On a recent trip to Vegas I was looking for a dinner venue inside the Wynn so that it would be convenient to go to XS after. I settled on Casa Playa, a fairly new Mexican themed restaurant. I had some doubts about eating here. Due to the abundance of good value, and excellent Mexican restaurants in Vegas, I was fearful that this would be some sort of overpriced, inauthentic, atmosphere over food type of scene place. Others in my party expressed the same concerns. Thankfully, we all walked away satisfied.
First, the place is gorgeous. My favorite part of the restaurant is the ceiling. I don’t have a pic but it was made up of hundreds of suspended flower buds. The varying heights of each bud gave the ceiling a nice 3D look.
The vibe inside was upbeat and fun. For starters we ordered some guac, salsa and chips. The chips were nice and warm. The salsas were delicious. The guac was fresh but I would of preferred more acidity and seasoning.
For our mains we had the whole roasted carnitas and the whole snapper. The fish was just ok. They gave you some sauces and fresh tortillas to wrap each of the mains in. The tortillas were corn, and very delicious.
The star however were the carnitas. They were very very tender, tasty, and the skin was perfectly crisp. With each bite I would put some combo of meat, skin, sauces, cilantro, and veggies in a tortilla and enjoy the perfect bite. I could not stop eating them. The skin was even better than the best lechon I have had in my native country of the Philippines. That is saying a lot!
They also gave us a dessert for my wife’s birthday which was a nice way to end the meal.
Overall, service was good though the hostesses were very slow to seat us. When we got in, I saw a lot of empty tables so I have no idea why the delay. Our server was excellent, as was the food and atmosphere. I would go back.
sometimes, treasure is sitting right in front of us right under our nose. thanks for taking one for the team, as you mentioned, it is really easy to write-off a spot in a touristy area, to prejudge based on characteristics that previously in our experience we have associated with a particular outcome.