The Strat hotel and casino in Las Vegas, Nevada is located at the north end of Las Vegas Boulevard. Formerly known as The Stratosphere, the resort is home to a 1,149 ft observation tower which is the tallest in the United States. My travel companions and I had an opportunity to dine at the world famous Top of the World Restaurant in late January 2025.
The Strat
The Strat resort opened in 1996. The near billion dollar project took a little over four years to complete from ground breaking to opening day. The Strat opened as the Stratosphere but in 2020 was rebranded and renamed The Strat.
In 2017, Golden Entertainment acquired the parent company of the Stratosphere. Golden Entertainment owns eight casinos and over 70 restaurants.
The Strat is on the north end of the strip, conceivably not part of it, depending who’s weighing in on the matter. The property is almost three miles from Paris Las Vegas, which is more centrally located on the strip. It’s also just under two miles from the old Vegas section where the Fremont Experience is located.
Top of the World Restaurant overview
“Visit the world famous Top of the World restaurant, located in The STRAT Tower – recipient of the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence for 26 years in a row,” is noted on the Top of the World’s webpage. “With a dining room that revolves 360 degrees every 80 minutes while showcasing spectacular views of the Las Vegas valley and an award-winning menu of steaks and seafood complemented by fresh, seasonal ingredients, Top of the World is unrivaled for the quintessential Las Vegas experience.”
The classy dining establishment is considered upscale and they enforce a dress code. “We do not allow beachwear or gym attire, including sweatpants, sweatshirts or hoodies,” their page states. “Athletic apparel, jerseys, hats, beanies, bandanas, ball caps, oversized or baggy clothing, tank tops, flip flop shoes and sleeveless shirts are prohibited. No excessively revealing clothing will be allowed. Clothing emitting offensive odors is not permitted to be worn anywhere on property.”
The view of the sprawling city makes for a unique experience. In addition to seeing the skyline, buildings, and strip below the tower, diners might be able to catch a peek of guests availing themselves of the skyjump – a controlled free-fall vertical zipline.
Fees
Beyond the dress code, there’s a $55.00 food purchase minimum, per person. Further, not prominently noted on the main information page are the seating fees. According to OpenTable, the site that manages the reservations for Top of the World, there are two fee levels: “Guaranteed Window Table – Rotating View $25.00 per person” and “Rotating View – Inner Row Seating $15.00 per person.”
The seating fees must be paid in advance. The fees do not go towards the minimum food purchase amount. Looking at a reservation at the time of publication, the table fee was noted to be $27.00 for a reservation within two hours of booking time – so, there seems to be some sleeve to what they charge when.
The menu
The Top of the World Restaurant is considered a steakhouse. The menu is fairly extensive, with lots to choose from, even beyond the grill.
Cocktails
The Strat’s Top of the World offers several signature cocktails and hand-selected wine flights.
A great pairing with steak, there’s several different whiskey drinks on the menu. Top of the World has signature and seasonal old fashioned whiskey drinks.
The seasonal old fashioned – which I ended up having – is made with Woodford Reserve Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey (raspberry kissed), brown sugar, lemon essence, and Angostura aromatic bitters. This drink was a refreshing and sweet twist on this classic drink.
Top of the World’s signature “private barrel selection” old fashioned features the cocktail consisting of brown sugar, orange essence, Angostura aromatic bitters, and one of the several top shelf whiskeys they offer.
Other unique spirits include a specialty margherita, an elderflower smash, a pistachio sour, and other concoctions.
Pre-entrée
For those who have a palette that favors seafood, Top of the World has a whole raw bar/chilled seafood menu. Like oysters on a half shell? How about chilled shrimp? They have you covered. Looking for an eccentric meeting of shellfish and the culinary leanings from south of the border? There’s some lobster tacos.
Other pre-entrée offerings include a large selection of soups, salads, and starters.
For soups, there’s a lobster bisque and a wild mushroom soup – which we did try. The array of salads include; seasonal greens, caprese salad, shaved brussels sprouts salad, chopped Caesar salad, and B.L.T. wedge salad.
For warm/hot appetizers, Top of the World has a few options to choose from; Calamari fries – which includes crushed peanuts and soy sauce, sticky Korean short ribs, lump crab and artichoke dip, and bacon wrapped shrimp and grits.
The grill
As noted, Top of the World is presented as a steakhouse. As such, there are a fair amount of great offerings from the grill. For steak options, Top of the World has a 16 oz bone-in filet, 12 oz flat iron steak, 22 oz prime bone-in ribeye, 12 oz Wagyu, 10 oz filet, 16 oz bone-in dry aged New York steak, 16 oz prime New York strip, and a 16 oz prime ribeye.
If you’re looking to enhance your dish, there’s a surf and turf option. Diners can add bacon wrapped shrimp or roasted Australian lobster tail to their plates.
