FREE June 29–July 5, 2017 « SIPPING THROUGH TEQUILA / ART FOR FOOD’S SAKE / THE STRUGGLE IS REAL FOR A SELF-MADE MUSIC PROMOTER »
sixth annual
BAR HALL OF FAME — RAISE YOUR GLASS AND TOAST OUR CITY’S FINEST BARS —
richard elliot, rick braun & norman brown
dave koz & larry graham
brian culbertson
SATURDAY JULY 8
FRIDAY & SATURDAY AUGUST 18 & 19
SATURDAY AUGUST 26
jonathan butler
mindi abair
boney james
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 16
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 23
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 18
JON LOVITZ & DANA CARVEY R E U N I T E D
JUNE 30 & JULY 1
EXCLUSIVE RESIDENCY TICKETS NOW ON SALE AT FOUNDRYLV.COM 2 5 3 5
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CELEBRATE THE USA YOUR WAY ALL-AMERICAN BLOQ PARTY July 1 – 2 • PARADE Noon • FOOD AND DRINK SPECIALS • DJ’S, STILT-WALKERS, BALLOON ARTISTS, FACE PAINTERS, CARICATURE ARTISTS Noon – 5pm • LIVE NIGHTLY ENTERTAINMENT, LED DRUMLINE 6pm – 10pm Celebrate the #LinqLife. The LINQ Promenade is a must-do to accomplish your Vegas to-do’s. @LINQPromenade Must be 21 or older to gamble. Know When To Stop Before You Start.® Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-522-4700. ©2017, Caesars License Company, LLC.
The Dorsey is a high-design, memorable cocktail spot for the worldly, curious, and engaged. FOR RESERVATIONS, PLEASE CALL 702.414.1945
THE VENETIAN® LAS VEGAS
Speak when silent.
ON THE COVER
Read Vegas Seven right-side up and then flip it over and start again with Seven Nights, featuring after-dark entertainment and the week’s nightlife happenings.
BAR HALL OF FAME 2017 Photography KRYSTAL RAMIREZ From dodgy dives to upscale lounges, 30 bars are in the running to join the celebrated ranks.
TRY A REFRESHING PITCHER OF DOS EQUIS OR PATRîN MARGARITAS! SEVEN NIGHTS Illustration LANCE L. SMITH Almost 40 years after “Rock Lobster,” B-52s singer Kate Pierson keeps the beat.
TABLE OF CONTENTS Wall art at The Dillinger in Boulder City page 20
JUNE 29–JULY 5, 2017 TO DO
12 24/7
What to do around the clock. BY JASON R. LATHAM
School’s Out— But Science Is In Zoom Into Nano at Discovery Children’s Museum. BY KATIE MICHAELS
13 The Deal
The best video poker bars. BY ANTHONY CURTIS
CONVERSATIONS
35 Playing With Food
You’ve never seen bread, french fries or chia seeds like this before. BY JASON R. LATHAM
36 Cannabis’ New Wave With vertical and branding know-how, Reef aims for the next level.
BY LISSA TOWNSEND RODGERS
38 Genes of the Promoter
FEATURE
David Jones walks in the footsteps of his estranged father, Irving “Ash” Resnick.
14 Bar Hall of Fame
40 Lucky No. 7
The sixth annual roundup of our city’s finest watering holes.
BY NICOLE CORMIER
Our favorite bar snacks. BY WENDOH STAFF
BY VARIOUS WRITERS
OUR SITES TO SEE
SEVEN NIGHTS SOCIAL INFLUENCE
What To Do After Dark
26 Hide Your Kids,
Hide Your Wife, Hide Your Email Server
The real estate market gets hit with wire fraud scams. BY MISTI YANG
27 The Power of Mindlessness
Are Democrats overthinking their way out of victory? BY MICHAEL GREEN
SPACES & PLACES
31 Tequila!
A tour through the town of the infamous blue agave plant. BY KRYSTAL RAMIREZ
Concerts, nightclubs, food and experiences. BY JASON R. LATHAM
[Hear This]
B-52s singer Kate Pierson on musical inspiration and the possibility of a Las Vegas residency. BY LISSA TOWNSEND RODGERS
[Behind the Bar]
Adventures of a few favorite free-spirited brand ambassadors. BY XANIA V. WOODMAN
VegasSeven.com Bar Rescue-d Two of our Bar Hall of Fame inductees have graced Spike TV’s Bar Rescue in the past. Read how they’ve fared since at vegasseven.com/ barrescued.
DTLV.com Late-Night Coffee Bars are sometimes the only places to go for evenings Downtown, but Makers & Finders offers an alternative. The Arts District coffee shop extended its hours and now has an expanded late-night food menu, cocktails and live Latin jazz. Read more at DTLV.com.
[Drink This]
Amaro’s disappearing act. BY MARISA FINETTI PLUS: Pool
parties.
RunRebs.com The Rebels Rundown Read the latest on the UNLV basketball team on runrebs.com.
SpyOnVegas.com The Hookup Find upcoming events, see highlights from the hottest parties, meet the DJs and more.
June 29 –July 5 , 2017 vegasseven.com
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SEVEN NIGHTS COVER ARTIST
LANCE L. SMITH is an artist and illustrator based in Las Vegas. Since completing a bachelor’s degree in fine arts at UNLV, local and national group exhibitions have featured his work. Smith uses drawing, painting and performance to speak to his lived experience, with particular attention to gender identities. lancelsmith.carbonmade.com
FOOD. MUSIC. BEER.
This fall, the food will be cooking, the music will be playing, and the beer will be flowing. Like a bbq with your best friends, The Front Yard will offer locals a laid-back way to eat, drink, and play. Ryan T. Doherty | Justin Weniger President Michael Skenandore Chief Financial Officer Sim Salzman Vice President, Marketing and Events Keith White Creative Director Sherwin Yumul Technical Director Herbert Akinyele Controller Jane Weigel
Letters and Story Ideas Comments@VegasSeven.com Advertising Sales@VegasSeven.com Distribution Distribution@VegasSeven.com
Follow us on social media to stay up-to-date. We’ll see you out front later this year.
@TheFrontYardLV
ellisislandcasino.com • @elliscasinolv • 702.733.8901
VEGAS SEVEN 701 Bridger Ave., Las Vegas, NV 89101 702-798-7000 Vegas Seven is distributed each Thursday throughout Southern Nevada. © 2017 Vegas Seven, LLC. Reproduction in whole or in part without the permission of Vegas Seven, LLC is prohibited.
Publisher
Michael Skenandore Editorial EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Melinda Sheckells MANAGING EDITOR, DINING EDITOR
Genevie Durano SENIOR EDITOR, LIFESTYLE
Jessi C. Acuña ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
Mark Adams EDITOR AT LARGE
Lissa Townsend Rodgers EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
Shannon Miller EDITORIAL INTERNS
Michaela Chesin, Katie Michaels, Ryan Vellinga, Charlotte Wall, Kiona Wilson Senior Contributing Editor Xania V. Woodman (Beverage) Contributing Editors Michael Green (Politics), David G. Schwartz (Gaming/Hospitality) Art CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Benjamin Ward SENIOR DESIGNER
Cierra Pedro STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Krystal Ramirez Online DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL CONTENT
Zoneil Maharaj WEB EDITORS
Jessie O’Brien, Amber Sampson CONTRIBUTING WRITER, RUNREBS.COM
Tyler Bischoff Production/Distribution DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION/DISTRIBUTION
Marc Barrington ADVERTISING MANAGER
Jimmy Bearse Sales BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
Christy Corda DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL SALES
Nicole Niazmand ACCOUNT MANAGERS
Brittany Quintana, Mimi Tran ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE
Robyn Weiss DIRECTOR OF SALES, BILLBOARD DIVISION
John Tobin
TO DO
24/7
What to do around the clock in Las Vegas By Jason R. Latham
THURSDAY 29
Did this month’s Electric Daisy Carnival leave you longing to learn the techniques of our city’s greatest DJs? The Enterprise Library is hosting a Learn to DJ class for teens that explains the intricacies of everything from cueing to slicing to sampling. 3–6 p.m., 25 E. Shelbourne Ave., lvccld.org You can also join the inaugural meeting of the Better Half Book Club at Downtown bookstore The Writer’s Block. Tonight they’ll be discussing Fay Weldon’s The Life and
Loves of a She-Devil. 6–7:30 p.m., 1020 Fremont St., #100, thewritersblock.org If you’ve been craving rosé and you love bar games, then you should be at Crave for Rosé Pong, where there will be $5 glasses of rosé and $7 glasses of frosé (frozen rosé) on the menu. If that’s not enough to lure you to the Downtown Summerlin restaurant, prizes and food and drink specials complete the event. Leave work early! 3–7 p.m., downtownsummerlin.com Downtown Grand and KOAS Old School 105.7 host another edition of
By Katie Michaels Discovery Children’s Museum 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Mon.–Sat., noon– 5 p.m. Sun., $14.50, at Symphony Park, 360 Promenade Place, discoverykidslv.org
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School’s Out— But Science Is In Discovery Children’s Museum offers infotainment for kids with the Zoom Into Nano exhibit
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Old School by the Pool on the
hotel’s casino rooftop. Tonight you’ll see a performance by Sons of Soul. 7 p.m., downtowngrand.com
FRIDAY 30
Neon Museum 2017 National Artist-in-Residence Allison Wiese is hosting a Studio Open House at the museum’s Ne10 Building. Wiese, a San Diego resident, has spent the month working to create an installation project, drawing on inspiration from the museum. 6–8 p.m., 300 Las Vegas Blvd. North, neonmuseum.org
Take the family to Spring Mountain Ranch State Park for the Archery at the Ranch class. Instructors supply the bows and arrows, so leave yours at home. 10 a.m., $7–$9 entry fee, 702875-4141 for reservations, 6375 Highway 159, parks.nv.gov The last Friday of the month means it’s time for X-Treme Bingo night at Santa Fe Station Hotel. When we hear “X-Treme,” we picture Mountain Dew ads and Vin Diesel jumping off a bridge wearing rollerblades. It’s probably better than that: X-Treme Bingo has shot specials and prizes. 11 p.m., stationcasinosevents.com
The kids are officially out of school, folks. Now is the time when parents are scrambling to keep their children entertained through the long summer. Instead of a typical day at the pool or one spent inside binge-watching Netflix offerings, why not flip the script? Spend a day in a place where the world of education and the world of fun become one. Kids can break molecules on touch screens, observe elements of objects in increasingly microscopic levels and dissolve crystals with body movement to simulate the generation of heat at Zoom Into Nano, the latest exhibit at the Discovery Children’s Museum. It’s a gold mine for parents who want their kids to have fun but also leave the museum with an immense amount of understanding for science. “We are the liaisons between the scientists, who are doing the cutting-edge research, and the general public, who are learning about that cutting-edge research and applying it to their lives,” says Tifferney White, CEO and president of Discovery Children’s Museum. “Nanotechnology is a big concept and can sometimes be a scary term. However, if you know anything about Discovery Children’s Museum, one thing that we do very well is to take those big concepts and break them down into understandable lessons.”
