Eat Like a Gangster

Las Vegas is ever mindful of its history. In the works right now is a ten-million-dollar renovation of the the storied Flamingo Hotel’s recently-closed steakhouse. Set to open in the spring of 2020, the swanky new eatery will be named “Bugsy & Meyer’s Steakhouse,” an homage to the Flamingo’s developers and founding fathers of modern-day Las Vegas, Bugsy Siegel and Meyer Lansky.

Promoters say Bugsy & Meyer’s will be an ode to old-school Vegas, serving dry-aged prime beef and classic cocktails. “We want our guests to feel like they’ve traveled back in time,” a spokesperson says. (In a nod to the twenty-first century, there will also be a vegan menu.) Inside the establishment will be a super-exclusive “Count Room,” door accessible to the privileged few through an unmarked. It will feature its own secret menu. (Hey, “secret menu” works for In-N-Out Burger.)

[Personal favorite: check out the Downtown Cocktail Room on the edge of the original Las Vegas Strip.]

Continue reading “Eat Like a Gangster”

Hare and Loathing in Las Vegas

Last month you read here about the shrinking availability of free parking at casino garages in Las Vegas and the simmering anger of the city’s residents. Now a new menace is imperiling Sin City: bunnies. Not the jackrabbits living in the surrounding desert, but cute little bunny rabbits.

When pet owners become bored with their pet rabbits or tired of feeding them and disposing of the rabbit droppings, they often drop them off in a remote neighborhood. Instead of disappearing, the rabbits do what rabbits do. Besides making rabbit pellets, they also make more rabbits. A lot of them. More than the city is able to control. Bunnies are taking over Las Vegas. The cute – now feral – bunny rabbits dig up property and chew on pipes. Dead bunnies are often found in the sewers.

Volunteer groups have tried capturing rabbits, spaying, then releasing them, but can’t keep up with bunny multiplication. Vigilantes have spread avocados – harmful to baby bunnies – in rabbit habitats.

Las Vegas has survived gangsters and corporate-run gambling. It would be sad if bunnies caused its demise.

More Outrage in the New Year

Since the days of Bugsy Siegel, Las Vegas has attracted revelers looking for the freedom to gamble, pay for sex (if you’re not famous) and, of late, dine in ostentatious “gourmet” establishments promoting their celebrity chefs. Now another freedom is threatened. Free parking is going the way of the free buffet.

Even the mob didn’t dream of charging people for parking on the Strip.”

— Steve Sebelius, Las Vegas Review-Journal

Read and be outraged.