Mountain Road.

After a quick break, we return for our BBQ segment, recorded at SoulBelly BBQ on Main Street in the Arts District. My guests for the segment are SoulBelly’s chef/owner Bruce Kalman and Mike Moore of Rollin’ Smoke BBQ.

We mention a handful of Las Vegas barbecue spots we love, including Big B’s Texas BBQ, Jessie Rae’s BBQ, The Beast by Todd English (in Area 15) and Fox Smokehouse Barbecue in Boulder City. A bit later in the show, Mercy Barron recommended both SoulBelly and L2 Texas BBQ on East Warm Springs Road near Eastern Avenue.

After Bruce plugged his upcoming guest chef appearances, Mike told us about a two-day event he and some friends are doing around the Raiders/Chiefs game at Allegiant Stadium. It’s called BBQ Battle Weekend, and it takes place Sunday and Monday, November 14 and 15, at 3905 W. Diablo Drive. You can get tickets here.

When we return to Every Grain for our next segment, we run down the news.

During our conversation about Bobby Flay’s departure from The Food Network, we mention his new Caesars Palace restaurant Amalfi as well as the podcast he does with his daughter, Always Hungry.

As we discuss the history of the food network, I mention the rock and roll manager who helped create the celebrity chef phenomenon, Shep Gordon, and the movie about his life, Supermensch. 


Jenny pointed out that Shep also has a book: They Call Me Supermensch.

Next up, I offer a quick rundown of Eater’s list of the 17Hottest New Restaurants in Las Vegas. I then mock Shake Shack’s truffle menu. And Rich plugs his “other” podcast, On The Corner of Main Street.

From there, we review some edibles. And right before the signoff, I remind people about my story on the Lip Smacking Foodie Tours blog about the best places for dinner and a show.

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