ALLISON WIESE COURTESY OF THE NEON MUSEUM
Allison Wiese, Neon Museum’s national artist-in-residence.
THE DEAL BY ANTHONY CURTIS
Las Vegas Restaurant Week winds down tonight, so get in one last meal to benefit Three Square Food Bank. Nacho Daddy in Summerlin is offering three-course lunch and dinner menus for $20 and $30, respectively. 11 a.m.–10 p.m. daily, 9560 W. Sahara Ave., nachodaddy.com It’s Doggie Date Nite at Silverton Casino’s Sunset Cinema series. Tonight they’re screening The Secret Life of Pets and A League of Their Own. You’re welcome to bring a picnic basket along with your best friend. 6 p.m., silvertoncasino.com Country crooner Chris Young is playing Red Rock Resort’s Sandbar stage with special guests the Swon Brothers. Go enjoy some music by the pool. 7 p.m., $49, redrock.sclv.com
Weekend, with country jams, line dancing, all-you-can-eat barbecue 1–3 p.m., mechanical bull-riding and fireworks on Saturday and Sunday at 8:45 p.m. $10–$35 (children 2 and under free), all-you-can-eat barbecue $15, 7055 S. Fort Apache Rd., wetnwildlasvegas.com Or you could head farther south to Laughlin for the first night of the 27th Annual Rockets Over the River celebration. The fireworks
show over the Colorado River begins just after dark. If you miss the show tonight, catch it again on July 4. visitlaughlin.com Learn about the life and missions of NASA’s Neil Armstrong in the documentary First Man on the Moon at the Springs Preserve’s Big Springs Theater. 3 p.m., $5–$19 (members free), 333 S. Valley View Blvd., springspreserve.org
SATURDAY 1
Want to see what happens when you go to the gym—a lot? The Orleans Hotel and Casino is hosting the 2017 Patriots Challenge featuring the oiled-up, muscular bods of men and women who look better in bathing suits than we do. It’s OK to stare. 10 a.m., $45, orleanscasino.com Do your part to help active and retired first responders at the Las Vegas Fire and Rescue Charitable Association Don Vines Memorial Poker Tournament at Planet Hollywood Hotel & Casino. It’s open to the public, and there’s a $200 buy-in if you want to play for prizes. The winner also gets a guaranteed $10,000 seat at the World Series of Poker’s main event. 2 p.m., vfrca.org The Smith Center’s Conversations with Norm series, featuring legendary Las Vegas columnist Norm Clarke, returns with special guest Marie Osmond. 2 p.m., $25, thesmithcenter.com
NANO EXHIBIT BY JON REIS
The Wet ’n’ Wild water park is going big-time for its Red, White & Wild
SUNDAY 2
See some beautiful horses and talented riders at the Celebration Circuit Quarter Horse Show
inside the South Point Equestrian Center. The event runs through July 9, so you have plenty of chances to see the animals in action. Inside South Point Hotel Casino & Spa, southpointarena.com
If you can’t wait until Tuesday to see fireworks, you can head to Lake Las Vegas for the annual Independence Day Celebration at MonteLago Village. Enjoy live music, including a performance by the Henderson Symphony Orchestra, as well as fireworks over the lake. 7 p.m., 29 Grand Mediterra Blvd., lakelasvegas.com MONDAY 3
The Las Vegas Natural History Museum’s latest traveling exhibit, Rainforest Adventure, is a maze-like experience in which guests explore and answer questions about the tropical habitat. Be careful: A wrong answer could lead you to a dead end!
In our ever-changing world, nanotechnology is advancing the way we create everything around us—from stain-repellent clothing to new medicines—with the invisible building blocks of matter, atoms. Zoom Into Nano, on display at the museum through September 4, gives the community an opportunity to learn about these advances in diverse ways. “We know that not everyone is interested in becoming a scientist, but we strive to provide experiences that allow visitors and members to be science-literate and leverage that literacy to make the best decisions for their lives in this constantly evolving world.” 7
$5–$10 (children 2 and under free), 900 Las Vegas Blvd. North, lvnhm.org You can also catch another poolside fireworks display, this one at Henderson water park Cowabunga Bay. Park hours 11 a.m.–10 p.m., ticket prices vary, 900 Galleria Dr., cowabungabayvegas.com Get to Fremont Street early tonight so you can have a good spot for Heart’s Ann Wilson. She’s performing as part of the Downtown Rocks free concert series. We can hear the opening chords of “Barracuda” in our heads right now. 9–11 p.m., fremontstreetexperience.com TUESDAY 4
Boulder City’s 69th Annual Boulder City Damboree Celebration
starts early with a pancake breakfast at Bicentennial Park. The Fourth of July extravaganza also features a flyover by the Boulder City Veterans Flying Group, the annual parade, midway games, afternoon events at Veteran’s Memorial Park and a 9 p.m. fireworks show. Don’t miss this! 7 a.m.–10:30 p.m., Boulder City, bcnv.org The City of Henderson is hosting its Fourth of July Celebration at Heritage Park. Admission and parking are free, and the event features bounce houses, a Ferris wheel, lawn games and fireworks at 9 p.m. Gates open at 1 p.m., cityofhenderson.com WEDNESDAY 5
The Charleston Heights Arts Center hosts a performance of Razzle Bam Boom—All That Trash for families. The musical variety show doubles as an educational piece, teaching the importance of conserving natural resources and recycling. 10:30 a.m., $6, 800 S. Brush St., artslasvegas.org Looking for more stuff to do in Las Vegas? Check out vegasseven.com/calendar.
