Yardbird Southern Table & Bar at the Venetian

Opening a restaurant in Las Vegas has become part of the career path for the world’s most successful chefs, and now it seems the city offers high-toned versions of every popular culinary style. Now this outpost of an acclaimed Miami restaurant is adding an upscale take on Southern food to the Strip.

All of the down-home staples are here, revved up with premium ingredients and contemporary touches. The spiced filling for deviled eggs is piped into tall peaks and topped with smoked trout roe. Classic shrimp and grits feature plump Florida shrimp and stone-ground grits from the Nora Mill Granary. The Kitchen Pickle Jar is filled with house-made pickles, each vegetable cured in a different, distinctly flavored brine. The star of the menu—Yardbird’s free-range fried chicken—is exceptionally crisp and juicy, brined before frying in a crackling crust. Pork dishes, including St. Louis–style ribs and an 18-ounce tomahawk pork chop, are also standouts, slow smoked and tender. There is a good wine list, but it is hard to resist the extensive selection of craft beers and a spirits program that includes more than 100 bourbons and American whiskeys, ranging from a full selection of Pappy Van Winkle to house-infused bourbons. (707.297.6541, venetian.com)