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A Tale of Two Pizzas
February 25, 2010
I have a confession to make. I've been a lousy neighbor. At least I have been in some respects. In 2009, I ate at the Wynn Buffet upwards of a dozen times, Paris a dozen more, the Bellagio probably ten times, Aria 3 times (not bad for two weeks of existence), the Stratosphere a handful of times, and I won't even attempt to count the times I've dropped $7 in the Sahara Buffet after jumping off the Monorail and walking home. Although I have lived in slightly-off-strip neighborhoods for about five years, when I look back at my expenditures, over half of my disposable income was spent in a major Strip property or in the area surrounding Fremont Street. I've never bought into the "I avoid tourist areas" mentality that many locals have adopted. Instead, I have embraced said areas. Hell, that's one of the reasons I moved here ... to avail myself of ... Read the full blog post...
Naked Lunch
February 15, 2010
"Rexville" and "dining options" are two phrases which are rarely used in the same sentence. While we do have some signature establishments such as Tiffany's, Luv-It, Pepe's, and Albo's ... for the most part, we are limited to fairly common offerings such as Carl's Jr. and Denny's. This is a shame for such an urban, inner-city neighborhood, but such is the net effect of suburban sprawl. It is my hope, and even counter-intuitive expectation, that Las Vegas may actually reverse its pattern of honky flight. As the outer fringes become cheaper and de-facto "low income" areas, perhaps the former-elite will begin questioning their 45 minute commute. It's entirely possible that the central city will see a re-imagining. If you are going to live among the riff-raff anyway, you may as well live closer to work and in a place that isn't completely infested with strip malls and lawn nazis. Dare to dream. Until such ... Read the full blog post...
The Surly Mediterranean
February 5, 2010
Anyone who has made the drive from Southern California to Las Vegas is familiar with The Mad Greek. Since there are billboards for this restaurant every dozen miles or so, it would be hard not to at least be superficially aware of its existence. Located in Baker, California, The Mad Greek is arguably the most popular diner between Vegas and LA. Baker is also, inexplicably, home to the World's Largest Thermometer. I am not kidding and I have no idea why such an attraction exists. Anyway, since I'm fairly impatient and have no desire to hang out in the middle of Tweedledick, Nowhere ... I typically zoom by this small town at the appointed interstate speed limit, and not a single mile-per-hour faster. One day about 8 years ago, however, it appeared that I was overly-optimistic with regards to the fuel efficiency of my vehicle. I stopped in Baker to fill up my ... Read the full blog post...
Eating Out
February 2, 2010
If there is one universal culinary truth in Las Vegas, it is that our pizza sucks. It just flat out blows goats. As an East Coast transplant who used to enjoy good pizza on a very regular basis, this has always been hard to come to terms with. Along with blowing goats ... a hobby I have picked up since I moved here. When I lived on the far west side of Vegas, there was a joint called "Villa Pizza" at Durango and Desert Inn which was actually pretty good -- but not good enough to keep me in that hellacious neighborhood of bored lawn nazis with whom I was constantly at odds. I tried to organize a homeowner's uprising at one point, but all of my neighbors were so browbeaten into submission that they quivered and soiled their pants at the mere mention of the name of the HOA. It's been a very ... Read the full blog post...
Hash House a No Go
January 30, 2010
The Hash House a Go Go is an off-strip joint that has had somewhat of a cult following for many years, and late last year they finally opened a restaurant inside of the Imperial Palace. The far-flung location of this eatery (Rainbow and Sahara) has always prevented me from becoming a routine patron of the establishment, but its new location mid-Strip allowed me to finally get around to giving it a fair shot. This morning, I happened to be out and about by myself when hunger struck, and I've always felt that eating solo was highly underrated. I never really caught on to the eating-as-a-social event thing. Why do people get together to talk at the precise moment they plan on having food in their mouths? It's kind of like going to the proctologist after downing a full bar of Ex-Lax. When I eat, I don't like to talk, I like to ... Read the full blog post...
