Union Restaurant & Lounge

Bartenders are clueless and has no sense of customer service!
I ordered a manhattan and the bartender basically made a bourbon martini… just poured bourbon with a splash of vermouth. It tasted like acid! When I asked about the bitters being missing she just shrugged, said they don’t have that and walked away before I could say a word… like this wasn’t at all what I ordered. Really???
And my friend’s drink was similarly botched.
Avoid!

I have never been so disappointed in my life! I have been waiting FOREVER to go back to Union in Vegas… just for the Union Salad alone! But I also loved the ambiance and service that I felt they offered in a stellar way.
Well, to my dismay, I may just never go back after what I experienced. My mom and I were sitting in the bar/​lounge area waiting to be served. My mom was the first to notice that are server had a bit of an attitude… which I didn’t really noticed until it took over a half hour to have her come back so we could ask WHERE THE FOOD WAS!!! She asked how everything was, and I asked her where my oysters, salad and my mom’s food was. Yes we didn’t order a bunch of expensive items, but we should be treated with respect!
12÷27÷11 — Ok so I waited awhile to complete this review. I was so friggin’ angry when I started to right this. I am still angry and I won’t be back. The end of the story was that our server never came back and we had to get two managers to get our food. And it isn’t like we wanted to have anything comped… but this is Vegas and this is also a high end restaurant. The managers didn’t even come back to check on us after we got served. The server ended up coming back in the end to just hand us our check. No apology… nothing. Highly disappointed. (And I am not high maintenance… I just am a big believer in customer service)

The food here was good, but expensive for what it is: mostly bar food. That being said, the Juicy Lucy is great, as are the Lamb Gyros and Crab Tacos… portions on the tapas/​sharing menu are tiny though!

Let me just say the food is SO MHMMM MHMMM GOOD!!! The décor is modern and plain; nothing fancy. The service was okay and not too attentive, but the food is delicious!!! The sea bass with the seafood risotto was literally OMG! LoL Every single bite I took of the sea bass made me yearning for the next. I couldn’t stop eating it. I also like my meat cooked medium rare. I tried the filet and it was so soft and tender. The sliders were cooked perfectly too! Sliders are usually over-​cooked, but not at this restaurant. I just could not stop eating at all. I love the crispy fries with the cute little jar of ketchup too! Everything was superb. I would definitely come back here again. =)

4 Stars
Had a section reserved for a reception, and they served a few of their small dishes. Here’s what I remember:
Kobe Beef Sliders (4 ½ stars)
— Are you kidding me right now? these are some of the best sliders I’ve ever had… and they brought out so many that I had to order two drinks at a time so my hands wouldn’t be free to keep eating
Mini (Lamb) Gyro (3 stars)
— I like the tzatziki sauce they put on it… from what I remember, it was decent. Can’t remember if it was gamy or not though
Crab Tacos (3 ½ stars)
— Pretty good… maybe because I was starving and these were the first things I ate
Fries (3 stars)
— Came with the smaller orders of Kobe Beef Sliders… good, but a little thinner than I like ‘em.
Drinks (4 stars)
— Drinks were generous… no ½ glasses of whiskey, they were all full. Some of the girls ordered daiquiris that looked pretty cool too, but I stuck w/​my whiskey on ice
Service (4 stars)
— These guys were on top of things… handled a hectic night w/​a smile and great service.

Part of the Light Groups (owners of Haze, the Bank, Jet, Fix, Stack etc) contemporary and trendy casino side restaurants and bars. That said, eating at Union is meant to be part of the Vegas lifestyle that they try to sell the 30 something baller who demands an up end café to serving simple food. Its not for everyone.
Décor is contemporary. The noise from the casino is loud and adds energy to the place but you will feel like you’re on display if you take a table closest to the casino floor.
The food is simple and well prepared but the prices are out of line with the overall experience. The crispy rock shrimp served with a creamy ponzu sauce and chili sauce is delicious. Perfectly cooked morsels of sweet shrimp. The Chilean sea bass is by far the best main. Very succulent and moist served with a delicious rissoto. A winner.
I have not tried any of the steaks that dominate the menu. They are comparably priced to top tier Vegas steak houses. I would rather save the cash and enjoy a steak elsewhere.
Decent wine list. Prices are high.
Vegas has so many world class restaurants so unless your balling out of control in the millionaires club, Union offers little value for your money

