Aria’s Food Hall is Getting Parm Famous Italian
There are few words more magical than “parm,” so we are excited to share this restaurant news.
In fact, it’s the most excited we’ve been since there was a wardrobe malfunction in “Fantasy.” That wasn’t the exciting part. The exciting part was the realization it wasn’t a costume malfunction! The wardrobe just comes off, every night. It’s part of the show.
Anyway, Aria’s Proper Eats Food Hall is getting a new stall, Parm Famous Italian, and it sounds flipping amazing.
Let’s get the awkward part out of the way right up front.
Proper Eats opened in Dec. 2022, replacing Aria’s buffet. Buffets aren’t so much a thing in Las Vegas anymore, and casinos had been looking for an excuse to close these loss-leaders for years. The pandemic provided cover.
Proper Eats, operated by Clique Hospitality, is a mixed bag, with some stand-outs on both ends of the deliciousness spectrum.
On the higher end, the chicken strips at Seoul Bird. On the low end, Pizzaoki, slices from renowned chef Steve Aoki, who also moonlights as a DJ. We’d rank the slices at Pizzaoki the 15th best on The Strip, despite the fact there are only nine places to get pizza on The Strip. Parry’s Pizzeria at Waldorf Astoria is worse, so there’s that.
With the launch of any group of food concepts, there will be casualties.
Parm Famous Italian will move into the space previously occupied by the food hall’s shuttered Mediterranean offering, Shalom Y’all.
Clique Hospitality was nice enough to respond to our inquiry about Shalom Ya’ll: “Proper Eats Food Hall is all about staying ahead with innovative and fresh food ideas, ensuring an ever-evolving experience. Shalom Y’all was an amazing partner, and we’re thrilled to continue pushing the boundaries of our culinary program with the addition of Parm Italian. Teaming up with Major Food Group on Parm is an incredibly exciting opportunity for us to further elevate our offerings.”
We don’t make things awkward, they just are! People don’t talk like that. Just say it, “Shalom Y’all failed. Tanked. Out. Next!” Successful restaurants don’t close in Las Vegas, unless there’s a sex scandal. This isn’t that.
We love several Clique Hospitality venues, so we hope we aren’t banned for saying what they can’t. Clique Lounge at Cosmo, Gatsby’s at Resorts World and Tailgate Social at Palace Station are all awesome.
Anyway, back to the incredible news Aria is getting a restaurant concept with “Parm” in the name.
Parm Famous Italian comes from Major Food Group, the company founded by Mario Carbone, Rich Torrisi and Jeff Zalaznick. We didn’t even know it was losted.
We’ll be here all week.
If the name Carbone sounds familiar, it’s because there’s literally a restaurant named Carbone at the aforementioned Aria. You can never have too much Italian. (Looking at you, Rio!)
Parm has six locations, but this is the first Parm Famous Italian outside of the East Coast, and it’s about damned time. Here’s the official Parm Web site so you can check out the menus.
Here’s a blurb about Parm from the official news release, “Since the original Parm location opened in New York City’s Little Italy in 2011, the restaurant’s take on Italian-American classics has reached iconic status. From the prized chicken parm to the homemade meatballs, the menu is inspired by the cooking Michelin-starred chefs Mario Carbone and Rich Torrisi ate growing up. The goal is to make the best versions of these recognizable dishes while remaining faithful to their history–and to serve them in a fun, familial environment. Newsweek named Parm one of the 101 Best Places to Eat in North America, while New York Times writer Pete Wells wrote that the restaurant’s approach to Italian standards is ‘completely faithful to your memories while being much, much better than you remembered.'”
In terms of sheer engorgement, “Fantasy” can’t hold a candle to that paragraph.
The only thing that would’ve made it better would’ve been the inclusion of the word “gabagool.” Just because we love that word, and it is one of the few Italian words we know, other than “whacking” and “goomah.”
Quick note to the American Italian Anti-Defamation League: This is a humor blog. Lighten up.
Quick note to the Mozzarella Stick Anti-Defamation League: This is a humor blog. Lighten up.
The Parm news release goes on to describe every wet dream we’ve ever had: “Parm will serve classic pasta dishes including Spaghetti and Meatballs, made with fresh spaghetti served with homemade tomato sauce and meatballs and stacked sandwiches on freshly baked Italian bread, such as the Chicken Parm, made with tender and flavorful chicken cutlet and piled with parmesan and mozzarella. The menu will also feature mouthwatering appetizers such as Pizza Knots, tossed in garlic butter and pizza spice; and Parm’s signature desserts like Mario’s Cannolis, a house-made dough fried to a golden crisp, stuffed with freshly made creamy, cheese filling and dusted with powdered sugar.”
Pizza knots and chicken parm? We won’t just be in line when Parm opens, we will be asking it to marry us. Or at least to fornicate. Consensually, of course.
Parm opens at Aria “later this spring,” which means by Jun. 20, 2024. That’s the official last day of spring, but in Las Vegas, it will have already been two months of 200-degree summer.
There’s a good chance Parm will be elbowing its way into our list of best places for chicken parm sandwiches in Las Vegas.
We’ll be watching Parm Famous Italian closely, and we aren’t even going to make a snarky comment about the fact any place that says it’s famous is trying a little too hard. We get the same feedback when we mention how “vital” we are.
Parm will be in your face before you know it, bada bing!
Update (5/22/24): Parm has opened at Aria, here’s the menu.
Here’s what the place looks like, courtesy of Aria.
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