Vince’s Guide to Vegas

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When I’m not penning the Pittsburgh sports saga or plowing through Procurement possibilities, I like to spend my time indulging in the food, shows, music, casinos, and overall atmosphere of Las Vegas, which is basically like my second home at this point. From secret eats to amazing deals, my knowledge of Vegas is as deep as a Lake Mead (well maybe not so much now). Below, please find my guide to Vegas. If you have your own tip or trick to add, please let me know.

VINCE’S GUIDE TO VEGAS

Places you SHOULD eat:

 

  • Sweet Eats
    • If you want some of the best ice cream you’ll ever have, go to Lappert’s in the California Hotel/Casino downtown. Ask if they have the “Cookie Monster” flavor (it’s bright blue). Even if they don’t have that, any flavor will be delicious.
    • Le Macaron French Pastries is a great little Macaron place in the Grand Canal Shoppes in the Venetian:
    • Honolulu Cookie Company is located in the LINQ Promenade and has delicious shortbread cookies.
    • There are a few places in the Venetian that serve Gelato. I’ve tried them both and they’re all delicious.
    • There is a place on the second floor of New York, New York that makes custom Smores. It is a little pricey, but worth trying at least once.

 

  • Budget Friendly Dining Options
    • “Secret pizza” in the Cosmopolitan. There is no signage for the place, but if you take the escalator up to the third floor and then walk straight ahead towards a hallway that looks like where bathrooms would be, there you will find it. It’s not a restaurant. You literally order your slice and then go over to the counter or the one table they have and eat your slice.
    • Battista’s Hole in the Wall: There is a very old school (think Rat Pack era) Italian place called Battista’s Hole in the Wall that is located on the street behind the Flamingo. The menu is on the wall, you get a choice or either red or white table wine, and your dessert cappuccino is included with your meal. The food is delicious and very reasonably priced. http://battistaslasvegas.com/
    • Border Grill: Located in Mandalay Bay, this place is probably slightly above “budget friendly” as far as price goes, but you get large portions. They have good food all day long, but they are famous for the Saturday and Sunday “unlimited” small plates brunch.
    • The Stage Door: a complete dive bar in the same complex as Battista’s Hole in the Wall. If you are looking for $1 PBR, Budweiser, and Bud Light all day and $2 for pretty much any other beer, then this is your place. They also have $1 hotdogs all day, but I would not suggest eating those since they sit on a roller for hours and hours. This is the definition of a dive bar, complete with smoking allowed and 70’s décor.
    • In n’ Out Burger: Located near the LINQ by the High Roller Ferris Wheel. It’s fast food, but their burgers are just so good. Thousand Island dressing is the secret ingredient on the burger. If you want the burger and/or your fries served with fried onions, pickle, and extra Thousand Island dressing, order it “animal style.” “Protein style” is the burger without the bun wrapped in lettuce. There is a whole secret menu you can find in the link below. Also, I would highly suggest the Neapolitan milkshake.
    • Ellis Island: Ok, this one may sound too good to be true, but there is a place in the center of the strip, but back about one block behind the Horseshoe called Ellis Island. Go to the restaurant and get the $9 steak dinner.  It is honestly really good. You get a salad, steak, potato, vegetables, and a tall beer for $9 (at least this was the price last year).  You have to sign up for their players club card to get the $9 steak dinner, but signing up is free. I eat this every time I go to Vegas. https://www.ellisislandcasino.com/eat
    • The Peppermill: This place looks like something right out of the movie Pulp Fiction. This is a very old school diner type of place. While the prices are a little high, the menu is huge, the drinks are strong, and the portions are very large. The Peppermill is located down at the far end of the Strip across Las Vegas Blvd. from Resorts World. https://www.peppermilllasvegas.com/
    • There is a restaurant in New York, New York called “America.” They are open 24/7 and serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but the breakfast is the real reason to go here. The breakfast menu is very large, reasonably priced, and always delicious. There is also a great donut place connected to America called “Greenwich Village Coffee” https://newyorknewyork.mgmresorts.com/en/restaurants/america.html
    • Downtown Grand: Right off Fremont Street, this casino has a $3 PBR and hotdog special, as well as a $5 shot and hot dog special.
    • Casino Royale: Located right next to Harrah’s, this is an old school Las Vegas casino and has some cheap eats options like a Pizza Hut, Subway, and a place that serves a $3.49 foot-long hotdog.
    • Finally, there are a lot of cheap eats places inside Planet Hollywood Hotel/Casino. I’m talking like a $6 breakfast, $7 lunch, etc.
      • Places like Flights, Earl of Sandwich, & Ketchup Premium Burger.

