SLIDE SHOW: Emeril opens Lagasse's Stadium in VegasSLIDE SHOW: Emeril opens Lagasse's Stadium in Vegas

Ron Ruggless

LAS VEGAS Chef Emeril Lagasse expanded his restaurant holdings to 12 this weekend with the grand opening of Lagasse’s Stadium at The Palazzo Resort-Hotel-Casino here.

Click here for a slide show of photos from the restaurant’s opening.

The 24,000-square-foot sports bar and entertainment venue opened in the hotel’s former 40/40 Club venue, which had been operated by Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter and his partners.

“I love sports,” said Lagasse at the opening Friday, which was attended by such sports luminaries as Warren Sapp, a former National Football League lineman, and cast members from the HBO show “Entourage.”

The restaurant features stadium-style seating in plush couches facing a 9-by-16-foot video wall as well as more than 100 high-definition televisions and an extensive sports-book betting area.

“I wanted this place to be fun,” Lagasse said. “It’s not stuffy.”

Lagasse, who already operates the Delmonico and Table 10 restaurants in the Palazzo-Venetian complex, created a menu of game-day items and classics from his original Emeril’s restaurant in New Orleans. He said he expects the check average at the Stadium’s various venues, which include rental private “luxury boxes” and a white tablecloth area, to be around $28.

Menu items include: barbecue shrimp with rosemary flatbread; New Orleans-style crab cakes; Creole-boiled shrimp cocktail, French dip sandwiches with garlic-roasted prime rib and truffle aioli on New Orleans French bread; and barbecued baby-back ribs with jalapeno cornbread.

The Stadium’s location on The Strip in Las Vegas allows for an extensive outdoor patio with billiards.

Besides Lagasse’s restaurants, The Palazzo plays host to other fine-dining eateries by nationally known chefs, including Carnevino by Mario Batali, CUT by Wolfgang Puck and Restaurant Charlie by Charlie Trotter.

Contact Ron Ruggless at [email protected].