My Own Private Recession
January 4, 2010
Being VegasRex isn't cheap. Even though the cost of living in Vegas is relatively low when compared to that of other major cities, it can be outrageously expensive in other respects. For instance, every time someone you know visits Vegas, they are on vacation with their completely disposable income, and they expect you to act in-kind. Imagine living in Orlando and having everyone you know want to meet at Disney World every time they fly in. Now imagine that they fly in at least once per week. By the end of the year, the mouse would own all of your money. Vegas is similar. Be they people I've known for decades or people I only "know" online, I can honestly say that not one single night passes where I don't know at least one person who is visiting our fair city, and I try to touch base as often as I can. It adds up ... Read the full blog post...
Too Much of a Good Thing
December 23, 2009
Following the trend of properties such as the Excalibur and Luxor, both the MGM Grand and The Stratosphere have begun offering all day buffet passes. The gist of these particular gimmicks is that, not only will you be able to get unlimited food from the eatery, but you can come and go as many times as you wish. If you want to eat a piece of chicken, go play blackjack, come back and eat a piece of beef, go to a show, come back and eat a taco, etc, etc ... you are free to do so. You may visit the buffet a theoretically unlimited amount of times for one price. This includes various time-of-day offerings such as breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It's a buffet of the buffet for lack of a better analogy. When I first heard of this concept, I was skeptical. To some degree, I still am. Even though the Vegas ... Read the full blog post...
Aria Room and Board
December 18, 2009
"Not another City Center article. It's too much. It's just too much. It's just a damn casino, not a cure for cancer. Dear God, make it stop!" I hear you, and I empathize. Please take the gun out of your mouth and relax, though. Remember Encore? This too shall pass. I've yet to mention guest rooms or mid-level dining -- which is more or less my sustenance, so indulge me. Early this morning I investigated a Deluxe (read: "standard") room at Aria. Before I go any further, I would like to point out that the procurement of this room was a complete clusterfornication for the room guest. The gentleman who procured the room, let's call him Sugardick Von Hugenpecker, was set to check in at the stroke of midnight this morning. He called, then called again to make sure that the room would be available at midnight. He was assured that it would be, yet when he arrived ... Read the full blog post...
Last Supper Denied
December 9, 2009
Sometimes, your end of Las Vegas Boulevard simply cannot catch a break. While the entirety of LVB from Mandalay Bay to Fremont Street is easily accessible to yours truly either with or without an automobile, some places are certainly more convenient than others. The Sahara is one of those places. As my primary monorail station and a sub-5 minute walk from my dwelling here in town, this property is practically an extension of my own home. 1am and can't sleep? Masturbate twice and try to drift off again. If that doesn't work ... throw on some shoes, grab a jacket, walk south, and sit at a semi-deserted Blackjack table. Maybe check out the poker room and see if there's anything going on. Chat with the dealers who would rather be anywhere else than the graveyard shift at an outdated casino on a part of The Strip that's slipping further into neglect. These are the people from ... Read the full blog post...
An Alarming Afternoon
October 23, 2009
Let it never be said that I don't complete a trifecta. Three days, three trips to Caesars. It's been a noticeable pattern for years, but perhaps it is just a self-fulfilling prophecy at this point. As adrenaline-surging as it was, I did not return to the Monopoly Championships yesterday. Instead, I had a quick meetup at the pseudo-new Serendipity 3 cafe. Given that it was a nice day, we ordered from the “Fun on The Run” menu and ate on the Plaza instead of in the confines of the establishment itself. There are four weeks of perfect weather each year in Vegas, and we are presently in the brief Fall window before the omnipresent winds of Winter move in. On Wednesday, I passed through the same plaza location, and was somewhat disconcerted as a strange siren began blaring. About 2 minutes after the alarm started, a voice came over a loudspeaker and said something along ... Read the full blog post...
