A look at renderings of the Plaza Hotel & Casinos Main Street Reimagination Project Tuesday June 14, 2022. The Plazas renovation includes 4 new additions: Pinkbox Doughnuts, smoke-free gaming, rooftop patio for Oscars steakhouse and an outdoor Carousel Bar under the iconic dome.
Tuesday, June 14, 2022 | 5:23 p.m.
A carousel bar. A nonsmoking casino area. A Pinkbox Doughnuts shop. A steakhouse patio.
All four are planned for the Plaza, the vintage downtown Las Vegas casino located steps from the Fremont Street Experience.
Jonathan Jossel, CEO of the Plaza, announced the projects during a news conference Tuesday that was complete with former Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, with his trademark martini in hand, Mayor Carolyn Goodman, street performers, and, of course, boxes of donuts.
“We always felt that Main Street would be the best street downtown,” Jossel said. “That’s certainly starting to happen. This will be a reimagined Main Street.”
Arguably the centerpiece of the multipronged renovation project, a significant portion of the casino’s lights-bathed porte-cochere will turn into the 100-seat Carousel Bar, which will be complete with horses and decorative spinning martini glasses.
Like the other additions, the planned 2,500-square-foot bar, which will have its own cooling system for hot days, is expected to open late this year.
“It’s going to be an over-the-top theme bar with great cocktails and great drinks,” Jossel said. “This is going to be a must-see attraction in downtown Las Vegas.”
Near the new bar, Jossel said, will be a 2,500-square-foot casino floor area that will be 21-and-over and smoke-free. It will go where a former outdoor beer garden area used to be.
The space will be geared toward younger gamblers who don’t care for second-hand smoke and like colorful backdrops for photos that eventually find their way to social media channels.
The Plaza has an agreement with social media personality Brian Christopher, who specializes in critiquing slot machine games, to help market the area.
“This is going to be the first nonsmoking casino in downtown Las Vegas,” