View On Charity

Criss Angel Gives Back to the Community with His New Restaurant Cablp

Mindfreak magician Criss Angel blows our minds once again with the opening of his new restaurant, Cablp (pronounced Cablip), which stands for Criss Angel’s Breakfast, Lunch, and Pizza.

While dirt biking with his family through Moapa Valley earlier this year, Angel discovered a restaurant called Sugar’s Home Plate. Sugar’s opened April 10, 1991, with owners Ray and Judy Metz, gaining popularity in nearby resorts and communities, such as Lake Mead, Overton Beach, and Echo Bay. The owners displayed a collection of sports memorabilia, specifically from the Los Angeles Dodgers. The restaurant was known for its burgers, chicken-fried steak, Saturday night prime rib feasts, and famously delicious carrot cake.

Angel says that his family fell more in love with the area as they spent more time there and got to know the town and the amazing people. When the opportunity to buy Sugar’s and invest in the area popped up, they immediately jumped on it and soon began to remodel. His family currently consists of himself and his partner, with their children: seven-yearold Johnny Crisstopher, two-year-old Xristos Yanni, and baby number three arriving in November.

Angel opened the restaurant to the public on July 23 in Overton, Nevada, with his brother, Costa Sarantakos, and pizza extraordinaire Mike Baram. Sarantakos ran his father’s New York restaurants for years, while Baram owns Baldwin Pizzeria and Restaurant in Parsippany, New Jersey.

Not only did Angel remodel the existing restaurant location in just six weeks to open his restaurant, but he also plans on opening up to 20 more locations in the next year in areas including Arizona, Nevada, and California. The restaurant will also feature a youth job program and a free meal outreach program for underprivileged and pediatric cancer families. Angel also wants to manufacture Cablp Ice, dedicated to the gourmet Italian ice made and sold at the restaurant.

Angel worked extensively with pediatric cancer charities even before his seven-year-old son, Johnny Crisstopher, was born with leukemia. Angel says he wants to use the proceeds from the restaurant and give 100% of it back to those charities, including Make A Wish and Cure for Kids, where Johnny goes. “The idea with this place is to make it a really, really strong business model: a meaningful business whose proceeds can literally go towards giving back,” Angel says.

Criss Angel greets ViewOn Editor Kathy Lee | Photo credit: Bailey Chism

Angel was all about the community during opening day. He personally went to every table and spoke to every customer, getting feedback and just chatting as if they were old friends. He shocked fans and customers with his kindness and friendly energy, making young children speechless when they got the chance to talk to him. It’s very clear that he cares about the people and their experiences more than anything else. After all, without them, he never could have done this.

Starstruck fan Maggie Zubia meets Criss Angel | Photo credit: Bailey Chism

The restaurant itself displays fun quotes across the walls and has a very homey diner feel. They offer dine-in eating, a walkup window, and online ordering. If you choose to walk in, you are immediately greeted by the staff and seated with menus. They don’t take long to take your order, and you will not be disappointed when you get your food. Angel created a menu with a variety of food and fun names to match. The food itself comes out to you quickly and is reasonably priced considering its amazing quality. The menu offers breakfast items from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m., which includes a breakfast sandwich for $4.99, double chocolate muffins, sugar waffles, and a $2.99 cinnamon crumb coffee cake. Lunch items will be served from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and will include pizza, which is $2.99 for a regular slice or $3.49 for a pepperoni slice.

Aside from the casual dining environment, the restaurant will also periodically be used as the Magic Room, where Angel and his friends will perform for their customers. At these shows, people will have the opportunity to donate to those pediatric cancer charities that Angel is involved with.

Angel has been doing his work as a magician since 1994 and has never faltered in personality, kindness, or in his work with charities. He has worked with child cancer causes since 2001, and this became even more important when his son was diagnosed at five years old in 2015.

Additionally, Angel also bought 13.5 acres of land in Logandale in order to open Criss Angel’s Escape Ranch. As he describes, it will be a place where families that are going through difficult times can escape for three days and two nights. At this camp, they will enjoy the use of side-bysides, stay in a fifth-wheel RV, and be able to eat completely for free. There is no set opening date for the ranch.

Angel says that as soon as they get Cablp up and running smoothly, he’ll be able to focus on these other projects, including the ranch, shows at Planet Hollywood Resort in Las Vegas, and a new show he is working on.

The escape ranch will be another separate business, becoming one of many that Angel uses to help the community. He says that Cablp is the first spoke in a wheel that will be a chain of businesses focusing on giving back to the community.

EDITORS NOTE:

Cablp restaurant closed temporarily at the end of July in order to expand, as demand was significantly greater than expected. The expansion is scheduled to be completed soon. The tentative schedule is to be opened on September 2nd with limited operating hours. See their Facebook for more information.

Criss Angel’s Cablp is located at 309 S. Moapa Valley Blvd. in Overton, Nevada. Hours of operation will be Thursday-Monday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Closed on Tuesday and Wednesday. For questions, please call (702) 397-8084.

Jonathan Wagner