Inside Netflix Bites’ Las Vegas Restaurant Opening

If you’ve ever wanted to try a slice of Stranger Things “Surfer Boy Pizza” or indulge in an Eggo alongside Eleven, Netflix Bites — a new one-year restaurant in residency at MGM Grand in Las Vegas — will satiate those desires.

Open now for walk-ins and starting Feb. 20 for reservations, the menu features customized dishes cooked up straight from the streamer’s hit projects, including Beef, Bridgerton, Bird Box, Emily in Paris, Ginny & Georgia, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Inventing Anna, Is It Cake?, One Piece, Orange Is the New Black, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, Queer Eye, Selling Sunset, Sex Education, Street Food, Stranger Things, Squid Game, Wednesday, WWE RAW, Chef’s Table and Dinner Time Live With David Chang. The space is decked out in varying shades of saturated pop-art pastels, with Toulouse-Lautrec-style posters featuring Netflix characters.

Josh Simon, Netflix’s vp of consumer products, says they approached the creation of Netflix Bites as they would make a movie or TV show. “It’s grounded in storytelling. We start with our fan favorites, particularly ones with very rich worlds, characters and stories that give us a creative jumping off point to bring to life in menu form,” he says. More than 30 different IPs are represented across the menu. “We have a very diverse, broad slate that comes from all over the world. And Las Vegas is a similar platform with guests from all over the world. It’s a really great match.”

Once the streamer identified the IP they wanted to use, the MGM culinary team began ideating to bring those dreams from screen to plate. James McBride, MGM Grand Hotel and Casino vp of food and beverage, calls out several “immersive” presentations. With the Squid Game “Red Bite, Green Bite,” spin the wheel to decide in which of three sauces you will dip your chicken nugget. “The Dessert is Lava” features a mountain overflowing with confectioners’ molten lava where gummy bear contestants try to survive a Floor is Lava-inspired dessert — which took about five months to create. The Stranger Things “Surfer Boy Pizza” box has a phone number to call to hear a character greeting.

Netflix tested the Bites concept in Los Angeles in 2023 with a six-week pop-up that primarily featured dishes from Chef’s Table, some of which crossover to the Vegas experience and a Nailed It build-your-own dessert.

“When you watch Nailed It! and see how hilariously awful the results are when people are trying to create these beautiful desserts, I was like, ‘I could be on that show,’ and with very little pastry experience, I think I could do better than those people,” says Simon. “Then the dessert shows up at your table and you realize how difficult it is.”

The presentations range from the elaborate (with custom plates) to the more subtle — and the gimmicks don’t come cheap. With the $65 “Eleven’s Feast,” experience Hawkins and the “Upside Down” with a double-decker presentation of crispy fried chicken and waffle sliders paired with spicy chicken and black sesame waffles. The $23 WWE Smash Burger has “Royal Rumble” sauce and a WWE logo burned into the bun.

Russ Hurry, executive chef of MGM Grand, says the spot is a departure from the Vegas restaurant formula. “This is completely different. [Our restaurants are either] tied to a celebrity chef, or it’s tied to a chain, or it’s tied to a specific cuisine,” he says. “This is tied to IP.” He estimates it will probably take about three to four months to see how things go, adding or subtracting dishes during that time.

Nine specialty cocktails, created to match shows from The Fall of the House of Usher to Squid Game, complement the dishes. The Stranger Things “Mind Flayer” makes the “Upside Down” come to life with a storm-electrified bourbon, blackberries and a cotton candy lightning cloud with a blinking ice cube. “La Casa De La Sangria” features a Money Heist lockbox with a gold bar and mint leaves.

Zoey D’Arienzo, MGM Grand executive director food and beverage, says she hadn’t seen The Fall of the House of Usher but had to watch when they began creating the drink. “Now I’m hooked. It was a lot of ideation and then we would go back to the shows and say does this work.” A Ripple Maker drink printer creates the same symbols as those worn by the Squid Game Pink Guards for the “Pink Soldier” cocktail, with gin, Korean soju and prickly pear. If you get a square, you are a manager, and a triangle means you are a soldier — your server decides. 

Netflix Bites is open daily for breakfast and lunch from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. and dinner from 5 to 10 p.m., Sunday through Thursday; and 5 p.m. to midnight, Friday and Saturday. Around the globe, Netflix is producing other live experiences including “The Queen’s Ball: A Bridgerton Experience;” “Stranger Things: The Experience;” “Squid Game: The Experience,” now open in New York, Madrid and Sydney; and Netflix House, coming to Dallas and Philadelphia in 2025.