by Christine Dolen
Miami Herald

Say you’re in Las Vegas, baking in the desert heat, already tired of the resorts’ bountiful buffets and ready for a break from the world of poker-faced card dealers.

Nestled inside the way-up-scale Forum Shops at Caesars Palace is place where you can get both a little slice of South Florida and as many slices of Key lime pie as you can handle.

Since 2004, Joe’s Stone Crab has had a sleek outpost in Las Vegas, a partnership between the descendants of Joe Weiss (they run the Miami Beach Joe’s) and ICON, a company founded specifically to partner with “food service icons” (Joe’s is the first, Krispy Kreme the second).

Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab, as the Las Vegas restaurant is called (there’s another one in Chicago), is much like the South Florida Joe’s – but with a twist. Let’s just say that steak lovers (and I’ll take a great filet over stone crab claws any day) will be in prime-cut heaven.

The décor is South Florida-meets-steakhouse, with a terrazzo floor, lots of dark wood, leather booths and a men’s club vibe (try the excellent, $10 minty Mojito at the bar). The “outside” seating (which is actually in the three-story Forum atrium) is a bit more like a casual café, only with air conditioning.

Michael Rotolo, managing partner of Joe’s Stone Crab Development Company, says the steakhouse facet of the restaurant was born when the Chicago Joe’s was opened in 2000.

“Chicago is a great steak-house town, and we were concerned about serving a chilled entrée in the winter months,” Rotolo says.

Joe’s prime steaks, and hand-carved bone-in signature steaks, are trucked to Las Vegas from Chicago three times a week. An 8 – ounce petite filet runs $29.95; the top-of-the-line 28 – ounce porterhouse is $52.95.

A wide selection of fresh seafood is, as the restaurant’s name suggests, another key element of the Vegas menu. But stone crabs are the stars. They’re flown in overnight by DHL during the Oct. 15 – May 15 stone crab season (you can get claws that have been boiled and flash-frozen the rest of the year). The price ranges from $26.95 for seven medium crabs to $46.95 for five large ones, and of course they come with Joe’s famous mustard sauce.

The classic Joe’s salads and side dishes are on the menu: the vinegar-laced cole slaw ($5.95), grilled tomatoes topped with cheese ($7.95), hashed browns or Lyonnaise potatoes ($7.95). They taste just like they do at the original Joe’s, as does the best-of-its-kind Key lime pie (as it must be) on a chilled plate.

There is one other difference that should, if you feel in need of a Joe’s fix in Vegas, make you quite happy. This one takes reservations.