By Joe Schoenmann
Thursday, May 9, 2013 | 5:50 p.m.
Map of Golden Gate Hotel & Casino
1 Fremont St., Las Vegas
There may be nothing more “Vegas” than the shrimp cocktail.
Well, that is after gambling, neon signage, diminishing water resources and the mistaken belief that prostitution is legal here.
But beyond those things, the shrimp cocktail reigns supreme when thinking “Vegas.”
Friday, the originators of the Las Vegas shrimp cocktail are giving the crustacean-filled sundae glass, with sauce, its due.
In honor of National Shrimp Day, the Golden Gate, 1 Fremont St., is rolling back the price of its shrimp cocktail from $2.99 to 50 cents, which is what it cost when it was first served at the casino in 1959.
Mark Brandenburg, Golden Gate president, said his stepfather, Italo Ghelfi, brought the San Francisco staple to Las Vegas in the late 1950s. It became so popular that numerous other casinos began to offer their own version of the shrimp cocktail.
The Golden Gate cocktail offers about 30 medium-sized shrimp in a ice cream sundae glass with a family-secret shrimp sauce on top. Brandenburg says the hotel sells about 1,000 per day.
Estimating the weight of one medium shrimp at 2.5 grams, that’s 75 grams per glass; 75,000 grams (165 pounds) per day; and about 30 tons per year.
Golden Gate Hotel & Casino The Golden Gate bills itself as being the Las Vegas original — it started out in 1906 as Hotel Nevada, which opened to the public with electric lighting, ventilation and steam heat radiators. The original rooms, with modern improvements, are still in use. The city's first telephone was installed there, with the phone number "1." A group of Italian-Americans from the San Franscisco Bay area bought the property and established the Golden Gate in 1955.
Blending vintage and contemporary Las Vegas, the boutique casino-hotel was renovated and expanded in 2012 with new luxury suites and a high-limit pit. The new lobby displays artifacts from the hotel's history, while high-tech features add to their list of Las Vegas firsts, including a Gen 2 energy-generating elevator, sophisticated HD surveillance system and Tangerine Global digital streaming for its in-room TV entertainment centers.
The casino features sexy Dancing Dealers and blends the latest in slots and video with traditional craps, blackjack and newer table games like 3-card poker and Let it Ride. The casino pays 10x odds on dice and 3 to 2 on all blackjacks. See more photos from the renovation celebration.
The Golden Gate also features Du-Par's Restaurant and Bakery, a 24-hour diner that serves what Esquire Magazine has called the "Best Pancakes in America." The Golden Gate also continues to offer "Las Vegas' Original Shrimp Cocktail," a tradition since 1959, served in a tulip sundae glass for $2.99. 1 Fremont St. Las Vegas,
NV 89101
702-385-1906
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