Food: 5
Service: 3
location: 1
Décor: 2
Total bill for 2 people with 1 alcohol beverage: $ 217
An expensive fine dining restaurant located right next to casino at Aria. with the noise and smoking of casino, it was not really worth the price we paid, with only one alcohol beverage. we asked a more private seat, the best they could do was to put us as far from the casino as possible, which was still not very far! there weren’t so many tables in the entire restaurant, and it was pretty empty on a holiday weekend night.
Our server was friendly but not very attentive, I am a little too used to the over the top service at fancy restaurants in LA, West Hollywood and OC, it was kinda of unpleasant for me to have just an average service there.
nice specialty cocktail menu, I tried cucumber martini, it was so yummy! $ 16. menu is not big, but what we ordered was very very delicious. the yellow tail crunch was amazing! sooo tasty! one of the best of the best I ‘v ever had! Bf had 10 oz fillet Mignon, side order sauteed mushrooms, and steamed asparagus, I had 2 lbs Maine lobster. the food was absolutely 5 stars even plus! my lobster almost melted in my mouth the first few bites. I don’t know how they made it so mouth watering. unbelievable!
we loved our food very very very much, it was fine dining standard, but the location, service and décor of the restaurant was not a fine dining experience. It was too loud to do a romantic dinner date. I wouldn’t want to go back. :(

I visit Union every trip to Las Vegas as a bartender I befriended at Brand (in Monte Carlo) has been working at Union since they opened in Dec 2009. She’s one of the best bartenders I’ve seen — ever — and a pretty good egg too!
I’m partisan to the appetizers at Union. I’ve also enjoyed a steak dinner there and it was cooked perfectly, loads of flavor. It’s not a cheap place to dine — but this is Las Vegas, and unlike years ago, nothing much is cheap anymore other than a shrimp cocktail at one of the downtown hotels!
Check the bar out at Union — it’s a great place for food, drinks and fun.

After having changed our minds as to where we wanted to spend the evening (Burger Bar? Cosmo somewhere? Oooh, let’s go to Aria!), Friday night found my friend and I bellied up to the bar in the lounge… and it was phenomenal. He had been here; I was the Union virgin.
Waiting for another girlfriend to join us, we started our evening with drinks and dinner and a chat. Not yet too busy, but buzzing well enough at both the bar and tables, we experienced immediate, attentive service without delay.
The décor was dark and intimate without being stifling or prohibitive to a casual evening. It got a bit loud at points, but it was the energy of the lounge crowd that created it and, because it was dynamic (read: it wasn’t like the music was blasting too loud or anything), it seemed to fit the space.
The important stuff: drinks! Orin Swift’s Prisoner by the glass made me a happy girl. Additionally, Sheena (bartender) made for me the only dirty martini I have had in Vegas that I didn’t need to have them «fix» in some way. It was absolutely perfect the first time. The lemon drop shots were great (and a great ice breaker for new friends!).
Food: I had the Caesar salad and a side of mushrooms (about $ 10 – 12 each, very generous portions). Flavorful, well executed, and beautiful. The mushrooms were deep and earthy with a great, fresh, bright bite from the wine and spices in which they were cooked. The romaine was crisp and the dressing was tangy and rich. My friend had the (large!) Kobe burger ($ 25ish), which he was kind enough to let me taste, and I found it to be fresh, juicy, and well seasoned.
The Union was great for meeting up with friends and making new ones at the bar (you never know who you will meet through a foursquare checkin!). We were there for over three hours and we were always served quickly and efficiently, always with a smile, and always with a fantastic attention to detail. Whether it was our drinks, food, conversation, or a question, everyone was helpful, on point, and made us feel like we were the most important people in the room.
The pricing, I found, was appropriate. Yes, it’s a high-​end resort property, that has something to do with it, but we also had great food, great drinks, and amazing service. I would (and will) do it all again in a heartbeat.

Went to this place for business dinner. Was not impressed at all and i am glad its not my personal money, if it was i would have been really unhappy.
I had seabass — typically even in a cheaper restaurant, its mouthwatering, here was a bit dry.
I tried some steak from my colleague — was not terrible but a bit dry and not so juicy as well. Remember this is a quite expensive place, most entrees are above $ 50. We had some deserts which was just terrible, some ice creams of pure sugar and no taste.
Basically if the dishes here would be around $ 15 – 20, it may have been OK, but for such high prices, this place is just not meeting the bar in my opinion. I would avoid and not waste money.

