EAT

In 2010, a few brave visionaries viewed the Fremont East neighborhood in Downtown Las Vegas as a place to be transformed and renewed. In 2012, Chef Natalie Young shared their vision, and borrowed $225,000 from the Downtown Project to open Eat on Carson Avenue (a block south of Fremont). She paid the loan back within a year, thanks to the restaurant’s immediate popularity.

Eggs are served all day, with choices like the truffled egg sandwich: two scrambled eggs topped with wild mushrooms, chives, feta and bacon served on a ciabatta bun and a side of chive potatoes. Taste a bit of the South with shrimp and grits, flavored with smoked bacon and topped with two eggs over easy and pico de gallo. And the killer grilled cheese sandwich is a delight, as the chef grills aged cheddar on sourdough bread with kick-ass tomato soup.

Young also believes in giving back to her downtown neighborhood, offering jobs to at-risk students and selling fried chicken dinners to purchase computers for at-risk kids. Cory Harwell, chef and owner of Carson Kitchen (in the same neighborhood) is among the experts who recommend Eat, calling Chef Natalie “one of the OG’s of the neighborhood.”