Sparrow + Wolf
Brian Howard left the Strip casinos in 2017 for sixty seats on Spring Mountain Road that smell of wood smoke.
Why go
Howard cooked at Comme Ça, Alizé and Bouchon before he opened this room.34 Johnathan L. Wright calls it a modern American spot, with international accents (often Asian), a frequently changing menu and a chef willing to follow his urges.
1 The snack platter is where that shows, six things at once, including wood-roasted Isaan Thai sausage, a dry-aged bluefin tuna taco and grilled oysters hit with sweet, citrusy kumquat Mae Ploy.
1 Janna Karel picks out Howard's northern Vietnamese bánh cuốn, a dish of savory duck, fresh basil, and black rice roll, is at once sweet, spicy, and bright.
3 In August 2026 MICHELIN put the room in its first American Southwest selection, and Wright notes that only this room and Partage are both in that guide and among the city's record fourteen James Beard semifinalists this year.2
Order this / avoid
- Order: the six-snack platter, which is the fastest way to understand the kitchen.1
- Order: the bone marrow rice with Ibérico pork and sinigang clams, and lift the bowl.1
- Order: the bánh cuốn.3
- Order: the tasting menu if you want the wine. Karel: it
opens with oysters and Japanese milk bread and ends with a chocolate espresso flan — each course paired with a wine from a small producer you've likely never heard of.
3 - Avoid: arriving set on a dish you read about. The menu changes often.1
What locals & experts say
- John Curtas, Eating Las Vegas: The 52 Essential Restaurants (2023):
Chef Brian Howard specializes in high-wire cooking without a net, and when he pulls it off, the results are thrilling indeed.
4 - Janna Karel, Eater Vegas:
The Chinatown bar and restaurant stands out among its neighborhood peers for serving modern American fare that leans into the fine-dining techniques Howard picked up working in restaurants like Comme Ça, Alizé, and Bouchon.
3 - Nicole Brisson of Brezza, on what she goes for:
that might mean live fire cooking at Sparrow + Wolf, where the octopus gets an intense char and the wild boar lasagna comes out bubbling.
5
Good to know
- The room holds sixty seats and smells of wood smoke.4
- Brian Howard holds the Beard standing, so it travels with him: a Best Chef: Southwest semifinalist in 2024 and a nominee in 2026.6
- It is a bar as well as a kitchen, with cocktails infused with bruléed pineapple or garnished with fried mushroom.3
Verdict
should-visit — Brian Howard left the casinos in 2017 for a sixty-seat room on Spring Mountain Road that smells of wood smoke, and cooks modern American food through Thai, Vietnamese and Spanish dishes. The plates are the argument: a platter of six snacks with wood-roasted Isaan sausage and a dry-aged bluefin taco, bone marrow rice under Iberico pork and sinigang clams that you lift and eat from the bowl. MICHELIN named it in the first Southwest guide and Howard was a Beard nominee in 2026.