Mexican Blockbuster Elio Permanently Closes on the Las Vegas Strip After a Five-Month Run

Elio, the Mexican restaurant at Encore Las Vegas from Enrique Olvera, Daniela Soto-Innes, and Santiago Perez of ATM Group, opted to permanently close after a five-month run.

The restaurant originally opened in late June after a three-month delay. The hospitality company that already has Mexican fine dining spot Cosme and its more casual all-day offshoot Atla in New York City along with Pujol in Mexico City originally hoped to debut on March 19, but those plans were put on hold when Gov. Steve Sisolak closed all nonessential businesses, including casinos and restaurants, on March 17.

“Wynn Las Vegas has decided to permanently close Elio due to the pandemic and associated decline in visitor volume,” a spokesperson tells Eater Vegas. “We will announce a new dining offering at the appropriate time, after business in Las Vegas begins to improve.”

In November, Elio closed temporarily for a renovation, according to paperwork filed with Clark County.

Then in December, Soto-Innes announced she was leaving her partnership in Cosme and Atla. In a post on Instagram, she wrote that “after careful thought and consideration, I am moving on from my role as Chef/Partner at Cosme and Atla.” At the time, she did not disclose details on why she was leaving the restaurants, but noted that she would continue working with partners Olvera and Perez on Elio.

The restaurant that took over the former Andrea’s space next to Encore Beach Club offered a menu of regional Mexican dishes made with seasonal ingredients.

Visitor traffic in Las Vegas remains low, causing Encore Las Vegas to close its hotel and restaurants on weekdays at the end of October. Business and convention tourism fell from 6.6 million conventioneers in 2019 to 1.7 million in 2020, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, while the state reported gaming revenues through November 2020 down 34.5 percent from 2019. Tourism overall is down 54.5 percent in 2020.

So far, Wynn has not announced a replacement for Elio.

The restaurant closed just as the state reduced restaurant capacity from 50 percent to 25 percent, mandated reservations, and limited tables to four people maximum. That directive — now extended twice — remains in effect through February 14.

• Elio Debuts High-End Mexican Cuisine at Encore in 2020 [ELV]

• All Coverage of Elio [ELV]