VEGAS DOES SUBURBIA

Grand Lux Cafe, Roosevelt Field, 630 Old Country Road, Garden City, NY 11530, (516) 741-0096

This isn't a full review by any means, I stopped in for a burger at the bar-- but a few observations about this relatively new addition to the mall at Roosevelt Field, Long Island. Looking at the menu, and the bigger-than-life attitude with which it is presented, the Grand Lux Cafe immediately brings to mind the Ventian Resort, Hotel and Casino in Vegas and the Cheesecake Factory. It should, the Grand Lux Cafe was designed for the Venetian by the Factory's founder, David Overton. But the Grand Lux does the Cheescake Factory and local Long Island diners several better. The menu is more eclectic, while all-encompassing-- anything you could possibly imagine and more is on it and chances are it's going to be three times as good, three times the portion-size and twice as expensive.

In fact, everything's grand here, the two hostesses in the cavernous entrance and dining room, the marble floors, the some 20-foot tall ceilings, the liquor shelves behind the bar so high as to redefine 'top shelf' as 'out-of-reach,' and the general feeling of opulence and well, Vegas. Except for the fact that the servers have a little Long Island twang you almost feel as though you could walk out of the restaurant and into a clockless, clanging room filled with slot machines and the magical hope and desperation of big bills, cocktail waitresses and dreams of hitting the jackpot. There's even a courtesy phone by the bathroom.

I ordered a Max Burger ($12.95) and an iced tea ($2.50). It was about 2 p.m. but there were a fair amount of people in the dining room but the food arrived quickly-- an Angus beef burger topped with cheddar cheese, applewood smoked bacon, sauteed mushrooms, onions and roasted short ribs, served with fries. The burger was huge and thick, the bun fresh and the burger itself was cooked well, moist and flavorful. But the flavor-stars of this burger were the bacon, the mushrooms, onions and short rib tips which overwhelmed the actual beef and me. I ate the fries which were thick-cut and well-salted but the dish was too much-- it wasn't so good that I had to finish it and while I love Vegas I don't have a full-time, buffet-appetite.

My server was friendly, the food was good and it will probably outlast some of the upscale restaurants that have struggled to survive along the outside perimeter of the Roosevelt Field Mall, but I don't know if I'd be able to return-- I was too disappointed when walking out that I was so far away from the blackjack tables and an In-N-Out.

TOTAL SPENT: $22 (including $5 tip)

20 WORDS OR LESS? What happens in Vegas apparently, most definitely doesn't stay in Vegas.