Digital Social Hour
How Barry’s Became the Hottest Steakhouse in Vegas | Chef Barry and Yassine Lyoubi DSH #1221
Thu, 06 Mar 2025 13:00:00 -0000
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🔥 Chef Barry & Yassine on Building Vegas’ Hottest Steakhouse, Social Media & Restaurant Trends 🍽️🚀 In this delicious deep dive, we sit down with Chef Barry & Yassine, the masterminds behind Barry’s Downtown Prime, one of Las Vegas' most iconic steakhouses located at Circa Resort & Casino. They share insider secrets on: ✅ How Barry’s became one of the top steakhouses in Vegas ✅ The power of social media & food influencers in the restaurant business ✅ The secret to creating an “Instagrammable” restaurant experience ✅ The rise of high-end dining & the future of steakhouses ✅ How they built a space catering to celebrities, athletes, and food lovers This mouthwatering episode is a must-listen for foodies, entrepreneurs, and anyone interested in the behind-the-scenes of the restaurant industry! 📲 Follow Chef Barry, Yassine & Barry’s Downtown Prime: 🔗 Instagram: @BarrysPrime 🔗 Chef Barry’s Instagram: @ChefBarry 🔗 Website: BarrysPrime.com 🔗 Yassine's Instagram: @yassine.Lyoubi ⏱ CHAPTERS ⏱ CHAPTERS ⏳ 00:00 – How Social Media Shapes the Restaurant Industry ⏳ 02:15 – The Importance of Instagrammable Dishes & Restaurant Design ⏳ 04:30 – How Barry’s Became One of Vegas’ Hottest Steakhouses ⏳ 07:10 – The Evolution of Vegas Dining & The Growth of the City ⏳ 09:45 – Real Estate Prices Then vs. Now & Investing in Vegas ⏳ 12:30 – The Unique Location & Design of Barry’s at Circa ⏳ 15:00 – What Makes Barry’s Stand Out From Other Steakhouses ⏳ 17:45 – The Competitive Steakhouse Market in Vegas ⏳ 20:10 – The Palms Casino’s Influence on Vegas Dining & Nightlife ⏳ 22:30 – The Secret to Longevity in the Restaurant Business ⏳ 25:00 – How Social Media & Influencers Changed the Restaurant Game ⏳ 27:15 – Food Influencers, Viral Marketing & The Keith Lee Effect ⏳ 30:00 – How Restaurants Adapt to Trends & Customer Expectations ⏳ 32:45 – The Future of Fine Dining, Vegan Options & Dietary Trends ⏳ 35:00 – What’s Next for Barry’s & New Ventures 🔥 Apply to Be on the Podcast & Business Inquiries: 🎙 APPLY TO BE ON THE PODCAST: https://www.digitalsocialhour.com/application 📩 BUSINESS INQUIRIES/SPONSORS: [email protected]
Chapter 1: What makes Barry's Downtown Prime Instagrammable?
we want people to be on their phones because the more they're on their phones the more coverage we're getting as a restaurant so when you're designing a menu nowadays or you're designing a restaurant one of the first questions is how do we what are we what's instagramable what dish is going to be instagramable of course you want it to be good you want the flavor to be there presentation to be there consistency
But you want it to be an Instagrammable dish and you want your restaurant to have multiple Instagrammable locations. I mean, if you go to Barry's and you look at the women's restroom, for example. Load it up. Yeah. I mean, that's right. Number one, most Instagram. We have the most selfies out of any other restaurant in the bathroom.
We can almost do an Instagram page for Barry's or social media page for Barry's of just bathroom selfies. Yeah. Everyone that goes in there loves it.
all right guys got chef barry and yasin here today from uh their famous steakhouse thanks for coming in guys of course thank you for having us i always tell people uh your guys steakhouse is one of my favorites in town if not my favorite so thank you yeah high regards from me much appreciated and you guys are new right because circa's pretty new well new in the sense of going to circa yeah yeah but you've been around for a minute we've been around for a minute how long
Chapter 2: How did Barry and Yassine get started in Vegas?
