By McKenna Ross | Originally published in the Las Vegas Review Journal | April 14, 2023
Cameron Mitchell envisioned opening an Ocean Prime restaurant on the Strip for a decade. By summer, that goal will be a reality.
The founder and CEO of Cameron Mitchell Restaurants is preparing to unveil the upscale seafood and steakhouse brand in June atop the development known as 63, a four-story complex at CityCenter on Harmon Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard.
During an exclusive tour of the under-construction restaurant on Thursday, Mitchell said that the company is investing nearly $20 million in the new flagship location and that he hopes the ambiance and Strip address will draw in visitors.
“It’s a free-standing restaurant in arguably one of the busiest intersections in the United States, so it warrants the significant capital investment that we’re making into it,” he said.
The 400-plus-seat restaurant will span more than 14,500 square feet, with nearly 2,500 square feet of rooftop terrace seating.
Mitchell views it as a respite from the Strip — complete with premium trimmings, plush seating and unique “bells and whistles.” The Vegas restaurant will have luxuries not seen at the other locations such as champagne and lounge seating in the women’s restroom, a tableside gin-and-tonic making cart, caviar service and unique menu items like hot seafood tower.
“This is Vegas, right? You’ve gotta be a good restaurant just to compete,” Mitchell said. “This is not for the timid or for the meek, so you gotta do some things that separate you from the pack, that are whimsical. How many places pull a cart up to your table and say, ‘Would you care for a gin and tonic?’ You might not really want one, but you’ll take one when you see it.”
And Ocean Prime is already rented out for three days during the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix, taking place Nov. 16-18.
He said the guests paid “millions” to have all-you-can-eat lunch and dinner access to the restaurant. Its rooftop terrace will be cleared out — going as far as removing its four decorative olive trees by crane — to make way for grandstands that can overlook the 11th turn of the racetrack.
Other 63 tenants
The retail complex, by Las Vegas developer Brett Torino and New York-based Flag Luxury Group, is fully leased, and the remaining 11 tenants are expected to move in starting in May then rolling out through the summer, company officials said.
Tenants at the project include South Korean immersive media art exhibit Arte Museum, Agora Cosmetics, Welcome to Las Vegas gift shop, discount retailer Ross, the Museum of Illusions and a Fat Tuesdays. A spokesperson for the developers didn’t specify which tenants will open first.
The team acquired 63’s 2-acre site for about $80 million in April 2021.
Torino and Flag Luxury Group already own another shopping mall across the street: The three-story Harmon Corner, which draws attention with its LED sign above a Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. restaurant. Similarly, 63 also features a 6,000-square-foot LED billboard atop the structure.
McKenna Ross is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Contact her at mross@reviewjournal.com. Follow @mckenna_ross_ on Twitter.