Video Poker Hall of Fame THIS MAGAZINE’S ANNUAL BAR ISSUE IS
my favorite of the year, and it’s a chance to update my lists on the best video poker bars in Las Vegas. Keep in mind that you can often do better in the casinos, but these are the best opportunities at the neighborhood watering holes around town (a number of them are also Bar Hall of Fame inductees). I refer often in this space to the presence of 7/5 Bonus Poker being an easy indicator of a better video poker bar (“7/5” means that with one coin played, a full house returns seven coins and a flush returns five). This game returns 98 percent if you can play it perfectly. Not bad. A short list of bars that offer 7/5 Bonus Poker includes Loose Caboose on West Flamingo Road, Dylan’s Gaming Lounge, the Porchlight Grille, the Tap House, Frankie’s Tiki Room and Champagne’s. But this is the Hall of Fame issue, so we have to do better than that. It’s not often that you find a bar schedule by itself (no promotions considered) that exceeds 98 percent, but they exist. Two examples are the Double Down Saloon’s Kings or Better Joker Wild game with a 98.4 percent return, and Sonny’s Saloon, where select machines offer 9/5 Jacks or Better with a $100 bonus on royals that returns 98.5 percent. More common are 7/5 bars with liberal card-of-the-day wheel spins. Two good ones are the country bar Saddle N Spurs on North Jones Boulevard and Crowbar on West Flamingo Road. Others in this category are Brooksy’s on West Flamingo Road from 2–5 p.m. and 4–7 a.m. and the new Sagos at Spring Mountain Road and Decatur Boulevard, where all 4-of-a-kinds spin during Angels games. All of these bars return more than 99 percent on 25cent games. Of course, payback percentage isn’t everything. Home Plate on West Warm Springs Road runs frequent $20 matchplay promos (play $20, get $20 in freeplay) and last year did it every Sunday during the football season. No Regrets on West Sunset Road awards $20 in freeplay after $100 coin-in on Sundays and Mondays from 1 p.m.–3 a.m. (the best time to do it is 3–7 p.m., when quad 5s-Ks spins the bonus wheel). And while there’s no financial incentive involved, Dean’s Place behind Silverton deserves mention for its unique nonsmoking side bar. Finally, credit is due to the creative bars that use meal comps as incentives. The best are Crown & Anchor East or West and Sagos on Fort Apache Road: All three offer comped meal incentives to those playing at least $20. Also in this category is the prime rib comp at Jackson’s (see Jackson’s review), where if you’re not already a member of the players club, you’ll also get a sign-up matchplay bonus of $20 after $100 coin-in. Know of another good one? Send us the details. 7 Anthony Curtis is the publisher of the Las Vegas Advisor and lasvegasadvisor.com.
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BAR HALL OF FAME
BAR HALL OF FAME THE SIXTH ANNUAL ROUNDUP OF OUR CITY’S FINEST WATERING HOLES PHOTOGRAPHY KRYSTAL RAMIREZ
We’ve knocked back hundreds of drinks to find the 30 bars inducted into the Vegas Seven Bar Hall of Fame, which began in 2012. The group runs the gamut, and last year we added to the variety, bringing in a blues bar, tiki joint, century-old saloon, posh hotel lounge and heavy-metal hangout—and 2017 will introduce five more. To be considered for the Hall of Fame, a bar must have been open for at least five years and have a distinct personality that adds something special to our city’s libation landscape. From June 29 through midnight on July 14, go to vegasseven.com/BarHall2017 to vote for your favorites in four regional categories listed on the following pages. Need to know more about the bars? We’ll be checking out a few on a Vegas Seven BHOF bar crawl on July 6, which you can watch via livestream (check our website for the exact time). At the close of voting, our panel of drinkers— ahem, editors—will consider the votes and declare a winner for each area, as well as an “editor’s choice” to join our hallowed list. The inductees will be revealed in the July 20 issue of Vegas Seven.
Nora’s
Hitchin’ Post Saloon and Steakhouse
NORTH Artifice EST. 2011 From hip-hop showcases to goth night, it’s likely the walls at Artifice have felt the reverb of just about every musical genre known to mankind. The Arts District bar has managed to outlive many of its neighbors, thanks to versatile programming and mass appeal. Here, you can rub elbows with Downtown suits, cosplay fanatics and bikers—both Harley-Davidson and ten-speed. And with all the makings of a proper cocktail program, including fresh juices, niche spirits, seasonal ingredients and an engaging bar staff, the art-heavy spot has cemented its place as a neighborhood institution. —Jessi Acuna 1025 First St., artificebar.com Beauty Bar EST. 2004 One of the early pioneers of Fremont East, Beauty Bar’s theme is based on the New York City original Beauty Bar (an authentic ‘60s beauty salon with bar installed), but has developed its own unique flavor. The manicures are still available and the walls still sparkle with pink glitter, but the real draw is the entertainment, which ranges from multimedia hip-hop nights to touring stoner rock bands to showcases for rising stand-up comedians. And, hey, if the band doesn’t do it for you, the beer/shot deals might. —Lissa Townsend Rodgers 517 Fremont St., beautybarlv.com Commonwealth EST. 2012 With its velvet rope, beefy doormen and high-end interior design, Commonwealth brings a taste of the Strip to DTLV. Sure, the spot has a split personality, but that’s part of the appeal. Stop in early and it’s a chill joint to drink with a date or pregame with friends. Later? You’ll usually find it’s morphed into a nightclub, boasting an upstairs patio with a dance party under the stars. Commonwealth often has midweek special events geared to locals, and it offers a wide beer selection as well as a cocktail menu. We’ve heard it’s expensive, but we avoid that conversation by ordering well drinks, natch. —James P. Reza 525 Fremont St., commonwealthlv.com German-American Social Club EST. 1981 The German-American Social Club of Nevada is a charming chalet located just off Las Vegas Boulevard. Founded in 1971, the club bought its current home a decade later. It’s a slice of the old country for anyone who loves German culture, or just beer and schnitzel. It features classic jazz on Tuesday nights and
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BAR HALL OF FAME
Spadoni the piano player and Steven the bartender at Oscar’s
German traditional fare on Saturday nights at 6 p.m., and, being Germans, everything happens right on time. The bar features Bavarian comfort libations and there are a number of special events throughout the year, including a schoene Oktoberfest. —Ginger Bruner 1110 E. Lake Mead Blvd., germanamericanclubnv.com
cold. The Hitchin’ Post is a slice of old-style Nevada … albeit with a new Amazon distribution center going up across the street. —L.T.R. 3650 Las Vegas Blvd. North, hpsslv.com Oscar’s EST. 2011 This spot overlooking Fremont Street
oozes old Vegas. In 1971, it was the elevated platform pool of the Union Plaza. Later, the dome went up and the space became the fancy Center Stage restaurant. More recently, it was a Downtown outpost of Firefly Tapas Kitchen & Bar, before relaunching as Oscar’s Beef, Booze & Broads, named for our martini-loving
ex-mayor. The restaurant’s expansive bar and lounge hosts a weekly Locals’ Night on Wednesdays, with $5 well drinks and half-price appetizers. The food is excellent, and these bartenders (some are Downtown Cocktail Room veterans) know their stuff. Cheers! —J.P.R. 1 Main St., oscarslv.com
The Griffin EST. 2007 If you’ve been frequenting Downtown since before the “D” was capitalized, then you’ve surely had a run-in at The Griffin. Whether it was an intimate moment near the fireplace, the urge to get Johnny Cash into rotation on the jukebox or a sweaty dance-off in the back room, this Fremont East bar helped many older millennials come of age and learn the art of blacking out—OK, maybe that was just us. Although the bar tends to attract a more suburban crowd these days, you can still count on the mainstays making an appearance. —J.A. 511 Fremont St., facebook.com/theofficial.vegasgriffin Hitchin’ Post Saloon and Steakhouse EST. 1953 Located on the far north end of Las Vegas Boulevard, the Hitchin’ Post has been serving up beef and beer for more than six decades. Located at the far end of the Hitchin’ Post RV Park and Motel, the Saloon’s knotty paneling and natural stone reminds us that Las Vegas’ original style was not mid-mod, but Wild West. The bartenders are friendly, the grub is tasty and the mugs are
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BAR HALL OF FAME
Left/Middle: Piero’s Monkey Bar
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SOUTH
Inside Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, blondieslasvegas.com
Blondies EST. 2007 Blondies might be an “official” HQ for Ohio State fans, but you don’t have to be a Buckeye to appreciate the frat-party feel of this Strip sports bar. With waitresses sporting cheerleader uniforms, lively competitions at the beer pong tables (aided by tournaments and $10 Busch Light pitcher specials) and drink specials that rival campus dive bars (bottomless wells and domestics set you back $20 during the afternoon and late-night happy hours), it’s easy to feel like an Animal House extra at this watering hole. —Mark Adams
