A year after a devastating fire erased one of its Las Vegas storefronts, TasteBudz Creole Kitchen is coming back with a much bigger footprint. The Creole restaurant founded by Marsean and Latricsha Nelson has opened three new locations since the blaze and is now looking beyond Nevada.
The July 25, 2025, fire tore through the University Gardens shopping center near UNLV, destroying several businesses, including one of TasteBudz’ two locations. The blaze was later classified as accidental, although investigators could not determine the precise ignition point or material because of the extensive damage, according to KTNV.
For the Nelsons, the anniversary is still painful, but the business has not stayed stuck in the wreckage. Latricsha said she made sure employees were placed elsewhere in the company after the fire, while Marsean told KTNV that the setback made the couple “uber focused on the expansion.”
TasteBudz Is Moving Beyond Las Vegas
The restaurant’s official location pages show TasteBudz operating in Las Vegas and Phoenix, while a separate company page announces a Dallas location as its fourth. The brand’s menu centers on Creole and Cajun comfort food, including gumbo, jambalaya, crawfish boils, fried catfish and po’boys, according to the TasteBudz location listing and its Dallas expansion announcement.
The broader expansion includes Chicago, Texas and Arizona, according to the anniversary report. A restaurant that was forced to start over after losing a newly opened storefront is now using the loss as a launch point—proof that, at least for TasteBudz, the fire did not get the final word.
