Gleaming new restaurant opens overlooking Las Vegas Strip golf course

At Wynn Las Vegas, the newest room with a view — greens, waterfall, desert landscaping — opens Friday.

This slice of country in the city, aka Wynn’s Cliff House Grill, is debuting above the 18th green as part of Wynn Golf Club, which sports a new two-level clubhouse designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the famed architecture firm that designed, among other projects, Lever House on Park Avenue in Manhattan, the Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) in Chicago and Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, in Dubai.

The clubhouse materials — earth, wood, stone — nod to and draw from the landscape, with a strong horizontal orientation that enacts a significant presence while also complementing the setting. A defining feature is the relocation of the pro tee to the roof of the clubhouse, creating a rooftop tee-off that extends the landscape into the architecture.

“We saw an opportunity to make the architecture part of the golf course — not an object set apart from it,” said Colin Koop, design partner with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, in a Thursday announcement.

“The building is deliberately restrained and horizontal, allowing the landscape to lead. The rooftop tee makes that idea tangible, turning the building itself into part of the course.”

On the menu

Executive chef Patricia Gamez offers American clubhouse classics at breakfast and lunch, along with afternoon bites and sunset cocktails, for Wynn guests, golfers and locals.

At breakfast, look for sticky toffee pancakes topped with an ooze of toffee sauce, crème fraîche and smoked sea salt and a beef birria burrito with eggs, black beans, crushed avocado, consommé and sour cream. Lunch features the Chopped “Pitching Wedge” Salad with baby gem lettuce, blue cheese and sun-dried tomatoes and a sando of marinated grilled American wagyu with tomato chimichurri.

As the day progresses, the menu shifts toward shareable plates, such as bigeye tuna aguachile with tangerine, avocado and jabs of habanero and queso blanco nachos provisioned with beef birria, fire-roasted salsa and charred jalapeño queso. The menu also includes chicken tenders with yuzu kosho honey and herbed ranch and “golf tee house” prime rib sliders with charred red onions, raclette cheese and horseradish sauce.

“The setting inspired us to re-imagine classic clubhouse fare in a way that feels both familiar and distinctly Wynn,” Gamez said in the announcement. “Every dish is rooted in comfort and approachability, but elevated through thoughtful technique and quality ingredients.”

In the glass

Mariena Mercer Boarini, doyenne of sips at Wynn, created a beverage program that includes riffs on the game of golf: a Blonde Transfusion; a 19th Hole, an old-fashioned made with WhistlePig Cliffhouse Signature Barrel Rye Whiskey and chai-cardamom spices; and On the Green, a desert take on Ranch Water with tequila, cucumber, yuzu and lime.

The cocktail menu is complemented by spirit-free pours and wines that span Champagne, Burgundy, Napa Valley, Bordeaux and Italy, with select pours available through Coravin.

Wynn’s Cliff House Grill will be open 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. The all-day menu is available daily from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., followed by small bites until closing. Visit wynnlasvegas.com.

Contact Johnathan L. Wright at jwright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @JLWTaste on Instagram.