Casino Royale EST. 1979 Of the hundreds of bars on the Strip—or Downtown or in the local casinos, for that matter—only Casino Royale sells bottles of Michelob for a buck. And we’re not talking happy hour: The dollar deal runs 24/7/365. You’re sittin’ center-Strip here, so the customers tend to be tourists, many of whom have been coming back for years, mixed with value-seeking locals and after-shift casino employees. If you’re a quarter light, a draft Coors in a plastic cup is just 75 cents. Got the munchies? Walk across the casino floor anytime
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day or night and order two or three (or 10) sliders from White Castle. —Anthony Curtis 3411 Las Vegas Blvd. South, casinoroyalehotel.com
Chandelier is so glamorous, you’ll won’t mind dropping almost $20 on a drink. —Jessie O’Brien Inside The Cosmopolitan, cosmopolitanlasvegas.com
The Chandelier EST. 2010 This lounge inside The Cosmopolitan has become the go-to place for locals to impress visitors. The high-end cocktails served by serious mixologists are as beautiful as the sparkling crystal strands that encase the three separate floors of the bar. Each level offers a different experience, whether it’s listening to a jazzy lounge act on the bottom or catching a glimpse of the casino floor over a signature Fire Breathing Dragon cocktail on the top. The
Cleopatra’s Barge EST. 1970 Why hang at a throwback when you can party with the original? Cleopatra’s Barge is one of the last classic Vegas cocktail lounges, whose theme stems from the floating stage/dance floor decked out as a gilded barge, replete with hieroglyphs and a topless Cleo figurehead. After a period of relative quiet, the Barge has been reborn as the happening lounge it once was, hosting shows as disparate as jammy stalwarts Blues Traveler and
BAR HALL OF FAME
Lagasse’s Stadium
post-R&B crooner CeeLo Green, as well as DJs and live bands. —L.T.R. Inside Caesars Palace, caesars.com Free Zone EST. 1998 This Fruit Loop mainstay is Las Vegas’ quintessential gay bar, and that’s a very, very good thing. Free Zone has everything you want from an LGBT nightspot—or day spot, considering that it’s open 24/7: beer busts, allyou-can-drink cocktail specials, dragqueen revues and a diverse playlist sprinkled with everyone’s favorite diva and disco favorites. If you’re not having fun at Free Zone, just ask the shot boy in a neon-colored banana hammock for another test tube of sugary, boozy deliciousness. —M.A. 610 E. Naples Dr., freezonelv.com
Huntridge Tavern EST. 1962 The Huntridge Tavern is the dive bar’s dive bar. Located at the corner of Maryland Parkway and Charleston Boulevard since Jackie Kennedy was first lady, the HT is known for cheap booze, honest bartenders and one of the creepiest hallways in Las Vegas. There are a number of enhancements happening at the property, including new bathrooms, but the front room, where the magic happens, is keeping its O.G. flavor (velvet wallpaper, ancient bar signage). Put it this way: When noted dive-bar aficionado Anthony Bourdain comes to town, the Huntridge is where he parks his tuchus. —G.B. 1116 E. Charleston Blvd., facebook.com
Lagasse’s Stadium EST. 2009 Calling this restaurant/sportsbook/ watering hole a “stadium” isn’t quite hyperbole—it’s a multilevel 24,000-square-foot space with four bars, private luxury suites and white leather couches and loungers facing a massive screen. In fact, there’s a TV screen everywhere you look, but we advise taking a peek around during commercial breaks. The place is littered with sports memorabilia: autographed jerseys from Brett Favre, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Joe Montana, Oscar de la Hoya and others. Of course, there’s also a chef’s coat autographed by Emeril Lagasse, the venue’s namesake and creator of its “kicked-up game-day fare.” —Zoneil Mahraj
Inside The Palazzo, emerilsrestaurants.com/lagasses-stadium Piero’s Monkey Bar EST. 1987 Opened in its original location in 1982, few places in Sin City do Vegas as right as Piero’s, where old Vegas exists in concentrate and business deals and booty calls overlap over gin martinis and a 17-page wine list. Tourists show up here because they have an expense account or they read somewhere that it was featured in Casino. But the locals who frequently warm the same seats at the bar do so because they know discretion and decorum are served in equal doses, just like in the old days. —J.P.R. 355 Convention Center Dr., pieroscuisine.com
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BAR HALL OF FAME
EAST Backstop Sports Pub EST. 1993 Originally a rec hall for Hoover Dam workers in the 1930s, the Backstop is one of Boulder City’s oldest dives: loud rock on the speakers, $2 PBR and Rolling Rock on tap, as well as pool, darts, shuffleboard and, of course, a Big Buck HD machine. To go with the latter, several taxidermied big-game heads adorn the cavernous space. By far the most striking attraction is the beautiful mahogany bar—a piece from boxer Jim Jeffries’ Los Angeles tavern, made in 1904. And if it’s raining, there’s a sign out front that boasts, “A free drink to anyone any day the sun doesn’t shine in Boulder City.” —Z.M. 533 Avenue B, Boulder City, backstopsportspub.com Badlands Saloon EST. 1995 This cowboy-themed gay bar holds down its corner of Commercial Center, welcoming all kinds through its (faux) swinging doors, from the old and wise to the young and shirtless, drag queens and leather daddies— even straight couples front-loading before heading over to the nearby Green Door. At one point, the Western theme included cow-print on everything, but today it’s a bit more refined, with wood paneling and black-and-whites of country legends dotting the walls. With cheerful bartenders and friendly patrons, Badlands Saloon always provides a good vibe. —L.T.R. 953 E. Sahara Ave., badlands-saloon.com The Dillinger EST. 2011 In any other town, The Dillinger might be a hipster hang: craft beers on tap, gourmet burgers with artisanal buns (The Baby Face Nelson comes with baked Brie and fig jam; how bougie is that?), modern rustic decor and a quirky 1930s gangster theme, hence the name. But this is blue-collar Boulder City, which means no snobs or curly mustaches—just quality food, drinks and small-town talk, with the occasional live band. Pro tip: Drop by in May for their annual block party. —Z.M. 1224 Arizona St., Boulder City, thedillinger.com Dive Bar EST. 2010 Well, it’s truth in advertising, if not creativity. Located in the same strip-mall spot that held industry after-hours hangout Favorites and, before that, mob thug Tony Spilotro’s pizza joint, Dive Bar is a lo-fi, no-frills hangout. The bartenders
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are heavily tattooed ladies slinging cheap cans of Hamm’s and shots of Jameson to a crowd that likes it loud and smoky. Bands are mostly punk with the occasional metal or ska outfit playing on a tiny stage— Murphy’s Law, the Toasters and the Mentors are among the acts that audiences have been able to get up close and personal with (occasionally a little too close if the mosh pit gets wild). —L.T.R. 4110 S. Maryland Pkwy., facebook.com/divebarlv
Italian-American Club EST. 1965 “Back when the mob ran the town ...” is a familiar phrase for many Las Vegans, but only a fraction of the Valley’s population can say they experienced that era. That’s what’s so great about the more-than-five-decades-old Italian-American Club, where you can step back in time to an age when dimly lit lounges with crooners behind the mic ruled the city’s entertainment scene. And you don’t need paisano blood to enjoy the club’s live music,
robust wine list or bocce ball courts. That’s right: The old-school pastime is alive and well at the IAC. —M.A. 2333 E. Sahara Ave., iacvegas.com Jake’s EST. 1990 Located just north of Sahara Avenue, Jake’s began its existence as an Italian restaurant before becoming a bar. Current owner Glenn Hill kept the name when he bought it from Jake in 1997, and even rebuilt it to the original Jake’s specs after a fire in 2008. If
BAR HALL OF FAME
Left: The Dillinger. This Page: Badlands Saloon
you’re a Broncos fan, you are likely already acquainted with the plethora of big-screen TVs, $2 Jake’s drafts and the homemade $2 food menu made by the owner (his red sauce is yummy). The pool tables draw a crowd and you can sing karaoke Friday through Sunday. Jake’s Friday night T-bone steak dinner special is a big deal, too. —G.B. 2301 S. Eastern Ave. jakesbarvegas.com Stake Out EST. 1981
Remember back when you were a disaffected poli-sci major at UNLV, and you got 86’d from Carlos Murphy’s? You probably ended up here. You were smoking cloves, downing Rolling Rock, chatting up vegetarian art majors and grooving to some KUNV Rock Avenue DJ. Well, wake up, Gen X, because that was a few decades ago, Carlos Murphy’s is long gone and you already divorced that art major. But the Stake Out rolls on, and in the roiling sea of change that is Las Vegas, that’s important. C’mon
pal. Let’s have a beer. And a Philly cheesesteak—we aren’t vegetarians anymore. —J.P.R. 4800 S. Maryland Pkwy. facebook.com/stakeout.bar Rum Runner EST. 1988 Over the many years the Rum Runner has been slinging drinks, it’s garnered a very specific clientele: Those who like to drink and drink cheap. With pints starting at $2.50 and 25-ounce brews in the $4–$8
range, you’re getting buzzed for less than $20. The Runner’s a fun place to be, especially if you’re a Packers fan. It’s got enough sports paraphernalia to create a pop-up, and the energy that comes with watching a game with fans makes the beer taste just a bit sweeter. Best yet: Good bar food that’s more dinner and less bite-size is just a step away at the 24-hour Badger Cafe, which will deliver right to the bar. —Amber Sampson 1801 E. Tropicana Ave., rumrunnervegas.com
