Iconic Las Vegas Strip eatery permanently closes after long run

What is it about Las Vegas? Things that go down in this city would never happen pretty much anywhere else.

Gambling in grocery stores? Check. No last call? Check. Walking down the street, sipping an adult beverage? All night, every night.

When it comes to food, it wasn't too long ago that Vegas was known for its cheap buffets and steak houses.

But circa 1992, when Spago by Wolfgang Puck opened in Caesars Palace, Vegas started to take hold as a real foodie city. Spago paved the way for other chefs to open in Las Vegas, and now even non-gambling tourists visit just for the food.

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If you're an even remotely famous chef, you simply must have a spot here.

From Japanese food by Masaharu Morimoto to Italian from Giada de Laurentiis to classic American by Bobby Flay or Guy Fieri, there is now something on the Las Vegas Strip to satisfy every taste.

But even in a nouveau foodie city like Las Vegas, the restaurant business is tough. Besides all of the typical costs associated with the restaurant business — labor, rent, food costs, etc. — in Las Vegas there is an insane amount of competition for visitors' attention, and not just from restaurants.

Some places are able to dig in and survive, like Wolfgang Puck's CUT, which opened in 2008, and Thomas Keller's Bouchon, which opened in 2024.

Others, like Mr. Chow in Caesars Palace, struggle to stay relevant.

Mr. Chow has had a home in Caesars Palance for a decade, but it has closed its doors.

Image source: The Colosseum at Caesars Palace

Mr. Chow took its final bow in Las Vegas

The curtain closed on one of the Las Vegas Strip’s most theatrical dining experiences. Mr. Chow, the high-end Chinese restaurant inside Caesars Palace, has officially shut its doors, according to the Mr. Chow website.

The Las Vegas location was part of a chain, founded by British-Chinese restaurateur and artist Michael Chow (born Zhou Yinghua in 1939).

Mr. Chow's Las Vegas location was known for an experience that blended upscale Chinese cuisine with performance art. In other words, it was very Las Vegas, often described as “a hybrid of art, fashion, theater, and fine dining.”

Mr. Chow brought drama to the dining table with signature dishes like Beijing Duck, Green Prawns, Chicken Satay, and tableside-prepared Mr. Chow Noodles.

Guests could sip from a Champagne trolley or splurge on caviar while soaking in the ambiance — every detail was curated for spectacle.

The restaurant’s interior featured sleek, white, modern decor and a showstopping kinetic sculpture known as “The Moon.”

Suspended from a domed ceiling, the 3,800-pound installation was designed by Chow himself and engineered by Las Vegas-based stage experts TAIT. Every 20 minutes, “The Moon” would slowly morph into different shapes, offering guests a celestial experience as they dined beneath its glow.

What's next for Caesars Palace dining?

Caesars Entertainment has not issued a statement about the closing of Mr. Chow, nor has the company yet announced what will replace the restaurant at its flagship resort.

More Food:

But there are still more than 20 restaurants at Caesars — including celebrity spots like Gordon Ramsay Hell's Kitchen, Vanderpump a Paris, and Pronto by Giada — so it's not as if guests will go hungry.

And if you're craving some of that Beijing duck or hand-pulled noodles Mr. Chow is known for, the restaurant chain's locations in London, Beverly Hills, New York, Miami, and Riyadh are still open for business.