I've been in Vegas now, what, when did you come here, 98? I moved here in 97. Damn. 27 years. That's when I was born. Yeah? Holy crap. You guys have seen a lot of development. A lot of development. Did you see Vegas kind of blowing up like the way it has? Well, man, I never thought it would get to this, but yeah, I mean, it's a pretty special time right now.
Yeah, because I feel like 97, you could have got a steal on some real estate out here.
Oh, absolutely. In hindsight, it's 2020. I wish I could go back. I remember even after that when it got really crazy in, what was that, 2004, 2005? And people were lining up outside of all the home builders for two, three days in a row to try to buy homes. That was right before the crash. Damn. But that's when we saw the biggest price hike in real estate.
Yeah, everybody thought they were realtors. Yeah. I mean, everybody was buying houses in the 100s prior, right? And then all of a sudden everything starts hitting the twos and people are like, oh shoot, you gotta go buy. People are waiting outside of KB Homes and all the builders. I bought my first house for $89,000.
Holy crap. Back in 98, yeah. How many square feet is it? Maybe 1,600, 1,500. That's still crazy, though. Yeah, it's, yeah. That's nuts. Now you can't find shit for that price. No.
Not even a condo, nothing. Yeah. Even, like, houses that are, like, 300, 400K are, like, kind of regular out here, you know? Yeah. I mean, it depends on your expectations, I guess, but times have changed for sure. Oh, absolutely. Man. For the better. Yeah, for the better. Well, for you guys, yeah, because you want as many people here as possible, right? Load it up.
Yeah, some days that come to your spot, it's fully packed. It's impressive. You guys got a big location, too. Great location, right? I mean, what do we got, 17,000 square feet between the kitchen and the kitchen? I think a little more, almost 18,000. That's got to be one of the biggest steakhouses in town, right? Yeah.
We got lucky with the build out on that because we're the only location in the basement at Circa. So everything at Circa is floor one, ground level, which is Fremont Street level, two and three. And we've pretty much got the whole basement to ourselves, right? There's a bunch of back of house stuff going on, right? Offices, storage, et cetera.
So we kind of had a carte blanche in terms of how we wanted to get that kitchen designed, how big we wanted to make the dining room. I mean, we went full shebang. Again, we opened pre-COVID and the design process was about a year and a half prior to COVID or a year before COVID. So we designed the entire restaurant based off of wanting to do a lot of group dining.
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Chapter 3: What is the influence of the Palms on Vegas nightlife?
Yeah, it's a rare thing, man. Yeah, you guys will be packed that day. I was trying to do a little staycation. Damn, shit was like 600 a night. At where? At Venetian. Wow. It's usually like 200, 300. But Valentine's Day, people will just do that. Why go to the Venetian when you can come to Circa? I've actually never stayed in Circa. I want to try it. Yeah, they're really comfortable.
Okay. Yeah, definitely. I want to have some of my networking events there too. I've been talking to Richard. Shout out to Richard. Yeah. Yeah, that's the guy right there. Absolutely. He's the one who put us in touch, right? Yeah. Richard Wilk. Yeah, he's been great. How did you two get together?
We first worked together at Nine Steakhouse back in 2010, 11. He was a local famous celebrity chef. I was looking for a move up career-wise, and I got an opportunity to interview there. I met Barry, met the team at the Palms at the time. And Palms was the location, right? I heard. Nightlife-wise, restaurant-wise.
There can never be another spot like the Palms, the way they did everything, George. the family and it was, it was special, chemistry. I've heard that from a lot of locals that Palms was the spot, it was way before I moved here, but what do you think happened? Why do you think it kind of fell off a little bit?
Well I think, you know, you can only be world champion for so long, right? You can only hold on for so long and then the next guy comes along, the next guy comes along. I just think it was time, time for someone else to come along, you know?
But I mean, when the Malouf family ran it, with Michael Morton and Scott DeGraff being partners with them at Nine Group, they were so far ahead of their times. I mean, George had visions, and these guys had great visions, and what was to come with the real world, with the first filming of the real world at the Palms when we opened, I mean, that was the hurricane, right?
That just put us on the map. And then with the nightclubs and Ghost Bar and Club Rain and they had the Buddha Bar and Carduno's and Johnny Brennan with his theaters. The Palms was the Studio 54 of Vegas ahead of its time. I mean, you had everybody coming in. Them owning the Sacramento Kings at the time. Right.
