Courtesy Flamingo Las Vegas
A view of the Flamingo Las Vegas.
Thursday, June 4, 2020 | 8:30 p.m.
The oldest resort on the Strip reopened Thursday without the pomp and flair that was happening across the street at Caesars Palace and Bellagio, but by 1 p.m. the hotel lobby at the Flamingo was packed and guests were getting comfortable at bar stools and gaming machines across the casino.
Before the shutdown orders in March, the Flamingo was in the process of relocating and renovating its Paradise Garden Buffet, a project that will almost certainly be put on the backburner for weeks if not months. The bar and lounge area at the classic Vegas destination’s other new eatery, Bugsy & Meyer’s Steakhouse, is visible now that construction walls have come down. The brand-new restaurant could open in the next few weeks.
Joseph Matts was a bit disappointed to find his favorite Flamingo spot, the Strip-facing Bird Bar with its outdoor patio, cheap happy hour drinks and beer pong, wasn’t set to return Thursday. He said he visits Las Vegas every few months but declined to name his hometown.
“This is the best bar because you get to watch everyone walk by on Las Vegas Boulevard. It’s like everybody’s favorite neighborhood bar back home — it just happens to have the best view and the most people passing by,” he said.
Most casinos didn't opening all of their amenities Thursday, but the Flamingo has the benefit of the Linq Promenade, the outdoor mall running from the Boulevard to the High Roller observation wheel lined with shops, bars and restaurants. Many of those businesses reopened Thursday, but few pedestrians were roaming the promenade in the hot and sunny early afternoon.
Jerome Thomas, general manager of the Haute Doggery, said he was slowly calling members of his 20-person team back to work depending on demand.
“We’ve got two managers and two cooks, just enough to cover what’s coming in,” he said. “As we get busier, we’ll bring more people back. We talk to our people every week, just keeping in contact and making sure everybody is OK.”
The gourmet hot dog shop’s parent company, Gen3 Hospitality, also operates the Flour & Barley pizzeria on the promenade and Holsteins at the Cosmopolitan, also open Thursday, as well as the Barrymore at the Royal Resort.
Thomas is expecting decent traffic this weekend and next and hoping the outdoor environment at the Linq Promenade will make it a desirable destination on the Strip. “Outdoors is always better. Once it picks up and we get our staff back, then we’re cooking. We were going to have the best year we’ve ever had this year. The first quarter was great, it was just moving. We’ll get it back.”
The 550-foot-tall High Roller attraction resumed operations Thursday and is open from noon until 8 p.m.