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BAR HALL OF FAME
Top: Nora’s Adam Giles shakes up a cocktail Bottom: John Cutter
WEST Big Dog’s Draft House EST. 1988 An outpost of Wisconsin hospitality (think walleye and cheese curds), the Draft House has been slinging delicious food and libations on north Rancho for almost three decades. Big Dog’s relocated its award-winning brewery there in 2003, after being the first microbrewery in Southern Nevada at their Holy Cow location on the Strip. The facility has steadily expanded, and the patio is the place to be on Thursday nights for live music. There are always brewmaster specials and several guest taps. It’s heaven for hops lovers, and Big Dog’s
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even makes a wonderful house-made root beer for nondrinkers. —G.B. 4543 N. Rancho Dr., bigdogsbrews.com Hard Hat Lounge EST. 1962 The Hard Hat was pouring on Industrial Road long before the art galleries and dispensaries arrived, but it’s adapted to the changes. An outdoor patio and indoor food service have been added, as well as frequent live entertainment. But the Hard Hat’s main draws remain the same: cheap drinks and the pulp-style mural behind the bar, a depiction of shirtsleeved men gambling, drinking and ogling blondes, an image straight out of a Mike Hammer novel. Painted by a long-ago patron, it continues to
intrigue new ones. —L.T.R. 1675 S. Industrial Rd., hardhatbar.com Irene’s EST. 1977 Located on Spring Mountain Road, about three miles west of the Strip, Irene’s offers pool, darts and one of the finest 24-hour kitchens in Vegas. Remember those old-time ham-andegg breakfasts with the ham steak so big it had to be served on a separate plate? You’ll find it here around the clock for $9.99. There’s a Friday-night open darts contest with a $10 entry fee that’s matched by the bar, plus a free NFL contest every week during football season. The beer deal is a frosty PBR draft for $2.75 and, on Sundays, spicy horseradish-splashed Bloody Marys
in a tall glass are $2.50 apiece all day long. Do it! —A.C. 5480 Spring Mountain Rd., facebook.com/irenescocktaillounge Jackson’s Bar & Grill EST. 2003 This neighborhood gaming bar is home to some of the best steak specials in Las Vegas, including a 16-ounce rib eye for $15.99 and a 10-ouncer for $13.99, both available 24/7. Better yet is the Mondays-only $14.99 prime rib, which might be the best prime rib value in the entire city. Shots start at $5 and a draft Busch is $2.50, or get two— yes, two—pitchers for $11. This is the rare bar with a bitcoin machine on the premises and the joint is
flat-out jammed for Packers games. —A.C. 6020 W. Flamingo Rd., beststeakdeal.com John Cutter Est. 2008 As delicious as smoked sable tartare and a scientifically crafted Old Fashioned may be, many prefer a simpler time when a bloody steak and cold brew were enough to satisfy our tastes. That’s what guests can get at John Cutter. The dark and woody traditional tavern offers an extensive menu of American fare, some breakfast and Mexican food items, a handful of cocktails and a couple dozen beers, served by the cute all-women waitstaff. Expect to find different crowds throughout the day—gamblers, families, bro daters, drinkers and Red Rock hikers grabbing a bite on their way back to the city. —J.O. 11770 W. Charleston Blvd., johncutterlv.com Moon Doggie’s EST. 1999 Bedecked with sports flags, surfboards and other frat-house paraphernalia, Moon Doggie’s Bar is unconcerned with creating any kind of atmosphere besides “dive.” Highballs are served in red Solo cups, and there’s beer on tap and in the bottle. The bartenders are polite, prompt and will ID you if you look remotely underage, as Naked City Pizza’s jurisdiction ends just inside the order window at the back. Patrons understand if you need to use your outside voice inside Moon Doggie’s: Not only can you yell at any of the eight screens playing the game, but you can also sing Billy Joel lyrics—or whatever else you can find on the jukebox— at the top of your lungs. —Shannon Miller 3240 Arville St., facebook.com/moondoggieslv Nora’s EST. 1991 Las Vegas overflows with great restaurants boasting great bars, but just about every bearded mixologist from the Strip to the suburbs can credit Nora’s for celebrating the civilized drink in a town spoiled by cheap booze and crappy mixers. For more than a quarter century, it has elevated the boozing experience, curating a collection of local fans who appreciate proper drinks and tasty nosh. Last year, the Mauro family nudged Nora’s into a brand-new building; we like to slide in on Sunday nights, when the UNLV jazz band complements the best Sazerac in town. —J.P.R. 5780 W. Flamingo Rd., norascuisine.com
BAR HALL OF FAMERS 2012-2016 For details on our past Bar Hall of Fame Inductees go to vegasseven.com/BarHallofFame ACES & ALES
A bevy of beers on tap and killer bar food. acesandales.com
ATOMIC LIQUORS
The original Vegas dive bar gets a hip rebirth. atomic.vegas
BOOTLEGGER BISTRO
Classic Italian dining served with classic Rat Pack tunes.
BROOKSY’S
Canadian-style sports bar with attached hockey rink. brooksys.net
CHAMPAGNE’S CAFE
Past hangout of headliners and mobsters retains its vintage vibe. champagnescafe.vegas
COUNT’S VAMP’D Our city’s hard-rock and hair-metal home. vampdvegas.com
CRAFTSTEAK
Fine steak and fine Scotch in a sleek setting. craftsteaklasvegas.com
DELMONICO’S
A marble-topped bar serving some 500 whiskeys. emerilsrestaurants.com/ delmonico-steakhouse
DINO’S
Low-key, family-owned hangout with epic karaoke nights. dinoslv.com
DISPENSARY LOUNGE
Relaxed fern bar with a smooth jazz soundtrack. thedispensarylounge.com
DOUBLE DOWN SALOON Legendary punk-rock hang keeps it surreal. doubledownsaloon.com
DOWNTOWN COCKTAIL ROOM
The original Downtown lounge is still pouring top shelf. thedowntownlv.com
ELLIS ISLAND
Nightly karaoke and an in-house microbrewery. ellisislandcasino.com
FIRESIDE LOUNGE
This disco-era lounge keeps its fire pit hot! peppermilllasvegas.com
FOUNDATION ROOM
Elegant space with killer Strip views, 43 floors up. houseofblues.com/lasvegas/fr
FRANKIE’S TIKI ROOM
Tiki head and mai tais put you on permanent vacation. frankiestikiroom.com
FUN HOG RANCH Gay bar with strong pours and a friendly crowd. funhogranchlv.com
HARD ROCK CENTER BAR
The original “in the middle of it all” casino bar. hardrockhotel.com/party/centerbar
HERBS & RYE
By-the-era cocktail menu and popular happy hour. herbsandrye.com
MANDARIN ORIENTAL
Elegant hotel bar serves lovingly crafted drinks. mandarinoriental/com/lasvegas
MCMULLAN’S
Old-school Irish pub whets all whistles. mcmullansirishpub.com
MONEY PLAYS
Shuffleboard, darts, foosball, live bands—wanna party? moneyplayslv.com
N9NE
The original nightclub-restaurant still draws the trendy. n9negroup.com
PARADISE CANTINA
Margarita night for industry types and UNLV students. facebook.com
PETROSSIAN
Elegant piano bar with award-winning bartenders. bellagio.com/en/nightlife/petrossian-bar.html
PIONEER SALOON
Century-old Western saloon is worth the trip outta town. pioneersaloon.info
P.T.’S SIERRA GOLD
Ubiquitous local chain offers drink and food specials. pteglv.com
SAGO’S
Plenty of TVs for sports viewing and solid bar food. sagosbar.com
SAND DOLLAR LOUNGE
Blues bar draws locals and postgig musicians. thesanddollarlv.com
TAP HOUSE
Serving pizza, wings and the Cleveland Browns since the ’80s. taphouselv.com
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AMPLIFY
YOUR SUMMER!
200 S. 3rd Street Las Vegas, NV 89101 800.745.3000 Get your tickets now at the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center Box Office or ticketmaster.com.Â
SOCIAL INFLUENCE
By Misti Yang Illustration Charlotte Wall
HIDE YOUR KIDS, HIDE YOUR WIFE, HIDE YOUR EMAIL SERVER The real estate market gets hit with wire fraud scams
If you’re planning on making a down payment on a home anytime soon, listen up: Internet criminals are operating wire fraud schemes that could result in you losing your nest egg. Rick Cenname, a sales manager with Equity Title of Nevada, says that as the number of real estate transactions has increased over the past several months because of increased market demand, so have the attempts to steal would-be homeowners’ money. Perpetrators hack into email accounts mostly via sent emails phishing for passwords (think Clinton’s hacked emails—it’s a similar method), set up keyword searches and then find emails pertaining to the purchase of a home, specifically the transfer of funds. From there, they insert themselves into the process with fake emails containing alternate wiring instructions. “Attempts are a daily thing,” Cenname says, referencing emails from “the bad guys” trying to hack into title and real estate companies’ systems. “Fraud is the next step. They are waiting for people to make mistakes.” According to the FBI, $2.3 billion was lost via business email compromise scams between October 2013 and February 2016. If a consumer wires the money, there is little recourse. Banks do not insure wire transfers or confirm that a bank account number matches the intended beneficiary. And local law enforcement can offer little assistance. “The issue is that the FBI and the federal government, a lot of police agencies, have minimum thresholds in regards to the financial loss they will actually investigate,” says Sergeant Matt Campbell with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. “So, let’s say it was $20,000—which would devastate me—that doesn’t even meet the federal threshold. ... Once that money is gone out of Clark County, I have no jurisdiction.” “It comes down to the consumer being proactive,” Cenname says.