 

  • Things you SHOULD do:
    • If you are staying on the Strip, buy a one-day or multi-day Monorail The Monorail starts at MGM Grand and runs all the way down to the Sahara. A one-day Monorail pass cost about as much as one, one-way Uber/Lyft ride down the Strip. If you’re planning on doing things all over the Strip during your stay, then the Monorail pass will save you a ton of money over the course of your stay. There is also a free monorail that runs between Mandalay Bay, Excalibur, Luxor, and T-Mobile Arena.
    • Go to the top of the “Strat” at night.  It’s the tallest observation tower in the U.S. There are rides at the top of the Stratosphere that you should ride (if you are not afraid of heights).  It’s kind of expensive to ride them, but it’s a once in a lifetime type of thing that you can say you did. Don’t hang out in the area around the Stratosphere after you’re done because it is sketchy at night.
    • Ride the High Roller Ferris Wheel. It’s the tallest “Ferris Wheel” in the world, bigger than the London Looking Eye. It takes 32 minutes to go completely around and the views are amazing. Again, it’s a little pricey, but it’s something every visitor to Vegas should do once. Do this at night as well, views are better. Actually, I’d suggest taking some time and walking through the entire “LINQ Promenade” area around the High Roller because there are some really cool shops/bars/places to eat in that area.
    • Other place to go with a great view and good cocktails:
    • Definitely go to downtown Vegas (also known as old Vegas or Fremont Street) Everything down there is super cheap. Blackjack is like $5-$10/hand, there are places that have $1 beers and mixed drinks. There are people dressed up like Elvis, Michael Jackson, etc. Some of the performers barely have clothes on, so just be aware if you have kids with you. You can pose for pictures with these impersonators but be sure you give them a few dollars if you do, or they get super mad. At night there is a really cool light show on the Fremont Street canopy and there’s usually a good band playing too. You can also zipline down Fremont Street.
    • Go to Main Street Station Casino right off of Fremont Street and check out their artifacts collection. You go to the front desk and ask for the Artifacts pamphlet and start your self-guided tour. The casino itself if built to model a casino in the Victorian era. The Artifacts are really cool. There are stained glass windows from a mansion in Pittsburgh, a piece of the Berlin Wall, and even Winston Churchill’s pool table. It’ll only take you about 30-45 minutes to do the self-guided tour, but it is totally worth it.
    • Also on Fremont Street is Circa. This is the newest casino on Fremont Street. This place is home to the world’s largest sportsbook and one of the world’s longest bars. They also have a pool called Stadium Swim that features seven different bars and the largest screen you’ve ever seen showing any sporting event you could want. You can enter this for free if you’re staying at Circa, the Golden Gate, or the D, otherwise you’ll have to pay to go to Stadium Swim.
    • Also near Fremont Street are the Neon Museum and the Mob Museum. The Mob Museum also has a speakeasy/distillery in the basement that you can do a tour of. The Mob Museum can be a half-a-day experience, as it is VERY comprehensive and detailed and the building itself is cool, as it is the old Las Vegas Postal Building. If you just want to go into the speakeasy, you’ll need to password by going to the Mob Museum website. You then take that password and find the whiskey barrel, walk down the steps, knock on the door and provide the password. Here is the link: Mob Museum
    • The Neon Museum is one of the coolest things to do in Vegas, in my opinion. It is a neon sign graveyard of old neon signs from all the old casinos. Many of them have been restored to working condition. The guide that walks you around will educate you on the history of the signs, why they are the colors they are, how the signs work, etc. I’d also suggest doing the additional “Brilliant” light show that brings the old broken signs back to life via a light show. I highly recommend checking this out. https://www.neonmuseum.org/
    • Sign up for the players reward cards at any casino where you are going to gamble.  Don’t worry, all you have to show them is your driver’s license, no SS# or anything. The nice thing about these rewards cards is that some of them come loaded with like $10 in free slot play or give you like a buy one-get one free beer or something. Then you’ll also get awesome offers in your email/mail for future free hotel stays, etc. (It’s good spam mail).
    • Down near the Strat (across Las Vegas Blvd) is a great hidden casino called the Sahara. This is the old, famous Sahara from the Sinatra era of Vegas. It has gone through a lot of changes throughout the years and doesn’t look anything like it did back in the 1950s and 60s, but it is very nice inside and hardly ever crowded. I would avoid this area at night, but check this place out during the day.
    • On Fremont Street, the El Cortez and The D, will give you free play if you show them your boarding pass, along with a players club card (even if you just signed up for it). El Cortez will give you something like $25 in table game match play and a free beer. The D gives you $50 in table game match play (two $25 chips, so you’d obviously have to make a $25 bet to use the $25 match play chip).
    • If you want to play table games, roulette is the easiest one to understand and has pretty good odds, just avoid the wheels with a “000” slot on them. Craps actually has the best odds, but it can be a little hard to understand it. Almost every casino has a “learn to play” class in the morning, which could be very beneficial. New York, New York has a great learn to play blackjack and learn to play craps class every morning; I think it’s at 9 or 10am.
    • Personally, I like to bet on sports, this way I lose my money over the course of three hours, rather than in 10 minutes on a slot machine. 
    • The best part of gambling (table games and slot machines) is that the drinks are free (unlike the Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh). Just be sure to tip well the first time the cocktail waitress comes or they’ll be very slow to come back to you.
    • Take a gondola ride at the Italian-themed Venetian. The Venetian is really, really nice. 
    • Walk through Caesar’s Palace and Aria.  These places are pretty amazing.
    • See the water show/fountains outside of the Bellagio and the seasonal floral display inside the Bellagio.
    • I know this is a trip to Vegas, but if you’ve never seen the Hoover Dam or the Grand Canyon, or even the Valley of Fire, take a drive to see them. They’re amazing. Just don’t do the bus tour to Hoover Dam or Grand Canyon; it’s like a 12-hour trip down and back on the bus, but driving in a car would be about half that time.

