9595 S. Eastern Ave.; 657-9400

How much can one pizza place stand above the competition? A whole lot, especially if the pizza-maker knows the value of extra soul as opposed to extra salt, and that's the case at Grimaldi's, where the pizza is baked in a coal-fired oven to render the crust extra stretchy. While we weren't crazy about the service we loved our pizzas -- one with mushrooms and Italian sausage, one with meatballs, sun-dried tomatoes and pesto -- and our Caesar salad, antipasto and cannoli. (4/25/08)

Overall: A- $$

HOT N JUICY CRAWFISH

4810 Spring Mountain Road; 891-8889

Hot n Juicy Crawfish is unique in Las Vegas (with the likes of it not found in many other places), so here's the drill: You order crawfish -- or crab, or whatever -- and the desired seasoning and it's brought to your plastic-covered table in a bag, to be eaten mostly with your hands. So we don't recommend it for a first date. We do recommend the crawfish with Hot n Juicy Special seasoning, the snow crab with garlic butter and, diverting from the theme, a starter basket of fried shrimp and seasoned fries. (2/29/08)

Overall: B $$

MORTON'S THE STEAKHOUSE

400 E. Flamingo Road; 893-0703

The slogan sounds like adspeak-- no doubt about that -- but it turns out to be true: Morton's is The Steakhouse. We loved it all, including the crabmeat cocktail, salad of tomatoes with purple onion and blue cheese, sesame-encrusted yellowfin tuna, New York strip, Lyonnaise tomatoes, creamed spinach and Grand Marnier souffle. (3/23/07)

Overall: A $$$$

SOCIAL HOUSE

Treasure Island, 3300 Las Vegas Blvd. South; 894-7777

We didn't like that Social House seemed to kick into almost nightclub mode at a pretty early hour, or the extremely detailed instructions from a waiter clearly used to a young crowd, but we did like the food, including a starter of Kalbi beef, shrimp and spicy tuna ballera sushi, a curry lobster roll, tamarind short ribs and Crispy Ice Cream. (2/22/08)

Overall: B $$$$