WATCH FOR RED FLAGS
You should be wary of messages from free email services such as Gmail, Yahoo or Hotmail, especially if they do not match the primary email you have for your real estate agent or escrow officer. The same goes for phone numbers and addresses; they should always match the original information you receive. Wiring instructions that list a beneficiary other than the title company are another warning sign, and lastly, if a person is being pushy about wiring money immediately, don’t. “We don’t push to have the money wired to us. When you want to close is on your terms,” Cenname says.
CENNAME SHARES FOUR STEPS TO PROTECT YOURSELF WHEN BUYING A HOME: 1 At the beginning of the purchasing process, obtain the escrow officer’s phone number, and use only this phone number for discussing the transaction. 2 Do not wire funds unless you have called the escrow officer and confirmed the wiring instructions. 3 Avoid sending any personal information in emails or texts. 4 Take steps to secure your email address: make sure you have a strong password, secure your Wi-Fi network and set up two-factor authentication.
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POLITICS
SOCIAL INFLUENCE
By Michael Green
The Power of Mindlessness ARE DEMOCRATS OVERTHINKING THEIR WAY OUT OF VICTORY?
W
ould you mind if Democrats learned to be mindless? Nevada Democrats do seem to have their acts together. They kept their heads in 2016 when everyone around them was losing theirs, and they accomplished a good deal of what they wanted at the 2017 legislature. And 2018 seems to be coming into focus. Representative Jacky Rosen will run for the Senate after only a few months in Congress, and the Democrat could face a serious primary challenge. Whoever wins faces a vulnerable Republican, Dean Heller, the only GOP Senator up for reelection in a state Hillary Clinton carried. Heller has managed to defend the Republican lack of transparency on health care legislation after falsely claiming Democrats did much of the same thing on Obamacare. He also said both yes and no on how he’s going to vote on the un-Christian and anti-life bill his white male colleagues generated without a woman or person of color being involved before finally saying he wouldn’t vote for the bill in its current form with Governor Brian Sandoval standing next to him—because Heller is not only bipartisan, but brave. County Commissioner Steve Sisolak has declared his candidacy for governor. He may face a Democratic primary—his commission colleague Chris Giunchigliani is making noises (this could make upcoming commission meetings must-see-TV). The winner of that contest will face Adam Laxalt, grandson of a major Nevada political figure. He’s also the hirer of outside lawyers who charge the state hundreds of thousands of dollars to do legal work that Laxalt’s people would be able to do if they were members of the Nevada bar, and he is also a defender of Sheldon Adelson’s interests to the point that a Gaming Control Board chairman who’s never had the whiff of a taint of a sniff of a scandal attached to him decided he’d better record a conversation he had with Laxalt. These campaigns will unfold with Trump registering the lowest approval ratings of any president at this point in an administration since polling was done with an abacus. But Republicans have won each special election so far, so why not think it can continue? Well, let’s be fair. In each election, the Democratic candidate did far better than she or he normally would. In Georgia and South Carolina, in blood-red districts, the Democratic House candidate came within three points of the Republican. But Republicans still won, and the reason is simple. To quote Charlie Pierce, America’s best political blogger (or at least my favorite): “Through decades of constant and unrelenting pressure, and through finagling with the franchise in a hundred ways in a thousand places, the Republicans have compressed the votes they need into an unmovable, diamond-hard core that will vote in robotic lockstep for whoever it is that wins a Republican primary. In American politics today, mindlessness is one of the strongest weapons you can have. Republicans vote for Republicans in Republican districts.”
That Democrats lack mindlessness can be proved even without referring to certain lefties in 2016. Consider the response to recent Democratic defeats from D. Taylor, the Unite Here leader who was the driving force behind the Culinary Union in Las Vegas for so many years. Besides properly attacking the president, the speaker, the Senate majority leader and the GOP congressional caucus, he declared, “Hope is not a strategy and ‘resisting’ is not a plan. The Democratic Party is out of excuses on its electoral performances. … In red states or blue states, Democrats should be able to compete— and win.” As Pierce shows, some of that point is debatable, but then we recall that Taylor’s union didn’t do all it could in 2014 out of displeasure with some provisions of Obamacare and the lack of movement on immigration reform. The Culinary Union was being mindful when it needed to be mindless. Heller is in the Senate because in 2012, Shelley Berkley ran 85,000 votes behind Barack Obama while Heller ran 26,000 ahead of Mitt Romney. Berkley won Clark County by 60,000 while Obama took it by 100,000. Obama carried Washoe County by 7,000, Heller by 20,000. Both large counties bear some credit or blame, depending on your political views. Berkley faced attacks over ethics, but also Washoe choosing the northerner over the southerner, regardless of party. Did Democrats ask themselves who would most strongly support Obama, or who was more “acceptable”? A minimal number of Republicans ask those questions. If more of them did, we might have a more mindful president. Laxalt’s grandfather ran smart campaigns. But he won his first
Democrats think when they should act and Republicans act when they should think. statewide race, for lieutenant governor, when Democrats refused to unite behind his opponent because of previous political battles. They were mindful when they should have been mindless, and have paid for it ever since. And thereby hangs the tale. Democrats think when they should act, and Republicans act when they should think. If Democrats don’t want Senator Heller and Governor Laxalt, they need to grasp that distinction. 7 Michael Green is an associate professor of history at UNLV.
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SWEET CORN PANCAKES Sweet corn pancakes, fresh berries, whipped coconut cream and agave syrup
CHICALASVEGAS.COM | @CHICALASVEGAS
AWAY MESSAGE
SPACES & PLACES
TEQUILA!
Entering the small town of Tequila, Jalisco, with its narrow cobblestone streets and beautiful colonial churches, it’s hard to imagine that so much of the world’s tequila is produced and exported from here. But the bustling community caters to the rapidly expanding empire of the blue agave plant—so rapidly, in fact, that many large tequila producers cut corners with additives such as flavoring, coloring and glycerine to keep profiles consistent and meet the demand. The agave plant in reality, needs a minimum of seven years to mature before it can be harvested. Vegas Seven photographer Krystal Ramirez recently visited four distilleries, which, she says, “provided such a captivating and eye-opening alternative to the big brands churning out the distilled spirit synonymous with partying and nightclubs.” Ramirez adds, “My love for Mexico only grew on this short visit. The generosity of its people and the love for every aspect of life and each other is unlike any other you will experience.” Photographer KRYSTAL
RAMIREZ
on her collection of images and impressions from her recent trip to Jalisco.
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SPACES & PLACES
AWAY MESSAGE
PREVIOUS PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: A tractor works the agave fields at the Tequila Fortaleza grounds; agave is the only spirit in which the flavor profiles are created within the plant as it’s maturing instead of relying solely on the oak barrels; a sign asks tourists to keep the town of Tequila free of trash; a native butterfly hides among the foliage in the blooms of the agave farms. THIS PAGE, FROM LEFT: Copper stills at the Don Fulano distillery: “Sunshine in a glass,” as Sergio Mendoza, owner of Don Fulano Tequila, beautifully describes tequila; Mendoza offers a tasting of his products. SECOND ROW: An employee at Tequila Arette distillery quality-controls the bottles before packaging; employees at Arette transfer the roasted piña from the autoclave (a pressure cooker) to be milled; a look at the walking tour at Arette, one of the oldest family-owned tequila distilleries in Mexico. THIRD ROW: All bottles for Fortaleza are handblown in Tonalá, Jalisco, by the company Hipólito Gutiérrez. BOTTOM ROW: Fermenting yeast at Tequila Fortaleza distillery; roasted piñas resting in a dark room before being stone-crushed with a tahona (a round 2-ton volcanic stone) to release the sugars prior to fermentation; workers take a break from milling piña. Fortaleza is one of the few distilleries that still does everything by hand in small batches, the traditional manner of tequila making.
THIS PAGE, TOP ROW, FROM LEFT: “When a tequila is finished and ready to be bottled, it’s quality-controlled and mixed in a lab at the distillery,” Ramirez says of her visit to Don Fulano distillery; Sophie Decobecq on Calle 23—the inspiration for the name of her tequila—in Nueve Esquinas plaza in the nearby city of Guadalajara; Decobecq offers insight to the process of distilling Calle 23. A major in biochemistry and engineering who studied research in fermentation, she makes her own yeast from scratch, which gives every bottle a unique flavor. SECOND ROW: All Fortaleza tequila bottle tops are made by hand, which means casting, painting, sanding and finishing off the cork by gluing it on. BOTTOM ROW: Fortaleza Añejo is aged for 2 years in oak barrels; a shot of the Fortaleza distillery at sunset.
