Desserts in Las Vegas
Las Vegas sits in the Mojave Desert in southern Nevada. Its dessert map runs from the Strip, which lies just outside the city line in Paradise, to the shops of Chinatown in Spring Valley, and many of its favorite sweets came here with the families who moved from the Philippines, Hawaii and Mexico.
What Las Vegas loves
Halo-halo and ube
Filipino families are the largest Asian community in the Las Vegas area. Their halo-halo, shaved ice layered with sweet beans, fruit and milk and often crowned with leche flan and purple ube ice cream, is easy to find across the valley.
Malasadas and shave ice
So many people from Hawaii have moved here that Las Vegas has been called the Ninth Island since the late 1970s. That shows up as sugar-rolled malasadas and fluffy Hawaiian shave ice.
Paletas and raspados
Mexican ice pops made from fruit or cream, and raspados, shaved ice with fruit and syrup, are a favorite way to cool off on a hot afternoon.
Showpiece desserts on the Strip
The Strip likes its desserts big. One casino pastry shop has a chocolate fountain 27 feet tall, and giant sundaes and towering milkshakes are made to be shared.
Our recipes for Las Vegas
Questions about desserts in Las Vegas
Why is Las Vegas called the Ninth Island?
Because so many people from Hawaii have moved to Las Vegas, a nickname that goes back to the late 1970s. You can taste it in the city's malasadas and shave ice.
What is halo-halo?
A Filipino dessert of shaved ice layered with sweet beans, fruit, jellies and evaporated milk, often topped with leche flan and ube ice cream. Its name means mix-mix, which is what you do before the first bite.
What is the difference between a paleta and a raspado?
A paleta is an ice pop on a stick, made with fruit or with cream. A raspado is shaved ice in a cup, topped with fruit and syrup.
