Sin City Living

Pit Bosses Make Six Figures

admin — Thu, 29 May 2008 18:10:48 +0000

It pays to be a casino pit boss. “Gaming Manager” is mentioned in this article about jobs paying six-figure salaries.

La Burger Brasserie

admin — Sat, 24 May 2008 02:12:28 +0000

As promised, La Burger Brasserie was the next burger joint I visited after being unimpressed by Burger Bar. The burgers (beef, chicken or lamb) are good and there were many types of cheeses, sauces and other toppings to pile on. Beers come by the bottle as they have no draft beers. This is a major disadvantage compared to the local micro-brews offered at Burger Bar.

La Burger Brasserie does offer a sampler plate for potato-fanatics with a generous amount of steak fries, waffle fries and standard fries. It’s enough for 2-3 people to share.

Get your FIX at Bellagio

admin — Thu, 22 May 2008 01:55:17 +0000

We had dinner last weekend at FIX in Bellagio. It was Saturday night and the place was mobbed. Apparently, our brilliant plan of eating at FIX and then partying next door at The Bank was shared by many others.

The restaurant itself is amazing and looked more like an ultra-lounge than an upscale eatery. The lighting was subdued, music loud and decor sophisticated and trendy. The ceiling was covered with long, curvy, beams of wood to dramatic effect. The combination of the loud music and the wood ceiling made for a very loud dining room and it was difficult to carry on any kind of conversation.

The food has been described as “high-end comfort food” and “nostalgic cuisine”. We found it to be more or less American-fare with some fusion items thrown in. All of our dishes were adequately prepared and we were not disappointed (but neither were we blown away). If you go, try the deep-fried macaroni sticks. These arrived as Snickers-sized bars and were crispy on the outside soft and gooey on the inside. Probably +10,000 calories but worth every bite.

The Century Mark

admin — Mon, 19 May 2008 15:20:38 +0000

We had our first 100 degree day yesterday. Many forecasters predicted we wouldn’t push the mercury this high until the first week of June. It will be another hot day today with a high of 106 but then things cool off a bit going into the latter part of the week.

Burger Bar

admin — Sat, 10 May 2008 23:20:14 +0000

I dined with some friends at Burger Bar in Mandalay Bay this weekend and was pretty disappointed. Their Kobe beef is American, the buffalo burger tasted just like beef and their choice of toppings and sides were not that interesting. Even the jalepeno bacon that my buddy talked up beforehand failed to live up to the hype (not at all jalepeno-y). They serve a good local brew, Sin City Amber, so be sure to order a pitcher if you go to Burger Bar.

I’m hoping for a better experience at La Burger Brasserie in Paris.

New Titans of Las Vegas

admin — Fri, 09 May 2008 00:50:54 +0000

If Chris Binkley’s book is about the old guard and how they shaped Las Vegas, this article from the NY Times is about how a new generation of moguls is building out their vision of Las Vegas.

CityCenter on NPR

admin — Tue, 06 May 2008 22:32:56 +0000

MGM’s CityCenter project was discussed on NPR’s All Things Considered today. It was amazing to hear that half of the $8B budget is already paid for through residence pre-sales and foreign investments.

Steve Wynn’s Encore

admin — Fri, 02 May 2008 19:23:34 +0000

Here’s a photo I snapped of Steve Wynn’s latest project Encore. That’s right, it’s another hotel right next to the Wynn and it’s reportedly costing over $2B. You can’t really tell from the photo but Encore is arched the other way (convex vs. Wynn’s concave shape).

Winner Takes All

admin — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 01:04:02 +0000

Christina Binkley was on State of Nevada today talking about her latest work, Winner Takes All. Her book is about big personalities in the casino industry shaped the development of Las Vegas as we know it today.

Red Rock Canyon

admin — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:14:13 +0000

Believe it or not, there’s more to Las Vegas than hotels and casinos. Just a few minutes west of the madness is Red Rock Canyon. I took my uncle there this weekend. We spent about an hour and a half driving slowly through the park on the 13 mile scenic loop stopping often to take photos.

[Show as slideshow]

The cost of admission is $5 per vehicle or $20 for an annual pass.