I decided to take my family and my parents friends (who were visiting from out of the country) to try Union’s Happy Hour specials. The food itself was alright, and somewhat reasonably priced ($ 10 for small plates and $ 25 for kobe burger sliders and beer). What brings Union down in my opinion is their terrible, condescending service.
We walked by the restaurant and immediately noticed that no one was sitting in the dining room. I started to wonder whether Union was even open (we had checked out American Fish, which was our first choice earlier but it was closed). Luckily (or unluckily), it was open so we approached the podium. I motioned that we would need a table for 7, to which she asked, «did we have reservations?» ok… there is no one in your restaurant and you’re asking if we have reservations? I said no. She then asks, are you a guest of the hotel? I then reply, no. She then asks «may I ask where you are staying?» Granted we were not dressed in suites and ties, but we weren’t exactly in PJs. I told her we were staying at the Cosmopolitan (which we were — might have stayed at Aria if they didn’t charge a heinous resort fee) and she finally said, wait here, while we get a table ready for you. Why does she need to know where we were staying? What if I said Motel 6 or Circus Circus? Would they turn us away?
We then are finally seated in the dining room. It was my mistake, I didnt know that the happy hour was for the lounge only. Our waiter was very nice and moved us over to the lounge area (which was pretty much empty too). This is when we got our new waitress who was extremely rude and condescending. She approached us (didnt even introduce herself) and asked «what do you want to order.» She would check back occasionally asking «do you want more food?» When the check finally arrived… she said that a standard gratuity charge had been applied due to our large party. Later, when we reviewed the bill we realized they had ripped us off. we only had a party of 7 and they put us down as a party of 8 so that we would get stuck with the standard 18% gratuity. Steer clear of Union, unless you look like your oozing with money, then maybe u’ll get decent service.

My boyfriend and I decided we would have «fancy night», so we came to Union for the chef’s taster. All five courses were fantastic, though we easily picked favorites out of them all.
The first course was a beef flatbread, which was delicious, but the other option, the mini crab tacos, most definitely won our hearts immediately. The tacos were cute and probably the best tacos I’ve ever had.
The next course was a soup and salad which were both good, but the tomato bisque was stunning.
The steak and lobster were the best I’ve ever had by far.
The desserts were good, but just desserts. We had them package up each of our selections and saved them for another time and our other friends that were there with us, which was greatly appreciated.
I can’t say who our actual server was, because a few people took care of us. They were all great, but Mike was one of the best servers I have ever had.
The meal was great, the service was great, and I had a great first martini. Definitely go if you’re into or want a fancy night out; it’s a good change from the strip or casinos… until you head out to a casino after your dinner.

The service was spotty and though the Caesar salad was really good, but everything else was really blah.
There are much better places to eat/​drink in Vegas for sure, and even in Aria.

Went into the lounge for a couple of cocktails with a friend. Upon exiting down a two step flight of stairs, my drink was instantly swiped from my hand by the bartender and my friends’ by the hostess to be poured into plastic cups. Really?!
Upon asking would you have done this to Paris Hilton? the response by the little blonde hostess was «Oh yes! Absolutely!» … Yeah right!
Only place in Vegas that simply cannot part with their glassware.
Aria has an amazing energy & integrity, absolute understated elegance, however, the servers at Union are pretentious and don’t belong in this hotel at all!!!

After reading the Unilocal reviews I was pretty worried. But had a pretty good experience for table of 8. Really good service, solid cocktails, a menu with something for everyone. The Crispy Duck is a must have, I’d even forego a steak for it, Asian style with mu shu panckaes & hoisin. good stuff.
The steaks were solid, not the best in the world (or in town) like a Craftsteak, but did the job. Side dishes sounded great but fell flat. Hash browns with bacon were try and not super tasty.

