Lotus of Siam - Flamingo Road
Strip chefs on their days off eat northern Thai food beside casino parties and multi-generational families in the huge dining room of Lotus of Siam on Flamingo Road.
Why go
Saipin Chutima opened the first Lotus of Siam on East Sahara Avenue in 1999. A year later Jonathan Gold called it the finest Thai restaurant in North America in Gourmet. In 2011 she shared the James Beard award for Best Chef: Southwest.5 Her family opened this second Lotus in the old Roy's on East Flamingo Road in December 2017. It stayed open through the years the original was shut, from June 2021 to May 2026.47
John Curtas preferred it to the others in 2023: I like the old one. Not the really old one (the original one in Commercial Center, closed for years now), but the second oldest one on Flamingo Road.
He added that the northern Thai specialties still can take your breath away and make your eyeballs sweat.
2 Pichaya Soontornyanakij, whose restaurant Potong in Bangkok holds two MICHELIN stars, ate here in 2025 and put it in a Thai cook's terms: It’s one of those restaurants where you can taste real Thai food outside of Thailand.
3
Come with a group. Melinda Sheckells of The Infatuation wrote in 2025: Lotus can accommodate dietary restrictions without fuss, and customize a meal for you on the spot, so you don't have to do much planning ahead if you're rolling with a group.
1 The wine list is strongest in Germany and Austria. Curtas counts the Riesling-heavy white wine list
among the best in America.82
Order this / avoid
- Order: the northern larb. Pichaya Soontornyanakij (2025):
intense and full of herbs, just like you’d find back home
.3 - Order: nam prik noom (young chile dip) with crispy pork. Soontornyanakij (2025):
rustic and fiery
.3 - Order: khanom jeen nam ngiaw (khanom jeen are rice noodles). Soontornyanakij (2025):
comfort food that makes you slow down and enjoy each bite
.3 - Order: the crispy garlic prawns and the som tum (green papaya salad), both on Soontornyanakij's list in 2025. She calls the som tum
always a must for freshness and balance.
3 - Order: the tom kha. Melinda Sheckells (2025) likes it
more brothy than creamy
.1 - Drink: a German or Austrian Riesling. The list has held Wine Spectator's Best of Award of Excellence since 2022.8
- Drink: the cha manao (lime tea), a Thai tea cocktail that Soontornyanakij (2025) recommends.3
What locals & experts say
- Pichaya Soontornyanakij, chef of Potong in Bangkok (2025):
Lotus of Siam on Flamingo Road really stuck with me.
3 - Las Vegas Review-Journal, Top 100 Restaurants (2024 and 2025): this door was on the list both years.6
Good to know
- Open every night for dinner, by the house's own page in September 2026. Call (702) 735-3033 to check.10
- Corkage is $35 if you bring your own bottle.8
- Lotus has three doors. The original on East Sahara reopened in May 2026. The Red Rock branch closes on 29 October 2026. Eater Vegas's off-Strip map now lists the Sahara original in place of this one.49
Verdict
should-visit — Bring a group to the Flamingo Road Lotus for Saipin Chutima's fiery northern Thai cooking and one of the country's best Riesling lists. A Bangkok chef with two MICHELIN stars ate here in 2025 and called it real Thai food, and the kitchen will adapt dishes for the diets at the table.