The Strip's Cooks Have Moved to South Eastern Avenue

"Where do we go for a really good espresso without having to go to the Strip or to a fine dining restaurant?" Rocco Suriano told the Las Vegas Review-Journal this was the question he and his business partner kept asking each other on mornings when they both worked at Giada.

In May 2026 they answered it themselves by opening a café on South Eastern Avenue in Henderson. They weren't the only ones. Over the past twelve months, the dining corridor nearest Paradise Hills has lost two long-running neighborhood restaurants. The spaces that came open, plus a few new ones, went to people who learned the trade in resort kitchens and big-city bars. Eastern Avenue isn't getting a new food scene from outside. It's getting the Strip's staff.

A Year of Handoffs, Address by Address

Here is the past year on Eastern Avenue and Horizon Ridge, listed by address.

The Tuscany Grill closure was part of a valleywide trend. When the Review-Journal reported the sale in April 2026, it counted Tuscany Grill as at least the tenth longtime Las Vegas restaurant to close or announce a closing in the first four months of the year. On Eastern Avenue, the spaces are filling with chef-led concepts.

Morning: An Espresso Bar Built by Two Giada Alumni

Torino Cafè is the clearest example. Suriano grew up in Torino in a family that ran a restaurant, which later became a gelato and pastry shop. His business partner, Rocco Marsiglia, is from Calabria. The two met working at Giada in what was then The Cromwell, now The Vanderpump Hotel. Suriano runs the coffee program and the sweet side of the menu. Marsiglia runs the savory side, especially the panini.

The drink to order is the bicerin, a layered Turin specialty. Torino Cafè builds it from dark chocolate, a double espresso and whipped cream, finished with cocoa powder. The Review-Journal notes that elsewhere in the valley, bicerin is mostly a Strip drink. Lunch runs on focaccia panini. Suriano says the mortadella and porchetta are the ones guests return for. The porchetta comes with provolone, caramelized onions, spicy giardiniera and arugula. The pastry case holds cornetti, saccottino cioccolato and girelle pinwheels.

A June 2026 Everyday Vegas listing gives the hours as 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily. That makes it a morning-and-lunch stop and keeps it out of the dinner business the rest of the corridor is chasing.

Barbecue: The New Tenant Kept the Old One's Catfish

A few blocks of Eastern Avenue to the south, near Sunridge Heights Parkway, Bell's BBQ closed after a decade. SMKD, short for Smoked Meats and Killer Drinks, opened in the space in November 2025. It was the first project from Ogden Hospitality, the company founded by Food Network chef Alex Reznik. He built the menu with Matt Meyer, who owned the former 138 Degrees in Henderson.

The handoff left one thread intact. According to the Review-Journal's opening coverage, SMKD's barbecue plates include the catfish from Bell's BBQ, next to burnt ends, pig candy, the Ribwich, and brisket and chopped pork sold by the pound. The taps lean local, with Beer Zombies Duck Hunter IPA and HUDL Brewing Vanilla Oak Cream Ale.

In September 2026, SMKD and T-Mobile Arena announced a partnership to bring its barbecue to the arena. So a neighborhood barbecue spot on Eastern Avenue now has a counter at a Strip arena. The corridor is now sending its cooking back toward the Strip.

Dinner: Reznik's Second Room on Horizon Ridge

Ogden Hospitality's second restaurant, Hayworth, opened Feb. 26, 2026, on West Horizon Ridge Parkway at South Stephanie Street. Reznik named it after the Los Angeles street he lived on when his first child was born, and the menu draws on his Jewish and Eastern European heritage. The "Est. 1976" on the sign is his birth year.

The staff list explains the Strip-to-suburb pattern better than anything else on the corridor. Reznik's background includes Lutèce, the New York French restaurant that had an outpost at The Venetian from 1999 to 2004. Pastry chef Miloš Babić has worked at Bellagio. Head bartender Giuseppe González came from New York's Clover Club and the former Flatiron Lounge. He created the Trinidad Sour in 2009 and pours it at Hayworth. The room has 80 seats in brown and deep blue velvet, a marble bar that seats 25 and a 30-seat terrace.

Critics noticed. Las Vegas Weekly reviewed Hayworth in June 2026. On Oct. 8, 2026, Eater Vegas added it to its guide to the best restaurants worth leaving the Strip for. Eater calls it a neighborhood steakhouse and singles out the latke with salmon and trout roe, the 24-hour wagyu pastrami and the apple-honey sablefish. A list built for tourists now sends them to Horizon Ridge. The dinner menu is seasonal and served Tuesday through Sunday starting at 4 p.m.

The Corridor by the Clock

Together, the three open newcomers cover the whole day.

1. 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., daily: Torino Cafè for bicerin, cornetti and a porchetta panino.
2. Barbecue nights: SMKD's online ordering page lists its weekly schedule at 10895 S. Eastern Ave., Suite 130.
3. Occasion dinners, Tuesday through Sunday from 4 p.m.: Hayworth, with the Trinidad Sour at the marble bar.

None of them is a sit-down Italian table for a weeknight dinner. For more than 27 years, Tuscany Grill filled that role.

The 27-Year Seat Is Still Dark

Tuscany Grill opened in January 1999 at 11105 S. Eastern Ave., Suite 100. The Review-Journal described it as known for chicken Parm, seafood pastas, prime rib, big desserts and celebrations. It closed in July. In April, co-owner Mike McQuady told the paper he was looking for a new location to reopen Tuscany Grill. No new address had been reported as of late October.

The space itself is going to The Delmont, which calls itself an Italian American bistro. According to the Review-Journal's Oct. 20 report, the Henderson City Council approved transferring Tuscany Grill's restricted gaming and restaurant-with-bar licenses to the new operator. An Oct. 10 Instagram post from The Delmont said the space "is starting to feel like home."

Vegas Food News reports that the posted menu leans East Coast. It lists brick-oven pizzas, including a house pie with pepperoni, ricotta and hot honey, plus a Philly cheesesteak, chicken francaise and linguine with clams. So the space keeps the bar, the gaming and an Italian menu, but the cooking moves from Tuscan-style to red-sauce East Coast. As of this writing, The Delmont's website still reads "Firing Up the Oven. Check Back Soon," with no opening date, hours or menu.

At Cynthia Lauren Huff, we follow which storefronts on Eastern Avenue and Horizon Ridge change hands and who takes them over, because it shows where this part of Henderson is heading. If you want to talk about what the corridor's new tenants mean for a property you own or are considering nearby, schedule a private consultation and tour.