I would’ve given the restaurant 4 stars but the prices and slow service made our experience have a rating of 3 stars.
The food is great here but overpriced!
We were a party of ten and came here for an early dinner. We should have just ate in the bar area to receive happy hour prices but we wanted to sit together. We ate here on a Monday and the menu for dinner was limited, it was basically the bar menu but with two entrees.
It was pretty annoying that it took them awhile to setup a table for us, even when the main dining area was completely empty. Slow motion galore! They really took their time serving us our food too.
What we ordered:
Caesar Salad: It was okay. Nothing special
Buffalo Drumettes: They were very tasty! The meat came right off of the bone.
Golden Calamari: The calamari wasn’t tough. It came with two dipping sauces, a sweet/​spicy sauce as well as a spicy tomato sauce, both were great.
Kobe Beef Burger: Big burger, very juicy. It came with skinny fries that were very good and not over fried.
Chilean Sea Bass: The components it came with were creamy risotto and rock shrimp in a lobster broth. I enjoyed this dish because the sea bass was cooked perfectly.
Tomahawk rib eye steak: On the menu it claims to be 20 oz. The bone weighed about 12 oz! Although, the new york strip sized steak that it had attached to the bone was prepared well.
French Fries with a white cheese dipping sauce: The dipping sauce was very creamy, it was so yummy!
Not sure what the exact name was but let’s just call it «Hot Stone Steak»: The dish came with 5 thinly sliced pieces of steak that were served with a huge hot stone. You use the hot stone to cook your super thin slices of steak on. Once the steak finished cooking, it shriveled up so much that they almost disappeared! The concept was cool but not worth the money!
Cocktails: $ 20 martinis!
We did enjoy 2 of them: The berry one and the one that had two red peppers on the side of the glass making the martini look like it had devil horns!
Restrooms: Private restrooms inside of the restaurant. Separate men and women restrooms. The women’s restroom was very clean, modern, and had four stalls.
I would come back but only for Happy Hour!

VERY PRICEY.
I went with a few friends for happy hour and got a kobe burger (huge! & really good!), fries, & beer (i substitued the beer for soda) for $ 19.
The burger had a ginormous onion ring inside of it! It was super juicy & delicious, but also super expensive!
My friends got some cocktails & one of them had nutmeg around the glass. That one was really good.
It wasn’t busy inside and it took quite a while for them to bring out our food, but at least it was fresh.
I don’t come to Vegas often & since it’s expensive, I probably won’t come back to get a bite to eat, but it was good nonetheless.

Reservation was at 8:30pm, we did not get seated until 10pm (party of 11)
Comp’d us with shots.
We were told that we would be able to get into Haze for free once we paid for dinner (+$ 800)
Once the manager took us to the front of the line: «Cover is $ 50».
Thanks Manager :(
My porterhouse steak ($ 61) was pretty good though…

I would have given 1 – 1.5 stars had the manager not tried to make it up to me and my party for the bad service by comping a few dishes. Despite that, I would rather have paid full price and gotten excellent service.
There are too many great restaurants in Las Vegas to choose from. My bad experience here has guaranteed that I will not be spending my money here again.
It’s a beautiful restaurant with low lighting and lots of dark wood. It reflects the design in Aria, which I love a LOT! Very chic and minimalist but very stylish.
The food here was excellent. Very good tasting food. However, it took forever to come out and our mushroom sides, which probably takes the least amount of time to cook, came at the very end after we were finished with everything else. Doesn’t make sense to me.
Our waiter was nice but after he took our order, he seemed to have pulled a vanishing act. We didn’t see him at all until we asked a busboy to find him for us. He was forgetful. I asked for straws 3x and he finally got me one. But I had asked for 4. He came back with 6 more. ???
What annoyed us even more was that we were trying to enjoy our meals and the busboys removed our plates and dishes without asking first! We weren’t even done with our food! Geeez just because we wanted to take our time to eat, savor the food and just chill, doesn’t mean we’re done. We were conversing and eating at the same time. We don’t want to stuff our faces right away like a bunch of pigs. Just because we put our forks down doesn’t mean we’re done eating. My friend had to stop the busboy from taking her plate by pushing his hand away.
So after they removed our dishes and utensils, another dish came out. They totally forgot to give us new utensils. How the hell were we supposed to eat our Bolognese with??? Our hands?! We had to hail someone down after waiting for a while just to ask for forks. Really?
For a restaurant such as this, I really expected a lot more. The service wasn’t even average. It just sucked. I give credit to where credit is due. This place doesn’t make the cut for me. You’re better off dining somewhere else. Try Julian Serrano or Beso. Much better.

I could sum this up as «wowmeh.»
It’s nice. It’s very nice. Aria exudes elegance and Union fits right into that vibe. Tuck your shirt in before walking up to the hostess stand.
The flair is there, the vibe is there… it just feels like something is missing. Good steak? Check. Good seafood? Check. But what does Union have that other places don’t?
This, I could not determine. Although a fair answer to that question is «two waiters for your table.» Not a single bit of waiting for me, no sir. Water was coming out left and right, raw dover sole came out to be inspected, only to be returned minutes later in perfectly cooked form. Plates, silverware (nifty Nambe ware), in, out, clean, done.
Union will wow you. Union will make you go «meh.» Let’s hope they step up some aspect to lean more towards «wow.»
(Rant, not included as part of the review): The hostess I made reservations with said she could comp a round of drinks for me. Never got those drinks. Let’s try that again.