89101 Travel Guide
Tags: Dudes in Vegas / Sports / Sporting Events / → All Tags
MLB to Square Off Against Matt Goss This Weekend
I left my “Chick Magnet” shirt at home.
Major League Baseball returns to Las Vegas this weekend as the Chicago White Sox square off against the Chicago Cubs for the second year in a row. Fans will pack into Cashman Field for two sure sellout games of spring training baseball.
Here’s what we expect to see:
1. Mayor Goodman sipping an oversized martini escorted by Vegas showgirls
2. Friendly baseball banter amongst knowledgeable Chicago fans until the 8th inning when a North Side/South side brawl breaks out in the left field stands
3. A chance to dust of the phrases tilt, can ‘o corn, ducks on the pond, and sit your *ss down so my kid can see the game excuse me sir but would you mind sitting
Tags: Happy Hours / Mickie Finz / → All Tags
Mermaids and Happy Hour at Mickkie Finz Fish House & Bar
Ever since Sharkeez in Santa Barbara decided to empty its behind-the-bar mermaid tanks for dubious health code reasons (don’t even go there), we’ve been kinda jonesing for a new mermaid bar fix. Maybe we’re letting our true colors of being a product of the 80’s show, after all we did think Daryl Hannah was something special back in 1984.
The good news is that we found mermaids – in the desert, no less – at Mickie Finz Fish House & Bar. The even better news is that Mickkie Finz has a great daily happy hour and some unbeatable dining deals.
Tags: Happy Hours / Main Street Casino Brewery Hotel / Beer / Cheap Vegas / → All Tags
You Can't Beat the $2 Beers at Triple 7's Happy Hour
We snicker at the Triple 7 Brewpubs’ gambling-inspired names for its microbrews – royal this, chip that, high roller this, jackpot that – but can’t scoff at its dirt cheap happy hour prices for its made-with-love microbrews and tasty pub grub. Here’s how far you can stretch your post-work buzz bucks at Main Street Casino Brewery Hotel's most redeeming venue:
Tags: McCarran / Only In Vegas / Snapshot / → All Tags
Only In Vegas Does the Airport Have a Mirrored Ceiling
Nice Vegas fashion in the foreground, btw
We arrived in Vegas yesterday to start our residency here at VegasChatter. We’d never flown into town before, so this was our first peek at McCarran (so forgive us if we’re preaching to the converted). But wow, we liked what we saw (apart from some dodgy carpeting choices around the gates).
We already knew the airport had slot machines, but we were expecting them in the departure lounges and before security. But in the car rental building? And the baggage hall? How very sensible. Heathrow – or LAX, where we flew from – could definitely learn a thing or two.
But our favourite thing of all was the mirrored ceiling in the baggage hall. Totally unnecessary, totally amazing, and totally putting us in the mood for Vegas naughtiness. McCarran, we salute you.
Tags: New Year's Eve 2009 Guide / Fremont Street / Cheap Vegas / Tribute Shows / Oscar Goodman / → All Tags
Go Downtown Tomorrow to Count Down With the Mayor
You know you’ve been spending too much time perusing the Strip’s offerings when $150 starts sounding like good value for New Year’s. Luckily, we just found ourselves looking at the Fremont Street website and we remembered that there are events that don’t require us to lay down all our earnings from the last month.
At Fremont Street, New Year’s tickets cost $20 out of state and $10 with Nevada ID. Which, compared to the celeb stuff, is nothing pig, as our granddad was fond of saying.
For your money, you’ll get 8 bands. And although they’re not quite of Black Eyed Peas caliber, they’ll be playing a good kind of music – they’re apparently “the world’s best tribue bands” and cover everything from Led Zep, Guns N’ Roses and Aerosmith to No Doubt, Depeche Mode, INXS and U2 (don’t let that put you off, it’s not actually Bono).
And the celeb host? None other than Oscar Goodman, who’ll be leading the countdown to midnight. Which means there may very possibly be showgirls. And poker chip business cards. That's us sold then.
Stalk the mayor and book your tickets by calling 702 687 5600 or 877 VEGAS 4 U.
[Photo: Vegasbuzz]
Tags: Closings / Binions / Downtown / Hotel Woes / → All Tags
Binion's Closing Its Hotel Rooms on December 14th
When one hotel door opens, another one closes. Or when 1,000+ hotel rooms open, a downtrodden, depressing old hotel will be forced to close.
With so many rooms coming online in the month of December, it's no surprise that Binion's Gambling Hall and Hotel in Downtown is closing its hotel tower on December 14th. The LVRJ writes:
Binion's Gambling Hall & Hotel in downtown Las Vegas will close its 365-room hotel tower beginning Dec. 14 and lay off about 100 workers, a property spokeswoman confirmed this morning. Spokeswoman Lisa Robinson said the tower is being shut down because of the continued downturn in the economy. Additionally, the property will close the Binion's Original Coffee Shop and discontinue keno, she said.
Binion's will keep open its casino, sportsbook, poker room, casino cafes and the Binion's Ranch Steakhouse on the 24th floor.
If you can brave the depressing room, rates at the Binions for the very last weekend, December 11-13, start at $49. During the week, rates are a low, low, low $23.
