Friday, Sept. 26, 1997 | 10:44 a.m.
Bob Taylor's Original Ranch House Supper Club has not closed for good.
Restaurateur Jeffrey Special explained that he and business partner Stephen Mikrut were looking for a location "to duplicate the original ranch house feeling" of the steak houses of yesteryear.
Then, they learned that the Ranch House off Ann Road was for sale.
Special, 39, former general manager of the Carson, Calif.-based Red Onion restaurant chain, and Mikrut, 25, former copier for American Business Publications, a Las Vegas marketing and consulting firm, this week negotiated a lease-option agreement with owner Bob Ratner to take over the landmark restaurant, which closed last month after more than 40 years of operation.
"We hope to re-open the restaurant Oct. 15," Mikrut said. "At least that's what we're shooting for."
It's an appropriate choice of words.
Bob and Ila Taylor, who opened the restaurant in 1955, spent evenings broiling steaks for guests and afternoons operating a trap and skeet range on the restaurant grounds for sports enthusiasts.
"It was quite a place," said Steven Parker of Nevada First Business Brokers, who negotiated the deal. "The skeet-shooting scene in the movie 'Viva Las Vegas' was filmed at the Ranch House."
For two generations, the stone-and-wood structure was frequented by locals and celebrities such as Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr., who wanted to spend a relaxing evening away from the city.
But in recent years, the city expanded and where there was once open range, there are now highways and housing divisions surrounding the 115-seat restaurant.
Indeed, Ratner blamed recent construction at Ann Road interchange and U.S. 95 for killing business, and forcing him to shut the restaurant's doors.
Because of the construction that began in January 1995, residents in the Painted Desert area west of U.S. 95 who wished to got to the restaurant had to drive south to Lone Mountain Road and then west on Rainbow Boulevard to Rancho Drive.
"They had to loop below the restaurant to get to it," said Jeanne Corcoran, Nevada Department of Transportation spokeswoman.
"The Ann Road construction project was an aggravation and an inconvenience to everyone," Corcoran said. "They suffered because of it, and because of competition from the Santa Fe, Texas and Fiesta hotels."
A month ago, the Ann Road interchange opened, allowing motorists to get from U.S. 95 to Ann Road and Ranch Drive without as much hassle.
But Mikrut said he believes quality of food and service will do more to bring back business to the Ranch House than any road improvements.
"This place was cranking when Bob Taylor owned it," Mikrut said. "In the past five years, the quality has gone down a little bit, and we plan to focus on quality and food service."
Mikrut said the highest quality black Angus steaks will be served, and the partners also plan to expand the menu to include more fish and chicken dishes.
The bar will remain open and he plans to apply for a restricted gaming license to add 15 slot machines, he said.
"Today, guests like to smoke a cigar, enjoy a martini and play slots in the lounge while they wait for a table," Mikrut said.
Only cosmetic changes are planned.
"We're not going to change much," he said. "We're going to keep the cowboy pictures on the wall, and we're going to add a little more Western art."
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