Food & Drink: Deli sandwiches and fish and chips

DELI DEVELOPMENT

Siegel’s Bagelmania goes big with its new Strip-adjacent location

BY C. MOON REED

Stephen Siegel always loved eating at Bagelmania, a beloved hole-inthe-wall Jewish delicatessen that has been delighting locals since 1989. But the property developer best known for Siegel Suites had no desire to buy the restaurant.

Then one Sunday, he went to pay for his meal and the owners begged him to take over so they could retire. He initially declined, but the idea stuck with him. “I remember being in the shower that night, like, ‘It’s such great bagels, maybe I can do something with this,’” Siegel says. “I like to fix things and grow things and build things. So, here we go again.”

He purchased Bagelmania in 2018 and began reinventing the brand, eventually ditching the eastside location near Twain and Swenson for a bigger building between the Strip and the Las Vegas Convention Center. (A satellite spot also opened at McCarran Airport’s A gates.)

Now known as Siegel’s Bagelmania, the main 10,000-square-foot eatery in the former Somerset Shopping Center is drawing tourists, locals and conventioneers. A giant bagel sculpture greets hungry diners in the parking lot, and the building’s exterior lists the menu in fun sans-serif signage: smoked fish, kosher dogs, corned beef, cocktails, black & white cookies, matzo ball soup and, of course, bagels and schmears. The interior is a vision of mid-mod stylings and old Vegas nostalgia. Diners can choose between the 200-seat dining room or the deli counter, which also includes offerings from Pinkbox Doughnuts, another local brand owned

SIEGEL’S by the Siegel Group.

BAGELMANIA Siegel and senior vice pres252 Convention ident Michael Crandall gave

Center Drive, the menu an extensive revamp 702-369-3322. but left the boiled bagel recipe

Daily, 6 a.m.3:30 p.m. unchanged. “I think we have the best bagel on the West Coast,” Siegel says. In July, Weekly readers voted Bagelmania Best Breakfast Spot in its annual Best of Vegas issue. Following in the tradition of the best delicatessens, Bagelmania has a purposefully expansive menu requiring multiple visits to sample even a portion of the options. The rye bread, cookies, pastries and salads are all made in-house. First-timers might consider starting simply, with one of the indulgent bagelwiches ($10-$16). The Hebrew School ($16) includes Nova smoked salmon, fried eggs and a hash brown cake. Or they could opt for a classic hot pastrami, egg salad, or whitefish salad sandwich ($12-$16). Burgers, hot dogs, soups, salads, shakes and more round out the menu. In addition to a full bar, Bagelmania just opened up gaming. There are plans to slowly increase the hours to include dinner and possibly late night. And busy as Siegel might be taking Pinkbox national, he says he hopes to open a couple more Bagelmania locations next year.

The Hebrew School sandwich and (inset) a black and white cookie stack at Siegel’s Bagelmania

(Wade Vandervort/Staff)

FOOD & DRINK

THE CODFATHER

2895 N. Green Valley Parkway, 702-462-2280. Tuesday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-8 p.m.

Cod and chips with a side of mushy peas

(Christopher DeVargas/Staff)

A PROPER CHIPPY

The Codfather brings brilliant fish and chips to Henderson

Bright green mushy peas. Creamy, slightly briny tartar sauce. And curry, not just ketchup, for dipping those perfect potatoes. These are the things that can turn a basket of fish and chips into a religious experience.

Of course, the fish better be flaky and fried to a shattering crunch, and the chips need to be hot and crisp with fluffy interior. If you’ve been to the Codfather—opened in Henderson last summer by Sheffield, England, transplant Glynn Bramhall—you know what perfect fish and chips tastes and feels like.

The other restaurants in this tiny strip mall have changed since the Codfather arrived unassumingly with its door made to look like a red English telephone booth. This place has soldiered on because the food is so good, exactly what you want when you’re craving the iconic dish. Most pubs that serve it openly claim to do it best, right on the menu. The Codfather has no need for boasts; it simply delivers.

The cod and chips with a can of soda will run you $13.50. Adding the sides of mushy peas and curry was the best three bucks I ever spent. The small menu also includes chicken fingers ($8.50) for the kiddos, clam chowder with bacon ($4.50-$6.50) and fried sausages ($6.50) or Spam fritters ($5).

Those all sound tasty, but I can’t imagine a time I’ll step foot in the Codfather and order anything other than its signature dish, reveling in the steamy wisps that emerge when the plastic knife punches satisfyingly through the crunchy coating and melt-in-your-mouth tenderness of this fish, stopping only when I fork-plunge a couple fries into that brilliant curry. I don’t really even like tartar sauce, you guys. That’s how good the Codfather is. Take me back now. –Brock Radke