Mexico City’s famed seafood institution Contramar has officially rolled onto the Las Vegas Strip, with Chef Gabriela Cámara opening Cantina Contramar at Fontainebleau Las Vegas. The cantina-style offshoot brings those cult-favorite tuna tostadas and pescado a la talla along with a new, meat-forward lineup. Open since late March, it is already reading as a different kind of Strip dining room and, for both locals and tourists, the most high-profile Mexican restaurant debut in the city this year.
The restaurant officially opened March 28 on the Fontainebleau’s second level, perched above the casino and next to the resort’s Promenade food hall, according to a press announcement by PR Newswire. The release presents Cantina Contramar as Cámara’s first major U.S. project and a centerpiece of the property’s splashy dining program. The restaurant’s Vegas plans first reported last September, and reservations were offered in advance through the resort’s site and Resy.
What's on the menu
Cámara brought over Contramar signatures like those tuna tostadas and the grilled pescado a la talla, then leaned into Vegas expectations with dishes such as Wagyu carne asada, short rib in black adobo and a dry-aged tomahawk steak aimed squarely at Strip appetites. The kitchen nixtamalizes its own corn and makes chorizo in house, so the tacos and tostadas are literally built on a house-made foundation. “I didn’t want to put a Contramar here; I didn’t believe a restaurant like Contramar can actually have a replica,” Cámara told the Los Angeles Times while explaining how she reimagined the Roma Norte original for Las Vegas.
Opening night and the kitchen
On opening night, the room filled fast, with more than 300 diners seated and at least one group turned away, and the service moved with the kind of practiced choreography long associated with Contramar. Eater Vegas reports that the fully open kitchen was built like a stage and cost roughly $3 million, while a squad of tortilla makers pressed and cooked masa throughout service. The result plays like theater, but it keeps the efficient, seafood-first rhythm that helped make the Mexico City original famous.
Design and drinks
Architect Frida Escobedo’s design intentionally cuts against Strip spectacle. Diners enter through a passage lined with volcanic stone tiles that opens into a high-ceilinged dining room finished in indigo tones and pale wood. The resort’s dining page notes that the beverage program leans on Tequila Casa Dragones, with cocktails and a tasting flight developed in collaboration with Bertha González Nieves, according to Fontainebleau Las Vegas. Materials like hammered copper, handmade tiles and amber-toned onyx panels are meant to frame the room while keeping the focus on shared plates and a convivial style of service.
Why it matters
Beyond the menu, the opening is being cast as a cultural moment on the Strip. Cámara told the Los Angeles Times that opening in Las Vegas is “an honor and a responsibility to do it right,” and the restaurant’s presence adds visible jobs within the city’s large Latino hospitality workforce. Local critics and food writers say Cantina Contramar fills a gap for an authentic Mexico City-rooted dining experience on the Strip, one that tries to balance careful craftsmanship with the sense of theater Las Vegas expects.
Cantina Contramar is open nightly for dinner, with brunch promised later; reservations and the full menu are available through Fontainebleau Las Vegas. Diners can expect prices that track with the resort’s premium positioning and a shareable menu clearly built for groups, celebrations and the kind of long, talky meals Contramar is known for.
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