NFL Legend Makes Surprising Las Vegas Strip Move

A former NFL star and three-time Super Bowl champion has big plans for the Las Vegas Strip.

The Las Vegas Strip is home to every type of restaurant you can think of that has been designed by any one of the top celebrity chefs in the country.

The list of celebrity chefs who have restaurants in Vegas reads like a daily television listing on the Food Network or Cooking Channel. You have Wolfgang Puck, Bobby Flay, Gordon Ramsay, Michael Mina, Thomas Keller, Buddy Valastro, Giada de Laurentiis, Tom Colicchio, Pierre Gagnaire, Nobu Matsuhisa, Guy Savoy, Mario Batali, Joël Robuchon, José Andrés, and of course, Guy Fieri.

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Visitors would need to be in town several weeks to hit every one of these culinary palaces.

No Shortage of Celebrity Chef Restaurants

Fieri, alone has no fewer than 11 restaurants in Las Vegas, including Guy Fieri’s American Kitchen & Bar, Guy’s Barbeque Joint, Guy Fieri’s Chophouse, Guy Fieri’s El Burro Borracho, Guy Fieri’s Dive & Taco, Guy’s Highball Lounge, Guy’s Pig & Anchor Bar-B-Que, Guy Fieri’s Pizza Parlor, Guy’s Sammich Joint, Guy Fieri’s Smokehouse and Guy Fieri’s Trashcan Nachos.

Caesars Entertainment's  (CZR) - Get Free Report former Bally's on the Strip, which is being rebranded as the Horseshoe, will feature a new Guy Fieri's Flavortown Sports Kitchen sportsbook/restaurant created by Fieri.

Gordon Ramsay also has several restaurants in Vegas, including Ramsay's Kitchen at Harrah's Las Vegas, as well as Gordon Ramsay’s Pub & Grill, Gordon Ramsay’s Fish & Chips, Gordon Ramsay Burger, Gordon Ramsay Steak, and of course, Gordon Ramsay Hell's Kitchen.

Las Vegas has a history of non-chef celebrities opening restaurants in Sin City as well. Back in 2012, rapper/reality star Flavor Flav opened his House of Flavor chicken restaurant, which closed down and sort of flew away after only six months of operation.

Rocker Sammy Hagar's Cabo Wabo Las Vegas opened in 2009 in the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood on the Strip and is still operating. Matsuhisa's Nobu Las Vegas restaurant is a partnership with iconic actor Robert DeNiro, and first opened in Vegas in 1999.

Emmitt Smith Venture Coming to The Strip

Former Dallas Cowboys star running back Emmitt Smith is getting closer to opening his Emmitt's steakhouse and seafood restaurant at Fashion Show Mall on the Strip, as Clark County, Nev., business license records show a permit is pending, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Smith first unveiled his plans in August 2021 to open his 30,000 square-foot, two-level restaurant near the end of 2022 or early 2023, the Las Vegas Sun reported. The restaurant will be managed by executive chef Rainer Schwartz and located across from the Wynn near the  intersection of Spring Mountain Road and Las Vegas Boulevard.

The National Football League's all-time leading rusher and three-time Super Bowl champion, who operates real estate company E. Smith Advisors and EJ Smith Construction near Dallas, is putting his name on a restaurant for the first time. His plans include a restaurant that can seat at least 200 diners on the ground floor, a lounge, nightclub  and terrace.

Schwarz was the executive chef at four Orange County, Calif., restaurants owned Trilogy Group F&B, which is the parent company of Emmitt’s. A restaurant representative said further details of the project will be available in April, the Review-Journal reported.