FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS

• Libation •

Rooftop Spritz

Foundation Room o ers a nice selection of specialty cocktails, many with a twist on classic recipes like the margarita, Old-Fashioned, gin and tonic, mule, and the spritz. Try the Rooftop Spritz. It’s mixed with Ketel One Botanical Peach & Orange Blossom vodka, Aperol, yellow Chartreuse, ginger liqueur, fresh lime, grapefruit and British tonic. The lounge also o ers food. Burgers, tacos, crab cakes, grilled cheese, desserts and more all get an infusion of culinary creativity that’s hard to resist. –KM

Benefi t

The huge balcony o ers comfortable seating and unbeatable views of the Las Vegas Strip.

Ruben Radilla

Taking his career to the top

Ruben Radilla is the defi nition of climbing the ladder to success. Today, he sits at the top— literally and fi guratively—as the operations manager for Foundation Room on the 63rd fl oor of Mandalay Bay.

But he started at the bottom—ground level at a pool, to be more exact. His fi rst job in the hospitality industry was at the pool at Caesars Palace, where he worked as a lifeguard. “That was my fi rst Strip job,” Radilla says. “When I was a lifeguard, I watched how all the other positions worked together— servers, bartenders, managers, bussers—and I saw how cool it was.”

When a position opened at Caesars’ nightclub, Omnia, he applied and worked as a beverage runner for two years. Then a busser position opened at Foundation Room in 2017.

After a few years, Radilla had a management opportunity downtown—he took the position and gathered as much experience as possible. Then 2021 rolled around and Radilla found out that Foundation Room was looking for a new operations manager. He landed the job. “It’s big shoes to fi ll,” Radilla says. “You don’t want to drop the ball. This is one of the longest-running club/bar/restaurants. This place has an identity already because of how long it’s been here. So my role is not to change it but revolutionize it and still maintain that traditional vibe.”

As the ops manager, it’s Radilla’s duty to make sure everything runs smoothly, and that the sta and guests are taken care of. You’ll often see him roaming through Foundation Room, dressed to the nines, and interacting with guests and VIPs.

As Radilla refl ects on his career, he looks toward the future—even hoping to own his own nightclub one day. “To own something like this would be awesome,” he says, looking around Foundation Room. “But the ultimate goal is to keep climbing the ladder, because there’s always glory in achievement.” –Kiko Miyasato