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| - Tonight we had the opportunity to dine in a recent newly opened 24 hour restaurant at the El Cortez that was named after one time owner Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel. The restaurant achieved the blessing and cooperation of Siegel's daughter who was a teenager at the time of his assassination in 1947. She donated some family photos and even 8mm video of her father and family.
In premise, backstory, and even aesthetic execution, I would give this place 5/5. Unfortunately, the ultimate execution falls short on a few levels.
Yelp has this restaurant categorized as a "Steakhouse" but the truth is it it just one step above a 24 hour coffee shop. The restaurant is located in the former space that was occupied by the El Cortez Steakhouse which was a fine dining old Vegas style restaurant. Siegel's isn't really a steakhouse at all. It offers breakfast, lunch, dinner, and late night with a menu that includes low priced sandwiches, appetizers, and basic steaks and soups. We ordered the calamari which was ok to mediocre. The Poutin was a travesty. Had it not been labeled as Poutin and instead just advertised as cheese fries, we would have probably been more impressed.
The overall restaurant is quite nice. My recommendation would be to nix the 24 hour and go for a more traditional darker Siegel Steakhouse fine dining restaurant. The concept is done nicely with napkins, China, and mosaics all adorned with their Siegel's 1941 logo done in Bugsy's handwriting. I do recommend giving it a try but I also recommend that they revamp their overall structure.
Service was satisfactory. Not great but not bad either. Just mediocre to okay. I think this restaurant, now a month old, will reinvent itself eventually and when it does, I look forward to returning.
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