I mean, it was just a hot spot, a celebrity haven for athletes, actors, musicians, everything. Then the recording studio goes in. Man, it was just perfect. It was popping. And I don't think that could ever be repeated. I mean, you know, every hundred years something great comes along, right? Vegas, that was just the perfect storm for me. I mean, you know, it was amazing.
I'm very blessed to be a part of it. I always see the suite there with the basketball, the half court. Yeah. Yeah, that looks so fun. Chris Brown plays there. That was a lot of fun.
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Chapter 4: How has social media transformed the restaurant business?
As of recent? It was like a few days ago, yeah. Because people just go on their phones when they get inside the club. What are the metrics for that? Yeah, I wonder how they polled it, but I'm assuming they just polled people that attend and said how much fun did you have or something, I don't know. People complaining.
Yeah, because no one's really dancing anymore. Like my generation, we're just pulling up to the club and the bar and we're on our phones. I'm sure you see that at the restaurant too, right? Everybody's on their phones. 15 people in a booth sitting on top of the chairs, pouring a vodka Red Bull on their phone. I could see that.
Yeah, no one enjoys their meal anymore without being on the phone. It's crazy. How about enjoying the people you're with? Forget about the food, right? Enjoy the people you're with. How often do you all get to go together and have dinner, right? I mean, put your damn phones down.
What's going on? We say that, right? We say that as customers when we go out. We're like, we don't want everyone to be on the phone. But as restauranteurs, it's almost hypocrisy, right? Because we want people to be on their phones, because the more they're on their phones, the more coverage we're getting as a restaurant.
So when you're designing a menu nowadays or you're designing a restaurant, one of the first questions is, what's Instagrammable? What dish is going to be Instagrammable? Of course, you want it to be good. You want the flavor to be there, presentation to be there, consistency. but you want it to be an Instagrammable dish, and you want your restaurant to have multiple Instagrammable locations.
I mean, if you go to Barry's and you look at the women's restroom, for example. Load it up. Yeah, I mean, that's, right? Number one most Instagram. We have the most selfies out of any other place in the restaurant in the bathroom. We can almost do an Instagram page for Barry's or social media page for Barry's of just bathroom selfies. I mean, everyone that goes in there loves it, right?
With the pink marble. And then you have our garden room with the tree, and then you have the DJ area, so...
yeah we criticize it as as guests to me because you and i are getting old yeah these kids are on their phones but you as a business owner you want that right yeah i mean i'm glued even dinner at home i'm on my phone while i'm i'm watching youtube while i'm eating yeah and my girl's always pissed but you take your phone to the bathroom too right yeah yeah it's so addicting man it's addicting man um how much did like food influencers and social media change the the business for you guys like people like keith lee and all those food influencers
Night and day over the years, and we saw it happen. I remember- Overnight. Overnight, I remember we were running nine steakhouse. And in about, I would say 2010 or 11 is when people started hiring social media managers or promoting someone who was fluent in the social media world to that position in the hotel.
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Chapter 5: Why are steakhouses a staple in American dining?
I think it would be hard to deny that you have- Wynn, I would say Wynn. Yeah, Wynn has a good platform, but Venetian's been known. I mean, especially with their former leadership in the food and beverage department. I think that they have one of the biggest platforms, one of the most renowned platforms. They're bringing Cote, too. The Korean steakhouse.
Yeah, there you go. See? So they're always on the front. And look, they just finally closed the deal with Jose Andres. Bizarre Meat, right? I saw that, yeah. The longest time was... I actually opened that place. Oh, you did? In Sahara? Is that leaving in Sahara? Yeah. I think it's... Or are they staying? And it's gone already? Is it gone? Yeah, it's going to open up at the Venetian. Oh, okay.
Yeah. Yeah. And then, of course, you have Cosmo, Aria, that whole combo. I mean, it's hard to battle them, too. I think they're very aggressive with their plan, too. Overall, hotels serve good food. Yeah, it's hard to pick. Yeah, Aria's solid. Yeah, Carbone, John George's. Dente Fung's pretty good, the Asian spot. Yeah, I'm sure you guys are doing a lot of R&D on the side, right?
