Luke Combs Is Taking Over Margaritaville: Category 10 Brings 7 Bars, Smoked Ribs and a Honky-Tonk to the Strip

The Flamingo's most famous corner is about to smell like barbecue. Country superstar Luke Combs is taking over the former Margaritaville space on the Las Vegas Strip with Category 10, a massive honky-tonk with seven bars, live music and a menu built on Carolina comfort food.

The venue is three stories, per the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority's October briefing, with live country music and a menu built on Carolina comfort food: Carolina smoked ribs, a Smoky Mountain fried chicken sandwich and Carolina barbecue chicken flatbreads. There's also a "Beautiful Crazy Women's Lounge," named for one of Combs' biggest hits. "I care a lot about this, it has my name on it and so I feel responsible for what happens when you walk in those doors," Combs said earlier this year after touring the project.

The timing is no accident. The National Finals Rodeo rides into Las Vegas in December, and country fans are already circling the date — "I'll be there for NFR and plan to hit that dance floor every night," one fan commented on the announcement. Category 10 lands right in the middle of a full-blown country boom on the Strip, where Blake Shelton's Ole Red is already established. The twist: both venues are reportedly backed by the same operator, Opry Entertainment Group — so the rivalry for cowboy-hat dollars is, at least behind the scenes, a family affair.

Combs isn't starting from scratch. Category 10 already has a location in Nashville, and a third location in Orlando is expected to open in late 2027. The Vegas version is the statement piece: a honky-tonk built to anchor the Strip end of country music's national moment.

And it's arriving in the middle of one of the busiest fall dining seasons Vegas has seen. Joël Robuchon at MGM Grand — newly awarded two stars in the 2026 Michelin Guide Southwest, according to the LVCVA — hosts a white-truffle tasting experience October 16–17, with executive chef Eleazar Villanueva joined by chefs Bouchenoire and Danzaki for a menu built around white truffles with paired beverages. Morimoto Las Vegas at MGM Grand is marking its 10th anniversary all month long. On October 25, the fifth annual Picnic in the Alley takes over the Las Vegas Arts District for a 21-and-over evening celebrating the women shaping the city's culinary and hospitality scene. Downtown, the El Cortez is planning mid-October openings for the reworked Siegel's 1941 and the new Alex Prime Steakhouse, while JP's Brasserie & Sports Den opens October 24 at 5781 W. Sahara, blending a European-brasserie approach with a neighborhood sports-lounge format.

Even the airport corridor is getting in on it. Significant Other Kitchen & Cocktails is set for an October debut across from Harry Reid International Airport at 1725 E. Sunset Road — an all-day neighborhood restaurant from Mike and Kristi Austin, restaurateur Matthew Silverman and chef Matthew Piekarski. Mornings mean coffee drinks, pastries and breakfast dishes; lunch brings salads, house pastas, nori rolls, sourdough pizzas and a signature burger with fries cooked in beef tallow; dinner steps up to creative vegetable dishes, seafood, wet-aged steaks and prime rib roasts, with wines and craft cocktails. The design includes a pet-friendly terrace overlooking the runways, a private dining room and an intimate wine room — the kind of room you book when the layover turns into a date night.

Over at Circus Circus, the food court saga is finally turning a page. After the old operator's bankruptcy left the property "in between food courts," Ravelo Brands — the group behind Chico's Tacos — plans to bring eight new concepts to the venue's four counters starting in mid-October, with two concepts per counter.

Looking further out, the pipeline stays hot: Gabriela Cámara of Mexico City's iconic Contramar opens her first U.S. restaurant, Cantina Contramar, at Fontainebleau; James Beard winner Kwame Onwuachi brings Maroon, a Caribbean steakhouse blending jerk traditions and Afro-Caribbean flavors, to the Sahara; Wynn Las Vegas adds Sartiano's Italian Steakhouse with Alfred Portale as culinary director; beloved local Thai favorite Lotus of Siam moves back to its original Commercial Center home in an expanded, roughly 19,000-square-foot space; and Mothership Coffee Roasters opens its first Strip location at BLVD Las Vegas on January 1, 2027.

Between a seven-bar honky-tonk, white truffles and an airport-view terrace, October might be the best month of the year to eat in Las Vegas. Combs would probably tell you to save room for the ribs.