SoulBelly BBQ

SoulBelly smokes brisket and hot links in the Arts District, in a city that has only recently had any barbecue worth driving to.

Why go

Curtas sets the ground first, which a visitor from a barbecue state needs: Las Vegas is no longer the barbecue wasteland it was a decade ago, but world class 'cue is still rarer than pulled pork at a bar mitzvah.1 SoulBelly is one of the rooms he says clears that bar, for the brisket, the hot links and the sides.1 In August 2026 MICHELIN named it in the first American Southwest selection, among the ten rooms Johnathan L. Wright says the trade had expected to hear called.3 The recommendation is not unanimous: in April 2025 Eater took the room off its map of places worth leaving the Strip for and gave the slot to Wild Fig BBQ.2

Order this / avoid

Order: the brisket.1
Order: the hot links beside it.1
Order: the sides, which is the half Curtas measures against a Texas roadhouse.1
Avoid: treating any one list as settled here. Eater dropped the room in April 2025 and MICHELIN named it in August 2026.2 3

What locals & experts say

John Curtas, Eating Las Vegas: The 52 Essential Restaurants (2023): Luckily we have SoulBelly to sooth our savage breast, with world-class brisket, hot links (above) and sides worthy of a Texas roadhouse.1
Eater Vegas, changing its mind in April 2025: Soulbelly BBQ exits while Wild Fig BBQ enters.2
Johnathan L. Wright, Las Vegas Review-Journal: among the ten the city expected MICHELIN to name in the debut Southwest selection.3

Good to know

Eater and MICHELIN disagree, and the dates matter. Eater removed it in April 2025; MICHELIN named it in August 2026. Neither is a closure and the room is trading.2 3
Curtas names Wild Fig BBQ in the same breath, which is the room Eater swapped in. If you are driving out for barbecue, both are on the same trip.1

Verdict

should-visit — The brisket and the hot links are world class and the sides hold a Texas roadhouse standard, in a city that is no longer a barbecue wasteland and is still short of the real thing. Eater took it off its off-Strip map in April 2025 and put Wild Fig BBQ in its place, and MICHELIN named it in August 2026, so the two most recent judgments disagree. Wild Fig is on the same trip either way.