I tried Johnny Smalls last night with a meetup group. While they were getting our table ready, a few of us sat at the bar and had a drink. I decided to ask the bartender for one of his personal specialties. He ended up giving me something he calls the Naughty Irishman. I didn't really watch him make it, but it looked like it was primarily Jameson and Bailey's with crushed ice. I give him props for hand crushing the ice. The drink was pretty good, but it came with the typical Vegas price tag of about $13.\n\nOnce seated, we did the AYCE tapas thing for $19.99 per person. Note that you technically need a Hard Rock player's card to get that price; otherwise, it's $23.99. Based on the prices of each item, I got my money's worth. On the other hand, if I disregard how much they list each item, I still probably got my money's worth. I'd say their tapas are a mixed bag. Most of them were decent to very good. Nothing was amazing. If I do this again, I have a few items I would skip.\n\nThe Good\n* Poona Tuna - I started off with this because someone mentioned it on Yelp. The cherry limeade was an interesting sauce and the tuna was maybe slightly overcooked, but I enjoyed the dish.\n* Jack & Coke - One of the better items. Very tasty.\n* Lettuce Cups - Shrimp was slightly overcooked, but that's just being picky. This was quite tasty.\n* Sea Bass - I only tried some of this from someone else's order. It was pretty good, but not my favorite.\n* Tuna Sashimi - It's hard to mess up ahi tuna. This was simple and tasty.\n* Surf & Turf - The vanilla butter added a strange flavor to the mix, but pretty good overall.\n* Grilled PB&J - I found it a little strange that the jelly was on the side i.e. you had to add it yourself, but it was still good. Honestly, I prefer the Fried PB&J we had at the Elite event at Republic, but come on. It's Grilled PB&J!\n\nThe Bad\n* Chicken & Waffles - Disappointing. The chicken was not tasty at all. I didn't like the breading and (once again) it was overcooked. The waffle fries were pretty good though.\n* Octapussy - I don't like the tapioca batter that they use. Skip.\n\nThe Ugly\n* Tater Tots - It might be the truffle oil, but these smelled and tasted like gasoline. They were nauseous.\n\nYou can view their entire tapas menu on their web site: <url> going with a rounded down A-OK on Johnny Smalls. I'd return if someone suggested it. The decor is trendy and there are definitely some tasty items here. $20 is a good price.
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