A Food Truck and a Speakeasy

 Las Vegas, NV

The Cherry Blossoms are in full bloom at The Bellagio Conservatory

Eating at a Food Truck Inside a Casino

Today we headed back to Park MGM to eat at The Chef Food Truck I talked about in this post.  Our adventure started on The Deuce by using our transit passes.  Our passes are just about paid for now and all of our other rides will be gravy.  

We went straight to The Chef Truck and Donna ordered while I took photos

They have a pretty big eating area behind the truck

We split a Pork Sandwich and a Molten Chocolate Cake.  They were both delicious and the cake is probably a best value for here so far.

On the way to the restroom we stopped to point at the oval sportsball.  There is some sort of sportsball thingy going on here soon.

Exploring The Cosmo

Our next stop was The Cosmo which is a short walk from Park MGM or we could have taken the free sky shuttle.  We weren't sure the shuttle stopped there so we walked and found out later we could have taken the shuttle.  No biggie, we have taken the shuttle before and we will take it again for sure.

Many of the casinos have Lunar New Year decorations up.  This dragon on the way to The Cosmo was very cool.

Check out these Balenciaga Sneakers!  They don't look like they cost $1150 but they do.  You can jump off The Strat about 8.5 times for that price.

Hand polished butt

We got to our next stop early so I took a photo and we continued to explore

The Bellagio

We walked all the way out of the back of The Cosmo and into The Bellagio to see what's new there while we killed time until our next stop opened.

Mirror selfie!

I saw this awesome super sportsball rhinestone jacket.

The chocolate fountain was flowing

Our walk took us to the Bellagio Conservancy of Flowers so we checked it out.  They are also doing a Lunar New Year celebration.  It was really pretty as always.

The Dragon was chasing a giant pearl

And the Money Tree was in full bloom

They even had fake incense burning.

The Ski Lodge

Our final stop of the day (not including the bus ride back) was The Ski Lodge which is a speakeasy in The Cosmo.  We arrived right at 2pm but the door was still locked and closed so we took a seat and gave them some time.  Their website said it opens at 2pm but Google said 4pm so there was some question as to what time it opened.  At 2:15 we walked back to the door to try it just as a worker opened it and welcomed us in.  The décor is awesome and they were pumping 80s music.  

The snow was piling up outside the window.

They had a huge penguin collection.

I got a delicious Old Fashion variation

And Donna got a delicious Martini with Wasabi infused Gin.  It was incredible.

We also split a fantastic Pistachio Mortadella Pizza.  I was intrigued but skeptical when Donna chose it but she knew what she was doing.  It was amazing.

The great bartender caught me snapping his photo.  We walked and got some good intel from him on other stops we should make while we are here.  We also sent him to Stray Pirate.  He wasn't aware of it.

I took one more photo of my cocktail for social media before finishing it.

Donna said she would have a little of another cocktail if I ordered one so I did.  This is the Soy Soy Good.  It's another whiskey based cocktail with a sweet apple finish.  Donna and I debated about what the garnish might be.

I confirmed it was a slice of daikon radish.

On the way out we explored a bit more of The Cosmopolitan Casino.  Our bus stop was out front and across the street so we didn't have a long way to go.

The Ski Lodge is associated with Superfrico

The lobby has large columns with video screens.  Right now they are displaying books but I assume they can do other things.

There are old school cigarette machines around town.  They are converted to art dispensers and they are usually empty.  We found one that had just been filled so Donna made her choice.

Her box contained an artsy jar opener.  

I took this photo for my Lebowski facebook group.  "I'm just going to go find a cash machine."

More oval sportsball advertising.  I guess a few people are coming to watch it.

That's it for today.  If you missed, Exploring More Local Casinos, check it out.

Exploring More Local Casinos

 Las Vegas, NV

The Strat

Or El Straterino if you aren't into the whole brevity thing.  Today I walked across the street to The Strat to check it out and to try to walk out the backside and walk to Sliced Pizza to play some pinball.  Slice either has 1 pinball machine or a handful of machines depending on where you get your information so I thought I would go check it out. It's on the other side of an area that is known for gang related activity so I chose to try to pass through The Strat instead of wandering through neighborhoods.  

These ladies guard the entrance to The Arts District.  

Scoping out a possible breakfast spot.

The Sports Book at The Strat looked pretty good.  Maybe I will watch a hockey game there.

I was able to exit out the back of The Strat and walked down a street with a lot of normal activity going on.  I saw Stupak Park.  Bob Stupak was a gambler and casino owner.  He opened Bob Stupak's Vegas World where the Strat stands now.  Bob later proposed The Stratosphere and was a part of it's construction and opening.  The Stratosphere's completion required Bob to sell off about 80% of his ownership.

I arrived at Sliced Pizza and the doors were locked.  I saw a man standing in an alley looking like a greeter or host and asked him about it.  He said Sliced was closed for a few days for refurbishment.  I guess the Moose out front should have told me.

I decided to continue to explore the area so I found an optimized route back and through The Strat and checked out more of the casino.

A replica of the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas Nevada sign is in The Strat

I walked to the 2nd level and saw, among other things, the saddest McDonald's.  If you want McDonald's and don't want to wait in line this is the place.

I missed taking this shot on Fat Tuesday by 1 day.

This makes The Strat look like the tallest tower in the world.  They don't show all of the towers that are taller than it.  Still it's pretty tall.

This area was totally dead.

No one, nothing!

At night we can hear people screaming as they jump from top of The Strat.  Donna and I have watched and said to ourselves and each other, no way.

I saw people suiting up to do the jump.  I thought they went to the top first but I guess not.  I also learned that every time we hear someone scream The Strat gets $139.  If we weren't going to do it before, we surely aren't going to do it now.

Wise Men Say Only Fools Rush In.

It costs $25 to go to the top of the strat.

Another empty space on the 2nd level.

The World of Concrete is still going strong.

After exploring The Strat I decided to walk out the front and check out some other casinos in the area.

I walked in and right out of The Aztec Inn Casino.  What a dive!

Next up, I checked out the newly renovated Sahara.  They pumped $200m into this property and it shows.  It appears Fontainebleau is making the surrounding properties step up their game.

The Casbar looked pretty cool and it has a happy hour.  The 2 for 1 beer might be a good option for 2 people.

They have a poker room that had no one in it at 3pm on a Wednesday.  I took this photo because the tournament is Crazy Pineapple, which we used to see in LA back in the early 2000s.  I haven't seen it spread since.  Later I checked and 4 people entered the tournament for $60 each.  That's $240 in entries and the guarantee was $500 meaning that this tournament had a $260 overlay meaning the casino has to make up that $260.  This would be considered a +EV tournament and I bet there are locals that milk this tournament daily.

The Sahara has an historic Vegas area too.

I thought this picture was awesome and it made me want a time machine.  To see Liberace hanging from a crane and then go see Don Rickles call people a hockey puck would make an epic blog post.

That's it for today.  If you missed, Roy Choi's Best Friend Restaurant, check it out.  We had great eats at Park MGM.