Always. I mean, here in Vegas and then traveling mostly, you know, to get ideas. Yeah. Europe a lot. Middle East soon. And then, I mean, just going around town and trying stuff. We go to Chicago for the restaurant show every year just to stay on top of what's happening in our industry. Chicago and New York are great spots.
I love it. What's your guys' most popular dish and what's the story behind the creation of it? How did it come about?
Well, I mean, there's so many popular dishes we've done all through the year. My favorite dish now is the lobster flambé. That's my ultimate favorite dish. I think... It's just an amazing dish, a seven pound Maine lobster. Damn. Taken out of the shell, sauteed in some truffle oil with shallots and garlic.
flamed with some brandy, finished with some truffle butter, a splash of cream and lobster stock, fresh truffles, asparagus, potato gnocchis, all combined together, finished with a little sea salt. It's my favorite dish. The lamb chops, parmesan, pine nut crust is one of our staple dishes. Bone marrow flies out of the restaurant, right? Damn, I didn't know that.
And our rib cap, our prime rib cap is from Alice Muscle. That's just good. So we got so many great dishes, but my favorite dish is the lobster flambé that I prepare tableside for the guests when they come in. It's quite pricey, but listen, we're in Vegas. Treat yourself, don't cheat yourself. Yeah, you make some money, hit the restaurant after, you know? My boy just made 500K last week.
What parley? Cosmo, no, blackjack. Oh, you gotta be on a sick run. He was betting 10K a hand. He actually usually loses like 100 or 200K, but this trip he just ran hot. Really? Yeah. So what's his dining etiquette when he's playing? Does he actually stop for a full meal?
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Chapter 6: How does Vegas dining compare to other cities?
Yeah, I actually grabbed a meal with him at, what's that Asian restaurant in the Cosmo? Momofuku. Momofuku, yeah. And they comp his meals and stuff. So yeah, he eats. I mean, they comp you a lot when you're gambling that much, all his shows and everything. That's the cool part about Vegas, you know?
Some of the most interesting guests for us over the years have been gamblers, right? They're different types of gamblers. They're poker players, and poker players just take a full on two, three hour break and go have a dinner. Then you have blackjack players, and you have sports bettors at Circa, obviously with what Derek Stevens built with a sports book wise.
But the most interesting is picking these guys' brains when they eat. Some of them want to talk, some of them are just like, hey, I'm here at the bar, I want to grab a bite and go. But they're also some of the best tippers, you know, gamblers.
And I don't know if that has to do with the fact that they just won or not, but I think it's just part of their... Could play a role, plus they believe in karma, I feel like, right? Good energy. Vinny Paz won. my friend just got inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame, and he was in Vegas after Roy Jones had just beaten him, there's a big story behind it.
He was in Vegas, I think he dropped like 100,000, and he had a couple dollars in his pocket, and he's walking down the street, when it was Bally's at the time, and I don't know, a casino host sees him walking, he says, hey Vinny, he says, what's happening? He goes, hey, what's up? He goes, you gonna come and play? He goes, ah, I ain't got too much money on me right now, he says, but...
He says, I'll give you a line, I think it was $10,000 or $15,000. He wins almost a million dollars. What? That night, yeah, with a $10,000 or $15,000 line. Holy crap. Marty Kunkel was the dealer, and I met Marty throughout the years, and he comes in with him every once in a while. They still talk to each other.
But you know, for like $10,000 or $15,000 to win a million dollars, and a guy was splitting tens, doubling down on tens and getting an ace, that's the luck and the horseshoe he had in his ass, right? I mean, that's crazy. Dude, that's the biggest ROI I've ever heard in gambling. That's a true story. Yeah, because usually to win a million, you need to start with six figures at least.
10 to 15. Might even have been 12. I don't know what the exact number is. Oh, my gosh. Did he come in? He was in town this week. I didn't see him. Yeah, that's nuts. Vegas is known for legendary stories like that, right? I'm sure a lot of guys celebrate historic nights at your spot, right? Yeah. I've seen you guys cook for a lot of famous people after fights and stuff.
A lot of famous fighters, singers, everybody comes in. Yeah. It's really cool. We're blessed.
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