THE RESTAURANT OF BOULDER DAM HOTEL
I enjoy dining in charming restaurants that are unique or historical serving decent food. Recently before Lake Mead adventures, I have stepped back in time to delight in having breakfast in the Restaurant.
The Restaurant is the eatery of the historic Boulder Dam Hotel. It is a historic landmark listed on the Register of Historic Places dating back to 1933. To give you an idea of its historic significance, they built it eight years prior to the Elite Rancho, which was the first luxury hotel built on the Strip. Famous guests that visited it include Bette Davis, Shirley Temple, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and Will Rogers. In recent times, when I had breakfast here, I was most likely seeing the exact dining room that the above celebrities saw. As soon as I entered the Boulder Dam Hotel from historic Arizona Street, and made a left by registration into the Restaurant, history overloaded the scences. I wasn't in Vegas anymore.
This restaurant preserved in time is a sun room in the corner of the Boulder Dam Hotel. And this sunroom is two separate rooms that get a lot of sun that form an L around the kitchen. Both times that I had breakfast here, the custom was to seat yourself.
The Restaurant focuses on breakfast and lunch. Recently they have reopened a few hours for dinner on certain days of the week. The first time I dined here, I had the BLT. It was inferior to The Coffee Cup and Mel's Diner. They were very stingy with the beacon to the point that I felt like I was eating an LT. I ordered it on sourdough bread but they served it on toast. The steak fries that came with it were quality. If it wasn't for the historic environment, I most likely would of passed over the follow-up visit for the Coffee Cup. But what a Big Dam Breakfast. This is what I had on the second visit. It was breakfast overload served on two plates. It included two large buttermilk pancakes, two scrambled eggs (you could choose the type), slices of beacon (you could get sausages), house potatoes with rosemary (you could get hash browns), and fruit. Now this was quality and quantity. They served water with the meal. And the coffee was allright. The average breakfast bill is between $10 to $15.
Just like in historical times, progress was on the slow side. Service was on the slow, yet friendly side. Plus the Waitress was on top of the coffee refills. Considering the Boulder Dam Hotel is a preserved building, it isn't a surprise that a walk to the restroom is outside the restaurant and across the small and quaint lobby.
History does not have to end when you pay the bill. Upstairs from the Restaurant is the Boulder City and Hoover Dam Museum. It is $2 well-spent on a quick history of Hoover Dam and Boulder City.
I recommend experiencing the Restaurant for its historical, unique environment and Big Dam Breakfast. It is a nice stop-off on the way to Hoover Dam, Lake Mead National Park, or Arizona. You live once!