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| - We had a great time checking out Rick's Restorations. It is literally underneath a freeway overpass, not too far from both the Strip and downtown areas. Our Lyft driver pulled into the open gate into a gravel/dirt parking lot area. We could see the boneyard to the left and a bigger building ahead of us with a cute storefront - each little shop had a name of one of the main cast/employees. There was a parking lot bodyguard nearby, he was friendly and told us to head inside for a tour. I did not think the website was very informative so I didn't know if tours were available or not. Once inside, there are a few restored items to look at and a gift shop area.
I noticed a door which looked as if it led into a back area. A sign on the door said shop tours were $5 a person or you could buy a t-shirt and the tour was included in the price. After 3:30 pm, tours are free, because work has typically stopped in the shop around that time and you may not see anyone from the show. For $50 you can tour the boneyard, and if you decide to have an item restored, the $50 goes toward the item. About this time I turned around and saw Rick walk right past me and through the door. I lost my cool and yelled at my boyfriend to look, but apparently he had already seen him! We opted for the free tour since it was 3:30pm and waited a few minutes until it was time. No photographs once in the shop area, unfortunately.
In the back, the shop is sort of in a square upside-down U shape, and you remain in the middle. You can see into each of the work areas through plexiglass windows for viewing. They were wrapping up for the day, but we managed to see Rick, Rick's brother Ron, Kowboy and one of the younger guys on the show. There were photos of different moments you might remember from the show as well as restored pieces to look at. Our tour guide was really informative and answered all our questions. We learned it takes about 6 months to one year to have an item restored here. When we started the tour, it was just us two, but one other person joined after a couple minutes. Overall it lasted about 10-12 minutes but was cool to see inside the shop.
I'm not sure what others were expecting to see here, it is a place of business and I thought it was cool to have a glimpse of what they do each day. Out of all the reality shows filmed here, I thought this seemed the most authentic, because apparently Rick is the first to arrive and last to leave his shop. I wouldn't have minded paying $5 to take a quick tour, I didn't think that was a big deal. As an aside, they are not currently filming because they have split from the History channel and are apparently looking for another network to continue the show.
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