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| - For years, I lived around the corner of this place and never stopped in. Not sure why. But just never actually went in to do it. I'm glad I got to experience this place at least once before I moved from Las Vegas.
If you're looking for a flashback kind of place that serves cheap drinks. This is the place. No dancing. No crap entertainment. You come to this place for three reasons: Smoke, drink, and be social. The red velveteen walls and crimson leatherette seats are seriously straight from the mid-70s. It's the type of place you walk into and if you can get past the smell of decades worth of cigarette smoke, mildew, and dust; you'll realize that this place has tons of charm.
The bartender was a snappy gal with a sharp tongue. Don't let this confuse you for poor service. She pours a mean drink. But if you let it get too your head. She'll be quick to kick your drunk ass out the door. And she takes no guff from anyone. Not knowing her, I made a comment that was rather out of place. She gave me a stare and topped my drink with a stern warning. If I can't handle my booze, I'm outta here. Luckily, I don't have that problem and was a "good boy" the rest of the night.
In the end, I can see someone back in the day like Dean Martin stumbling into this place (it is only a couple blocks from the original Sands) at 5am for a drink and buying top shelf rounds for some of the locals. And when he somehow makes it back to his suite at the hotel, some (now) old timer has a story to tell how he had a drink with Dean Martin in that little dive bar.
Four stars based on:
Sheer principle - In a city that is known for wrecking the old and bringing on the new. This is place that stands the test of time. Eventually somebody will take this place over, gut it out. And put a fast food restaurant in it's place. But until then, I suggest stumbling in and getting a piece of true Vegas nostalgia.
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