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CONVERSATIONS
A piece of bread seen through Myhrvold’s lens.
Playing With Food
You’ve never seen bread and french fries like this before By Jason R. Latham
wants you to take a closer look at what you’re eating. So close, in fact, that you’ll barely recognize what’s sitting on the plate in front of you. Myhrvold, the former Microsoft chief technology officer whose cooking experiments inspired 2011’s award-winning Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking, is betting on your culinary curiosity to make his newest venture, the Modernist Cuisine Gallery (modernistcuisine.com), a success. The newly opened space on the first floor of The Forum Shops at Caesars features food as art—photos that not only make you hungry, but also make you wonder what you’re really seeing. “There are a lot of pictures where, when I took them, I couldn’t believe that’s what the food really looked like,” Myhrvold explains during a welcome event inside Border Grill restaurant in May. “There’s a picture in the gallery of chia seeds, and when you magnify them, holy shit, they look totally different!” he says, laughing. Myhrvold’s fascination with cooking and photography began when he was around 9 years old, he says, when he acquired his first camera, and, coincidentally, decided to cook his family’s Thanksgiving dinner all by himself. “The books of Modernist Cuisine gave me a chance to do both [cooking and photography], and so I thought it was possible to show people food in a way that they haven’t seen it before,” he says. The prints on display—starting at $849 each—showcase Myhrvold’s skills as a photographer and inventor. Many of the pictures were taken with the help of robots that Myhrvold built to assist him. The Trap Door Robot was created to drop objects with precise timing. That’s evident in a print of a Campbell’s tomato soup can that was photographed falling into soup from above. Another image, of ketchup being blasted onto french fries, makes use of Myhrvold’s Condiment Cannon. The artist even employs a Saberbot, which can slice the top off a Champagne bottle while he snaps away with his camera. Las Vegas’ reputation as a food destination and as a city of reinvention and innovation makes it the ideal testing ground for the gallery. Myhrvold’s goal is to invoke curiosity while also arousing the appetite of the viewer. “Some of our pictures are very abstract, so they’re not gonna make you hungry,” he says. “And the others, I’m kinda hoping they make you hungry.” 7
Nathan Myhrvold
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CONVERSATIONS
THE CHRONICLE
Cannabis’ New Wave With vertical integration and branding know-how, Reef aims to be a pot power player By Lissa Townsend Rodgers Photography Zoneil Maharaj
Welcome to The Chronicle, a new Vegas Seven print section and web channel dedicated to news, culture and profiles from the Las Vegas cannabis community. IF THERE IS ANYTHING LAS VEGAS HAS LEARNED during two years of legalized medical marijuana, it’s that the cannabis business is far from the old hippie stereotype. The technology in the grows, the innovation in the products, the security in the dispensaries, the sophistication of the brands—all are taking the industry to the next level. And getting in on all those levels is Reef, whose facility off the Strip combines cultivation, production and sales under one roof. It’s a vertically integrated model; from the first green shoots sprouting through soil to the quarter-ounce of Riff Raff Red Carpet Kush that a customer carries out the door, the whole process happens within the 165,000-square-foot facility. “From seed to end user takes [about] 14 weeks,” explains Reef CEO Matt Morgan. “You’ve got germ[ination], you’ve got veg, you’ve got flower, you’ve got harvest, cure, trim, packaging.” It’s a little different from when Morgan worked on his grandfather’s farm. “I’m a farm kid out of Montana. And I ended up with industrial farming, manufacturing, on the Strip in Las Vegas,” he says. In 2008, he reReef Dispensaries calls, “I felt cannabis was gonna reefdispensaries.com be the next big boom. My family’s pretty conservative, so they thought I was crazy, that I was becoming a drug dealer.” After experimenting with growing in Montana, he moved to Arizona and started a chain of hydroponic stores there, which led to him getting into the dispensary business in that state. Eventually, Morgan made his way to Las Vegas. He and a partner founded Reef Dispensaries/Tryke Companies in March 2014; they now have six facilities in Nevada and Arizona, with another opening in Reno later this month. Inside Reef’s off-Strip building, jumpsuited employees walk down white, door-lined hallways. Beside each door, computer screens glow, giving readouts of CO2 levels, temperature and water/ light schedules, all of which vary depending on the plant’s growth stage and sometimes even the specific strain. Every room has its own reservoir where “water is chilled to the optimum temperature for the plants to uptake as many nutrients as possible,” says Morgan, who also points out a
hanging monitor that feeds data to the computers. There are rooms full of tiny seedlings dotting enormous trays, vast spaces full of larger potted plants, junglelike areas with two levels of plants beneath near-blinding lights. Another room is full of nearly mature plants, heavy buds dotted with chartreuse trichomes, bending stalks and giving off a heavy, sweet odor. It’s the Reef’s most popular product: Khalifa Kush. Reef is the exclusive Arizona/Nevada cultivator of Wiz Khalifa’s celebrated strain. “We work very closely with Wiz and [rapper] Berner—I don’t know if I could pick a better fit for this space right now,” Morgan says, explaining that Berner, whose Exotikz line they also grow, connected them with Wiz. “[Berner] is a [cannabis] tastemaker,” Morgan says. “He finds something he likes. He’s really good friends with all these rappers, and pretty soon, they’re all rapping about it. He picked a strain called Girl Scout Cookies. … He made it almost a household name.” Another set of buzzer doors and another white hallway lead to the production area, where plants are processed and turned into everything from pre-rolled joints and individually packaged quarter-ounces to shatter and wax. “Our cannabis market starts as very flower-driven,” says Morgan, adding that “as the market matures … you [will] see a lot more of the topicals, the creams, the bath balms, the edibles, the vape pens. Stuff that’s [more] discreet.” The dispensary area is a large room painted aquatic blue and enlivened with cannabis-inspired artwork; wood counters display product in tidy rows. Morgan notes that Wiz Khalifa and Berner have brought in other “celebrities and actors [who]
June 29 –July 5 , 2017 vegasseven.com
Get a tour of the Reef at vegasseven.com/ thereef
Adult recreational marijuana sales are set to begin at midnight on July 1. Dispensaries that have received rec licenses (including Reef) will be able to sell their medical inventory to recreational customers. However, the rec distribution suit is still going through the courts and sales could be interrupted if it isn’t resolved by the time medical inventory runs out. Our advice? Go early, stock up and check the Vegas Seven cannabis channel as well as @thechroniclenv for updates.
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all come shop here when they come to Vegas.” Cannabis aficionados spread well beyond hip-hop—the Reef also saw some big names when the Country Music Awards were in town. Will they be taking on other celebrity strains? “I get approached every week by someone famous who wants to monetize their name and their brand into cannabis,” says Morgan, who notes that interest has spread from musicians into other creative fields. “They’re just discreet about it because they have a different image to uphold. Can you imagine Brad Pitt going on a red carpet with a big blunt? I don’t know if it’s that socially acceptable yet.” But bringing that kind of acceptability to cannabis, both as a business and a lifestyle, is part of Reef’s mission. “We’re still teetering on the edge, you know,” says Morgan. “We’re trying to create a brand that could take something that’s very taboo and flip it into a mainstream. That’s our goal.” 7
CONVERSATIONS
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THE COME UP
June 29 –July 5 , 2017 vegasseven.com
By Nicole Cormier Photography Andrew Sea James
DAVID JONES WALKS IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF HIS ESTRANGED FATHER, IRVING “ASH” RESNICK THERE’S A LOT TO SAY ABOUT BEING self-made, stories of the people who pull themselves up by their bootstraps. Shit, that’s the American dream. But it’s often not until success is realized that the hardships of the journey are fully understood. In this series, we look at the Las Vegans in the thick of it—dancing along the line of triumph or defeat. Because let’s face it, we learn best when the struggle is real. IN OLD LAS VEGAS, the one that’s remembered in the movies before corporate monoliths took over the Strip, there was an informal code about doing business: Loyalty and family come first. This is a vague memory today. One native Las Vegan, though, doesn’t romanticize those days. David Jones, 34, uses them as a road map in his business of working with venues and hip-hop artists to execute concerts from concept to show night. Under the moniker Legends Never Die, Jones has put on more than three dozen shows since 2012, most of them at Downtown institution Beauty Bar. As it turns out, the code runs in his blood. THE NAME IRVING “ASH” RESNICK has a place in Las Vegas history. Originally from New York, Resnick was a fight promoter who had influential relationships with the likes of Sonny Liston and Muhammad Ali, and he was a casino executive in hotels such as Caesars Palace, the Aladdin and Tropicana. He brought gambling junkets to the Strip by orchestrating excursions for out-of-state players, which helped define how casinos attracted high-rollers. Resnick’s success was built on these strong personal connections, though a few may have gotten him into trouble. (His mob ties earned him a hefty FBI file.) He’s also been credited for setting up the first baccarat game at the Dunes. Baccarat is now one of the more popular games for big spenders. The parallels between Resnick and Jones seem logical, a son following in his father’s footsteps. But the pair never knew each other. IN THE EARLY 1980S, Jones’ mom, Judy, worked as a cage cashier in a number of casinos. “I met Ash at the Aladdin,” she says. “He came in as a host to bring in more players to the hotel. He’d bring his customers to the casino cage where I was an assistant cage manager at the time.” They had a brief affair. Judy claims she told Resnick about their son. “He knew. Yes, he did,” Judy says. “He knew when I took David to see him at the Golden Nugget. David was just a few months old.” Judy says Resnick reached out again once he got sick. “Ash was in the hospital and he called me.