Top of the World also offers a number of toppers for your steak. Those interested in an Oscar style, with lump crab meat are in luck, that’s an option. Prefer onions and mushrooms? That’s on the menu too. If you like a more rich inclusion to have added to your steak, diners can order their steaks with a smoked blue cheese crust or chimichurri butter.
Folks that want a more selective enhancement, there are five different sauces that can be picked for serving alongside your steak.
Other entrées
Aside from the vast steakhouse menu, Top of the World has plenty of other options for diners. Some of the other main course options are; Pork chop Milanese, crab and scallop stuffed sole, roasted chicken, seared Scottish salmon, rack of lamb, pan roasted sea bass, wild mushroom Bolognese – ziti pasta, and roasted Australian lobster tail.
Side dishes
To go along with whatever main course selections diners make, there are a number of à la carte shareable side dishes. There are several options that are perfect for the table to enjoy family style. Dishes vary from hearty jazzed up comfort food dishes like lobster macaroni and cheese to other savory selections like truffle and garlic parmesan French fries.
Side dishes include:
- Potato purée
- Fried Brussels sprouts
- Mac and cheese
- Caramelized heirloom carrots
- Sake and soy braised mushrooms
- Baked potato
- Spinach au gratin
- Charred asparagus
- Truffle and garlic parmesan fries
- Lobster mac and cheese
Desserts
Top of the World has a number of delightful dessert dishes for afters. For post entrée drinks, there are a number of port – not starboard – dessert wines.
- Warm butter cake for two
- Layered chocolate hazelnut cake
- Cheesecake
- Dubai bar with orange semifreddo
- Spiced sweet potato cheesecake
- Pear and caramel mousse
- Raspberry molten cake
- Espresso latte crème brûlée
Our trip to The Strat and Top of the World
When planning one of our evenings during our 2025 Las Vegas trip, my roommates and I made dining reservations at Top of the World. Our plans included seeing one of The Strat’s exclusive shows, iLuminate, which we went to right after our dining experience.
While in The Strat, we took escalators up to the second floor where the elevators are that lead to the upper decks of the tower. Once up there, we ended up getting off on the floor for Top of the World, where there’s a separate reception area. We were then guided to the restaurant.
This was the second trip to Top of the World for my eldest roommate and me. We were previously there when the hotel was still branded as The Stratosphere. We don’t recall there having been a seating fee nor a minimum food and beverage amount to meet – but, that was years ago.
Stepping into the restaurant, we found a lot of empty tables. The place was far from being at capacity. In fact, we were one of the only sets of diners in our whole seating area. This kind of left a sour taste in my mouth considering the $15.00 per person we paid for an inner seating area table.
For the layout, the window tables were right up on the windows. Sitting in the inner area worked for us, as the horseshoe shaped table allowed for us to all have a direct view out of the windows towards the Vegas skyline. In my opinion, these inner tables are far better than the tables right up on the windows.
The service
The level of care we received from the staff was top notch. Our waiter was incredibly attentive to our needs as diners. He went out of his way to explain the menu as well as made sure our beverages were always topped off.
Our selections
We’re steak people. At least my aristocratic roomies who get their medium to medium rare steaks are steak people. So, coming to Top of the World steakhouse was an easy pick. While on that Vegas vacation, Top of the World was our second dedicated steakhouse experience, with Gordon Ramsay’s Steak restaurant being our first.
Our meal started with a bread service which consisted of a pull-apart popover bread.
For starters, we shared a bowl of wild mushroom soup. The soup was a nice dish to get our pallets opened up and ready for our main courses. It was not overly filling but was flavorful.
For the main courses, I opted for the 16 oz bone-in filet. My two travel companions both ordered the 10 oz filet. The steaks were cooked to desired temperatures and not dried out. As far as filets go, they were not remarkable nor were they underwhelming. The steaks were tasty and satisfactory.
We ended up ordering a side of the spinach au gratin. The spinach was creamy and flavorful. As far as portion sizes go, this was more than sufficient for me and my elder roommate.
To cap off our meal, we shared an order of the warm butter cake for two. The cake was moist and not overly rich. My only complaint with the dish is one I often have with dessert options – there’s never enough ice cream! I will admit that the portion of ice cream was handsome, though. Snagging a bit of ice cream with a piece of cake and some berries balanced each bite.
Our overall impression
Top of the World steakhouse was a great dining experience. This is paring the quality of the food and drink, service, and breathtaking view. The food minimum fee is understandable, however the seating fee is a cheap nickel and diming of patrons. That being said, we would return to this restaurant and can recommend it to other travelers. This isn’t some cheap tourist trap, but the establishment does not have an issue with delivering the minor shake-down of out-of-town guests and other diners alike.
Top of the World is located at: The Strat Hotel, Casino & Tower, 2000 Las Vegas Blvd S, Las Vegas, NV 89104
