A longtime Las Vegas chef known for his devotion to dry-aged meat is opening a new restaurant next month in the south valley. Matt Meyer, who built a following for his dry-aging chops at a Henderson steakhouse before it closed, plans to debut Tender Mercy on Dec. 1 at 470 E. Windmill Lane, Suite 110.
Meyer is described as a longtime Las Vegas chef and dry-aging enthusiast, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. At Tender Mercy, he said he wanted to create a smaller-scale restaurant that fit his vibe — serious about food and especially meats, but more fun than formal. The 40-seat restaurant will include a butcher counter and a terrace, per the same report.
The menu centers on dry-aged steaks, inventive burgers, steak frites and butchered meats to go, the outlet reports. Diners can expect wagyu chops, duroc pork chops and dry-aged ora king salmon alongside crisp duck à l'orange, with burgers served in six different styles. The kitchen will also turn out house banchan small plates inspired by Korean cooking, Kennebec potato fries with seasoning and housemade sauce options, and thick milkshakes and concrete frozen custards for dessert, the report notes.
Dry-Aging Lockers Take Center Stage
Tender Mercy's design leans into the chef's signature obsession: prominently displayed dry-aging lockers will share space with a wood-fire grill and a dedicated station for making thrice-cooked french fries, according to the Review-Journal's account. The restaurant has an Instagram account under the handle @tendermercymeats.
The dry-aging focus traces back to Meyer's earlier Henderson venture, 138 Degrees, which took over the former Served Global Dining space and was named after the ideal temperature for finishing steaks. 138° showcased in-house dry aging of beef from Nevada ranchers and other local producers, according to a separate Las Vegas Review-Journal report, which said Meyer debuted the restaurant on Oct. 15, 2022. Earlier previews had pointed to different dates: Las Vegas Weekly reported the chophouse was set to open Sept. 30, 2022, while KSNV had listed Sept. 25, 2022, as the scheduled opening.
A Henderson Steakhouse's Legacy
Eater Vegas detailed how 138° paired that in-house dry-aging program with a menu that included a house burger, with proteins spanning beef, chicken, pork and fish dry-aged on site. Meyer sourced his beef from Nevada ranches and other local producers and finished the cuts on a woodfire grill, according to Eater Vegas.
138° closed in November 2023. Meyer told Eater Vegas at the time that he had to close the restaurant for personal reasons, and that the dry-aging experience he garnered there would probably be the driving factor in whatever he took on next. That restaurant followed Served, which Meyer opened in Henderson in 2016 and which closed after service on May 24, 2020, according to Eater Vegas's earlier coverage of the pandemic-era closure.
Now, with Tender Mercy, that dry-aging throughline continues in a new south valley address, built around the lockers, grill and fry station Meyer has spent years perfecting. The restaurant is slated to open its doors on East Windmill Lane in just a few weeks.