I called him back, and he wanted to know how the baby was doing. And we talked a little bit,” Judy recalls. Some time passed before another call came, but this time she couldn’t reach him. “When I called back, whoever answered said he wasn’t accepting any phone calls. And that was the last time I heard from Ash.”
ACCORDING TO JUDY, Jones’ feisty personality was apparent right from the start. “David was a different kind of little guy,” she remembers. “He had tantrums. I never saw a kid like him.” This temper followed him through adolescence, causing him to bounce around multiple high schools. This is when Jones dived deep into hip-hop. He struggled to express his thoughts, but given the right beat he could assert his feelings in freestyle. But he couldn’t move beyond pen and paper. So when an opportunity to book one of his favorite touring acts, Qwel & Maker, came up in September 2012, he found his new connection to the music. Jones broke ground at the former Beauty Bar weekly event Sunday Skoolin’. Today Jones runs his events from the front of the house—milling through the crowd, giving hugs and sporting a grin. From artist handling to marketing to stage management, he’s a one-man show. “He’s extremely organized and passionate about what he does,” says Patrick “Pulsar” Trout, a talent buyer at Beauty Bar and Los Angeles’ Viper Room. “It’s easy to get overwhelmed and stressed out in this line of work, but he’s always kept his cool and been able to adapt to any challenges put in front of him.” Jones embodies the yesteryear of Las Vegas, particularly when it comes to loyalty. According to him, it’s the way things still should be. “Family meant a lot, and friends were family. You treated people how you wanted to be treated,” he says. GROWING UP WITHOUT A FATHER wasn’t a primary concern for Jones, but curiosity came with age. “I always felt that it was important for my son
to know who his father was,” Judy says. “I never told him until he was ready and started asking.” Jones struggled with self-doubt during his emergence as a promoter. The unstable nature of the entertainment industry also created financial insecurity and anxiety, which is why he knew it was time to look for a support system. He was ready to see if he had more family. It was on his 18th birthday that Jones learned of his father, who passed away in 1989. But as Jones neared his mid 20s, his brother’s former in-laws mentioned that they knew Resnick’s family, including his two daughters. Jones determined he had to meet them. IN EARLY 2013, Lara Resnick was scrolling through Facebook on break during a singing gig when she found a folder labeled “Other” in her inbox. Lara says, “There was a message, and it said, ‘Hi, my name is David Jones, and this is really hard for me to write, but I have reason to believe that Ash Resnick is my father.’” The next day Lara pulled up a picture of David on a computer and saw a familiar face. “It was like looking at myself, but the male version.” She immediately called her older sister, Dana Gentry, an esteemed journalist, who initially had doubts. “For some reason, when I was a kid, people used to say they were related to us all the time … so I didn’t put much credence in it,” Gentry says. But once she and her sister saw more photos, they knew they had a half brother. “We have a little piece of our father back,” Lara says. The siblings met for the first time roughly a month after Jones reached out. The family relationship blossomed—they connected at events, dinners, birthdays and weddings. “It’s hard to convey to somebody the kind of person he was,” Dana says about her father. “I don’t even try anymore; it’s not important that David know who his dad was. What’s important to me is that he knows we love him, and he is part of our family.” “My dad was an ambitious self-starter,” Lara says. “That’s what I see in David, too. I think he’s going to be a self-made man. Nothing was ever handed to David, but he’s got an entrepreneurial spirit.” JONES’ SHOWS are sometimes wildly successful, like his concert with R.A. the Rugged Man or his Notorious B.I.G. tribute at Brooklyn Bowl (pictured) in May. Other times they are flops despite all of his best efforts. And though he hasn’t been able to pay all the bills with promoting yet, it’s one of his goals. He also still has aspirations to rap. As for whether he believes he’s going to make a successful career out his dreams, he says, “That shit’s in my blood.” 7
June 29 –July 5 , 2017 vegasseven.com
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CONVERSATIONS
LUCKY NO. 7
Photography Krystal Ramirez
We asked the WENDOH Media staff:
What’s your favorite bar snack? Public School’s Buffalo Cauliflower! Other places try to do it, but Public School has the recipe on lock! –Adam Christopher Smith, production coordinator, Life Is Beautiful Festival
Most bar foods are fried ephemera, but the Scotch Egg at Cornish Pasty Co. will provide some ballast for your booze. A hard-boiled egg wrapped in ground sausage, rolled in breadcrumbs and spices, then deep-fried, it’s a delicious taste break that will fortify you through several pints. –Lissa Townsend Rodgers, editor at large
The Mac and Cheese balls at Park on Fremont speak to my cheesestarved soul. They’re well-breaded, crunchy and stuffed with melty goodness. Excellent for happy hour! –Amber Sampson, web editor Rebar’s vegan dog on a pretzel bun along with a $3 Rolling Rock! –Kris Kass, social media manager Steiner’s “Brew City” french fries! Drunk or sober, these are the best fries in town. They are freaking beer battered and fried to perfection! And I’m a self-appointed french fry connoisseur, so I know exactly what I’m talking about. –Jordan Bruy, special projects coordinator I love going to Shakespeare’s Grille & Pub’s Wednesday-night trivia. I’ve never been on the winning team, but the poutine is reason enough to drive out to this Henderson watering hole. –Shannon Miller, editorial assistant The booze-soaked fruit from a Fink Bomb at Frankie’s Tiki Room. It’s healthy, and it will help you get drunker. –Jimmy Bearse, advertising manager
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June 29 –July 5 , 2017 vegasseven.com
C O M I N G U P AT B R O O K LY N B O W L L A S V E G A S J U S T
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i, Aug 25 -
A N N O U N C E D
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i, Sep 15-
J BOOG CATFISH + THE BOTTLEMEN RAW FEMME SHOWCASE SUN, JUL 2 > METAL WARS - SOMEWHERE THRU TIME VS. MR.CROWLEY THU, JUL 6 > ONE OK ROCK with SET IT OFF + PALISADES FRI, JUL 7 > BRUCE HORNSBY + THE NOISEMAKERS FRI, JUL 14 > P.O.D. with POWERFLO + FIRST CLASS TRASH SAT, JUL 15 > 40oz. TO FREEDOM - SUBLIME TRIBUTE BAND WED, JUL 19 > PLAYBOI CARTI with YOUNG NUDY + PIERRE BOURNE THU, JUL 20 > E R Y K A H B A D U SAT, JUL 22 > K H A L I D sold out! FRI, JUL 28 > E C H O + T H E B U N N Y M E N SAT, JUL 29 > AFI + CIRCA SURVIVE WED, AUG 2 > A DAY TO REMEMBER with WAGE WAR FRI, AUG 4 > THIEVERY CORPORATION SUN, AUG 6 > FLOW TRIBE + NEW BREED BRASS BAND FRI, AUG 11 > DEAD CROSS WED, AUG 9 > JERRY DAY CELEBRATION feat. GRATEFUL SHRED + CATFISH JOHN MON, AUG 28 > T H E F I X X TUE, AUG 29 > SIMPLE PLAN with SET IT OFF + PATENT PENDING FRI, SEP 1 - SAT, SEP 2 > VIVA RAS VEGAS feat. THE EXPENDABLES, LONG BEACH DUB ALLSTARS + MORE! WED, SEP 6 > X - 40TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR with SKATING POLLY THU, SEP 14 > L I L Y A C H T Y WED, SEP 20 > T H E M A G P I E S A L U T E SUN, SEP 24 > METAL ALLIANCE TOUR with OVERKILL, CROWBAR, HAVOK + MORE! SAT, SEP 30 > A N D R E W W . K . FRI, OCT 6 > J O N B E L L I O N THU, OCT 12 > F A T H E R J O H N M I S T Y FRI, OCT 20 > RUN THE JEWELS with DENZEL CURRY THU, DEC 7 > C H R I S R O B I N S O N B R O T H E R H O O D THU, DEC 14 > T H E D R U M S with HOOPS SAT, DEC 16 > D E S C E N D E N T S TUE, APR 10 > NIGHTWISH: DECADES NORTH AMERICA 2018 FRI, JUN 30 >
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