If you thought 2024 was fun, get ready for all the cool stuff that’s coming to Las Vegas in the new year. No, you won’t get the A’s stadium, the Hard Rock’s guitar-shaped tower, or the Las Vegas Museum of Art. (That’s all coming way down the line.) However, 2025 is shaping up to be a year of attractions, restaurants, and other fun stuff.
☄️ The Immersive District
Yeah, we hate the name too, but the Las Vegas Immersive District is aiming to be a worthy extension to the successful AREA15 complex. New attractions include Universal Horror Unleashed (based on your favorite scary movies) and the space-themed Interstellar Arc.
🛍️ Strip Stuff
Goodbye Hawaiian Marketplace. Say hello to The BLVD, a new shopping plaza that’s already taking shape with the opening of a towering Puma store. Yes, the future is retail, but at least we’re getting the largest In-N-Out Burger in history. Further evidence that the future is retail: the Bellagio has unannounced plans to turn its covered walkway near the fountains into a new retail and dining plaza. The south end of the Strip will also look a touch different when Mandalay Bay’s Delano tower is rebranded as the W Las Vegas.
🏎️ The Wide World of Sports in Las Vegas
Your favorite new sport gets to shine on the Strip when the Pickleball Slam comes to Mandalay Bay Feb. 16, featuring tennis pros like Vegas residents Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf trying their hand at a new racket. Wrestlemania 41 — the biggest pro-wrestling event since Hulk Hogan dropped the big leg on Andre the Giant — takes over Allegiant Stadium for two days, April 19-20. The Hall of Excellence, a sports museum involving Raiders co-owner Tom Brady, opens at the Fontainebleau. And yes, Formula 1 is returning to Vegas Nov. 19-22. Fans can also visit a new themed bar, the F1 Arcade inside the Forum Shops at Caesars, by the time next year’s race rolls around.
Now that's a Surf n' Turf. (Amaya Modern Mexican/Jose Salinas)
😋 New Restaurants
After launching Bazaar Mar as one of the best new restaurants of 2024 inside the Shops at Crystals, José Andrés gears up to move his signature Bazaar Meat steakhouse from the Sahara to the Palazzo and open the Mediterranean-themed Zaytinya inside the Forum Shops at Caesars.
The new year also brings us Stubborn Seed by “Top Chef” winner Jeremy Ford at Resorts World, Cote for high-end Korean barbecue at the Venetian, Amaya for modern Mexican at the Cosmopolitan, Caramella for retro Italian at Planet Hollywood, Bottle Blonde for pizza and beer on stacked levels at the Grand Bazaar Shops, and a second Gordon Ramsay Burger in Vegas at the Flamingo. And yes, the food hall trend will continue with Via Via at the Venetian.
📺 The MGM Grand’s TV Obsession
Your favorite shows come to life in 2025 at the MGM Grand. The Friends Experience, based on the ‘90s sitcom opens in the District, is full of fan-friendly photo moments, and Netflix Bites is a new restaurant based on the streaming giant’s hit shows, taking over the old Avenue Cafe space.
🍔 An Evolving Arts District
Plans are in the works to bring the official Evel Knievel Museum to the Arts District by 2025, although the arrival of the Neon Museum won’t happen for a few more years. The opening of Holstein’s burgers next to Velveteen Rabbit marks the first time something is moving to the Arts District from the Strip (and probably won’t be the last). Meanwhile, James Trees of Esther’s Kitchen is planning two new concepts, including a French bistro named Bar Bohème. Fancy new residential buildings are in the works for Midtown (by developer Weina Zhang) and just north in Symphony Park when Bria & Capella plan to open by summer.
- Outgoing mayor Carolyn Goodman couldn’t help but gush about the future of Symphony Park during a recent interview. [City Cast Las Vegas 🎧]
