Shoutout to that restaurant. Have to get a Michelob while you’re there.
Also, @Randy, I was of a similar mindset to you. There really is no place better to watch people, enjoy fantastic food, and just have a great time. The Duffer nails it.
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I have come up with the perfect formula for doing Vegas in your post college years.
https://refuge-v2.nolayingup.com/t/2020-cj-cup-plaque/12740/38?u=billybaroo
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From experience, when the guy says “its cool, just roll blunts with it”… you know its shitty weed. Or possibly just tobacco.
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You’re not wrong.
Really loved hearing you talk about Vegas @anon47037505.
I’ve only played golf there a few times, am a big fan of both Angel Park Mountain and Paiute (Snow Mountain twice and the Wolf once). Just watch out for Rattlesnakes in the rough at Paiute. The views there are amazing.
Maybe it was really @BillyWalters (not @anon47037505) who was our real Vegas Insider all along…
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A few other topics.
Can confirm the Centurion Lounge is great. You can get to it even from the Southwest terminal, you just have to take a very sharp left after you clear security to board the appropriate train. You can only get in within 2 hours of your flight and they have cracked down on companions, but food and beverages are great (and free).
The Uber / Lyft scene at the airport is a disgrace. Across a bridge, up some stairs, total sweepstakes finding your driver. Gotta think the scummy cab companies are behind this madness.
The nice hotels let you go to the spa for like $30 for the whole day even if you aren’t getting a service. This is one of the only deals left in Vegas, especially at Wynn / Encore.
For cheap food, Earl of Sandwich (in Planet Hollywood I think) is the best option. Huge portions and delicious. Hash House has a good rep but I’ve never been. There is also a food court with low prices in the mall opposite Wynn.
For higher end food, Kabuto (off strip) is world-class sushi. You just sit back and let them bring you incredible food until you throw in the towel. Picasso is a world class restaurant. Carbone and Sinatra are great mid-tier Italian.
Bellagio has fallen off big time, probably because MGM is broke and not reinvesting. Cosmopolitan, Aria and Wynn / Encore are the best, just depends on your taste.
Nicest poker room is Encore but these are by far the toughest games. Bellagio is softer but horribly run and the tables are way too close together. Sneaky great time to play is at Planet Hollywood between like midnight and 6am, constant parade of drunks.
Sneaky great time to go is for the NFL divisional round, which often lines up with MLK holiday for a free recovery day.
Don’t sleep on solo trips. They can be great.
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This. Made no gotdang sense
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Las Vegas is fun but have you been to St. George, Utah…
I see you haven’t flown into LAX recently. LAS is a breeze comparatively.
Exit on the arrivals level (downstairs)
For curbside pickup in the terminal area, select Uber Black, Black SUV, or Lux.
For UberX, XL, Comfort, Select, or Pool, walk or shuttle to LAX-it.
LAX-it
Walk or take an LAX-it shuttle on the arrivals (lower) level curbside. They are expected to come every 5 minutes, and travel time to LAX-it is typically 15 minutes or less. You can also walk from Terminals 1, 2, 7, and 8.
Once in LAX-it
Find your Uber pickup point:
- UberX: either curbs 2, 3 or 4
- Comfort, UberXL, Select and POOL: back portion of curb 2
I’m intrigued by what Circa will bring to Vegas once it opens. This place just looks wild.
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The fact that “old school hospitality” has to be placed in quotes makes me a little nervous. Perhaps that’s the point?
Im hopeful, especially as a sports betting degenerate, but I’m worried about the location. That is sooooooooo far north.
The SLS was a total flop due to location and it was much closer to center strip.
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It’s pretty good but the Chicken and Waffles suck. They bread the chicken with Corn Flakes.
The Cafe Hollywood restaurant in Planet Hollywood is pretty good for Casino food. Planet Hollywood used to have a pretty good buffet, though I always enjoyed the buffet in the Paris.
Mon Ami Gabi is a good place to eat along the Strip when it’s not a million degrees.
Ghandi Indian restaurant on Paradise was pretty good when I ate there 10 years ago.
Everyone in Vegas is trying to get your money. Once you come to terms with that, it’s easier to get by.
Great coffee there.
Only thing I could stomach, but so I am far from an authority on the good. Will vouch for the coffee though.
Edit: my regrets. Mom Ami Gabi has the bomb ass bananas Foster. Hexx is the place that I could only have coffee at.
Speaking of Mon Ami Gabi, it’s also where I chatted with a bachelor party about how they were renting a McLaren for the day so they could go out into the desert and drive it as fast as they could. Little did I know then that that exact scenario would play well with this website in present times.
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Anyone else a fan of The Golden Steer? I think that place is pretty damn cool. Also a big fan of playing cheap blackjack in the old downtown area.
My Vegas experience consists of 3 work trips (one as an intern, one with a big group for a full week, and one solo), a bachelor party that was a full 24 hours too long, and a couples NYE trip where Mariah Carey couldn’t figure out the words to auld lang syne at a night club for God knows how much in appearance fee.
I haven’t spent a ton of time there, it ain’t my cup of tea, but I’ve definitely seen its many different faces.
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Yes, the Golden Steer would’ve been discussed if @Randy hadn’t danced me off stage. It’s in the category of cool old school spots downtown(ish) along with Oscar’s and Top of Binion’s. I didn’t get to talk about Oscar and the rest of the Goodman family and their good works, either.
Other food spots I never got to praise:
Pizza:
Pizza Rock Downtown
Good Pie (over by pawn stars pawn shop) Best Square Pie in LV
Monzu (Italian restaurant that serves a unique pizza with really incredible ingredients; kind of long like a roman style, but thinner)
Evel Pizza
Don’t @ me about Secret Pizza at Cosmo. It’s fine. Fine.
Steak:
Bavette’s (top-notch second outpost of the stellar Chicago spot) in Park MGM
Echo & Rig (Summerlin)
Although a chain, the Capital Grille in the Fashion Show Mall has one of the best strip views in town and very good food.
Other:
Any of the Raku Restaurants, including the new yakitori spot
Raku Sweets is UNREAL. Like an 8-10 seat bar serving desserts only, most of which look like they came from a window in a Paris patisserie.
Basically get to Spring Valley and eat some Asian food.
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I can only imagine
I visited Vegas for the first time in 2014 with a big group of friends, one of whom is now my partner. Bear in mind this was my first experience in the USA as an adult…
Highlights:
Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam helicopter ride. Incredible with some altitude as you really get the scale.
First look at the Strip at dusk from hotel window.
Main St in Old Vegas with the zipline and people-watching by the Heart Attack Grill
The steakhouse & Julian Serrano tapas place at the Aria
Getting a cabana after an all-nighter. Best hangover I’ll ever have.
Big wheel thingy, and being able to drink everywhere. Oh and Walgreens. What a place!
Lobsticles
Lowlights:
Ferrari drive at Dream Racing, out by Nellis AFB. A bit of an anti-climax and expensive as fuck. Fast jets were cool though.
Grand Canyon from the inside – a bit of a waste. Looks like any old river gorge and is way cooler from above.
Chandelier Bar at Canyon. $400 minimum spend, compulsory 20% tip, waited an hour for the first round of drinks, served in plastic fuckin’ cups.
Little niggly things
$5 for a luggage trolley at the airport. Fuck you, McCarran.
Plastic cups and cutlery. Foam plates and cups. It’s a disgrace.
There were lots of little cultural differences which took some getting used to. It was a great three days, but goddamn I was sick of it by the end. I went straight to Vancouver afterwards, which is much more my scene/speed.
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