Tags: Golden Nugget / Openings / Expedia / Rush Tower / → All Tags
A Different Kind of Rush: $79 Rooms at The Golden Nugget's New Rush Tower
What better way to kick off the weekend in Vegas by spending it in a brand-new hotel room? For once, we're not talking CityCenter. No, instead The Golden Nugget will be opening its new Rush Tower tomorrow.
The luxe new tower will have its own porte cochere and entrance at First and Carson Streets where guests will be whisked inside to check-in amongst some pretty swank lighting and posh furniture, including a floating reservation desk with a 75,000-gallon tropical aquarium fish tank in the background. Finally, parts of downtown are starting to look like The Strip.
Here's what else guests can expect:
After check-in, guests will be escorted to one of the tower's more than 500 well-appointed guestrooms. The guestrooms are 20 percent larger than the Golden Nugget's current North and South standard rooms and offer exceptional room selections for any occasion.
The tower also includes four Penthouse Suites and 70 Junior Corner Suites, which provide incredible views of the Las Vegas Strip or of the famous Golden Nugget pool. Guestrooms are furnished with contemporary and sleek decor and complemented by stylish and fiery hues. Standard features include upgraded pillow-top mattresses, feather down comforters and 42-inch plasma televisions.
Tags: Vegas Music Scene / DJs / DJ Two Fish / Beauty Bar / → All Tags
Beauty Bar's DJ Two Fish Will Get The (Downtown) Party Started
All this week, VegasChatter will be profiling the local Vegas Music Scene for hot upcoming bands, DJs and solo acts. Will any of these homegrown musicians become the next Killers? Possibly. And wouldn't you want to say you knew about them way back when? Of course you do. So start reading now.
No one should ever accuse Las Vegas of lacking a good club scene, and no doubt all the major properties on the Strip will have their marketers push their clubs to no end. But for those who might be dissuaded by high drink prices and too much attitude from the fashionistas that populate the Strip, there has to be a place for them.
Now it can be a daunting task to find your way through this town’s techno jungle, but our guide, Beauty Bar’s DJ Two Fish (Justin Johnson on his driver’s license), 28, gives us his tips on what’s jumping in town.
Tags: Mexican Food / El Sombrero Cafe / Downtown / → All Tags
Please Don't Ever Change, El Sombrero Cafe
What exactly is the appeal of the El Sombrero Cafe? It's a question that comes up when people drive past this little, unassuming Mexican restaurant and discover that it is Sin City’s oldest - we repeat - oldest eatery.
Located in downtown art’s district, the El Sombrero Cafe started serving some chips and salsa to residents in the valley way back in 1950 in the same spot where it stands, off Main Street north of Charleston.
And we at Vegaschatter will recommend it over any overpriced, hyped-up Mexican restaurant in town.
Tags: Music / The Bunkhouse / Concerts / Locals Vegas / Indie Scene / → All Tags
The Bunkhouse :: Our Favorite Place For a Dependable Ruckus
The Bunkhouse, a cornerstone of Las Vegas’ bar scene since 1953, has the kind of throwback quality that you couldn't invent if you tried. We're talking about the kind of amusing obstinacy where the bar simply doesn't bother to update their interior despite what the rest of the world has done over the years - with pictures of old stills from Western movies, tarnished horns on the wall, simple, laminated menus and bartenders who greet you with the catchphrase “what’ll it be?” before you even reach the bar stool.
Tags: Vegas Music Scene / The Bunkhouse / Wyatt Mackenzie / → All Tags
Our Indie Scene - Wyatt McKenzie Enjoys Honing His Craft
The recent success of such Vegas based bands as The Killers and Panic at the Disco created a buzz among local music fans and journalists. The game, of course: who we could build up? We need to tell people what is the - and forgive the hack term - next big or essential thing, just to say we knew them when.
Tags: Deals / El Cortez / The Flame Steakhouse / → All Tags
Armed Forces Members Treated Right by El Cortez
We’re still fascinated by last night’s ”60 Minutes” story about the hotbed of drone aircraft activity going on in Afghanistan being controlled by Vegas’ nearby Creech Air Force Base. The legendary Area 51 and its repository of top-secret, possibly alien-related military projects may have moved elsewhere, but we think the whole remote-controlled war machine thing is relatively sci-fi (and thereby: awesome) too.
In honor of the 60 Minutes piece, it's only appropriate to be reminded of the special currently on offer at the patriotic El Cortez, downtown’s recently renovated, nouveau-hipster hangout near the Fremont East Entertainment District. It’s offering all active duty military members who present ID $15 vouchers to The Flame Steakhouse for the rest of the month.
In keeping with its reputation as one of Vegas more economical places to hang, The Flame offers several appetizers (fried calamari, shrimp cocktail, oysters on the half shell, etc.) in the $10 price range, and its entrees range from $17.95 for “fried walleyed pike” to $46.95 for surf and turf (lobster tail and filet mignon). There are plenty of offerings – steaks, chicken, seafood – in the $20-$30 price range, too, along with soups and salads ($4.25 to $6.95). It pays to serve your country in this town.
