Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Downtown deals: Still plenty of interesting food specials in wake of casino closures

Shrimp cocktail and pancakes from Du-Pars Restaurant

L.E. Baskow

Shrimp cocktail and pancakes are popular offerings at Du-Par’s Restaurant and Bakery in the Golden Gate.

With the closing of the Mermaids and La Bayou casinos Monday, Las Vegas is also saying goodbye to fried Twinkies, fried Oreos and the $1.50 All-American hot dog special.

But despite the loss of those three signature concession items, downtown Las Vegas is still loaded with cheap and unique food specials, both new and old.

For those worried about the culinary void, here are some of our favorite downtown deals that could satisfy the craving:

    • Lanai Express at the Fremont features a bargain-priced shrimp cocktail.

      Lanai Express at the Fremont features a bargain-priced shrimp cocktail.

      Shrimp cocktail — Du-Par's Bakery at Golden Gate Casino and Lanai Express at Fremont Casino

      The only shrimp cocktail left downtown for under $1, the Lanai Express version features cocktail sauce, lettuce, shrimp and more cocktail sauce. It debuted with the restaurant’s opening in the mid-1970s and hasn’t changed prices since.

      Down Fremont Street, at the Golden Gate Casino’s Du-Par's restaurant, staff at the bakery bar serve the original Las Vegas shrimp cocktail for $3.99. It debuted in 1959 for just 50 cents, before rising to 99 cents in 1991. In 2009, the cocktail jumped to $1.99, then $2.99 in 2012. It rose to its current price in 2013, but also increased the size of the shrimp used in the cocktail, bakery manager Antonia Rodriguez said.

      Du-Par's is also known for its famous buttermilk hotcakes and bevy of freshly baked offerings.

    • Spam and hash browns.

      Spam and Eggs breakfast — Market Street Café at the California

      With the casino’s second-floor Aloha Specialties restaurant closed through August, downtown-goers looking for their Spam fix can get it paired with eggs and hash browns at California’s main floor Market Street Café for $7.

      The Spam dish, a Hawaiian favorite according to service staff at the restaurant, debuted with the restaurant’s opening in 1975, and remains a staple of its menu.

    • Octuple Bypass Burger — Heart Attack Grill

      With eight meat patties cooked in lard for $23.36 and the option of 40 bacon slices added for $7.40, the Octuple Bypass Burger carries over 19,000 calories — if you can finish the entire burger.

      For those looking for a “lighter” option, the 2,100-calorie Bypass Burger has just one patty for $9.25 with the option of five additional bacon slices for $0.92.

      The renowned burger restaurant, known for making “food that kills,” according to owner Jon Grosso, opened in 2005.

    • Original Coney Dog — American Coney Island Chili Dog at the D

      A hot dog in a bun, covered with chili, mustard and onion for $4 is probably not the cheapest hot dog option downtown, but it’s certainly one of the more original ones.

      The eatery, modeled on Coney Island chains in Detroit, opened in 2012 when Fitzgerald’s became The D Las Vegas.

    • Tacos al pastor — Taqueria El Buen Pastor

      Opened in January, in one of the more prominent Fremont Street Experience locations near the street’s intersection with North 4th Street, the Mexico City-style taco shop serves its renowned “al pastor” tacos loaded with pork and pineapple. The popular type of Mexican pork, deeply spiced and slowly cooked on a vertical rotisserie known as a trompo, is available in a taco for $2.50 each.

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