Digital Social Hour
How Barry’s Became the Hottest Steakhouse in Vegas | Chef Barry and Yassine Lyoubi DSH #1221
Thu, 06 Mar 2025
🔥 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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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?
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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.
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