Raku

About Raku

Raku opened on Spring Mountain Road in 2008 and has been the most consistently name-checked Japanese restaurant in Las Vegas for much of the decade since. Chef Mitsuo Endo runs a charcoal robatayaki program with Bincho-tan sumi (white charcoal) imported from Japan, plus a housemade tofu service made tableside. The original Raku is a 48-seat room in a strip mall in the heart of Chinatown; Endo's sister concept Raku Sweets sits a few doors down. The menu reads deeper in Japanese than English — ask the server for recommendations if you're not familiar with regional izakaya conventions. Reservations essential; the room fills an hour after opening and doesn't thin until late. Service runs until 3 a.m. on weekends, making Raku the best post-Strip dinner stop on that side of the valley.