"This is a 3.5 star review:\n\n\nI had extremely high hopes going into dinner at L'Atelier and left feeling that the experience was not what I had expected. The reservation process was simple and done online, and the restaurant itself was not hard to find within the MGM Grand. My girlfriend and I explored the menu and we decided to give the seasonal discovery menu ($195pp) a try. We were excited. \n\n\nFood: the food was mostly delicious and well presented. There were one or two items that my girlfriends and I did not overly enjoy but the dishes were all still tasty. The one dish that we both rather disliked was the carbonara, as we found it to be extremely peppery, to the point that there was no other taste. I pointed this out to our waiter and he explained that they use a strong pepper and apologized and offered to bring me something else (I did not take him on that offer). My favourite was the duck gras and chicken duo. Very well done and the flavours were spot on. The two desserts were also phenomenal, and synched very well with each other. \n\n\nService: overall, service was good. The waiters were attentive and did a good job explaining each dish to us and answering questions we had. When my girlfriend was eating the mashed potatoes, the waiter quickly brought a spoon over for her, upon observing that she was struggling to get everything out with a fork. However, two things stood out to me: one of the waiters was placing the langoustines dish in front of me, and the langoustine fell from the bed of rice. His reaction was \"whoops\", and a quick apology. While not a huge issue, I would have hoped that for a restaurant of L'Atelier's quality and reputation that this would not occur. Secondly, when we received our spoons for dessert, my girlfriend's spoon was sticky on the side. Again, not a big deal as the problem was rectified but should not be happening in a Michelin Star dining room. \n\n\nOverall: the last issue that made the night not as enjoyable was that the restaurant is near the casino and rather open. The smell of cigarettes could be detected, lingering for periods throughout our meal, which marred the experience. Not sure how the restaurant can fix that, but as someone who dislikes the smell of smoke, certainly an issue. I expected better than what I got. Not that the experience was bad, it just did not live up to expectations, or quite frankly the price tag. Realize that you are paying for the location. \n\n\nTip: if you make reservations here, get a seat at the bar. You get to watch the kitchen in action and it was a thrill to watch."^^ . . "0"^^ . "2016-12-22T00:00:00"^^ . "0"^^ . "4"^^ . "0"^^ . . .