 

  • Things you SHOULD NOT do:
    • As iconic as it is, don’t waste time going to the “Welcome to Las Vegas” sign. It is pretty far off up the Strip and there’s always a long line. There are other similar “Welcome to Las Vegas” signs all around town that you can take a picture in front of.
    • Do not let people on the street talk you into “deals” for shows. 90% of these people are just trying to lure you in and then they start adding in the extra fees. You almost certainly get a better deal by just walking up to the ticket window of whatever show you want to see. 
    • Do not pay to ride the roller coaster at New York, New York. It looks fun, but it’s not worth the $15 or however much they are charging these days.
    • Don’t buy souvenirs at the airport, they jack up the price like double. There are plenty of cheap souvenir shops on the strip; especially the “World’s Largest Souvenir Shop” down by the
    • Speaking of the Strat don’t go to that area of the Strip at night. It gets a little sketchy down there at night.
    • If you’re staying on the Strip do NOT rent a car. You can walk to so many places that you should not need a car, not to mention the fact that just about all of the hotels are now charging to park, which they never used to do. As mentioned earlier, just a pass for the Monorail that runs the length of the Strip.
    • Always take Lyft or Uber instead of a cab; they are much cheaper. If you have to take a cab, limit your cab rides unless you have a group of people with you. If you get into a cab with just yourself (which I don’t know why you would) the cab drivers will rip you off.  You should be able to walk to a lot of places as long as it isn’t the middle of summer in the heat.
    • Don’t buy coupon books. You will sometimes get some coupons when you check into your hotel and those should be good enough. 

Just a word of advice, they say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. I think what they actually mean by that is just your money stays in Vegas, everything else that happens does indeed come back home with you. Keep that in mind. 

 

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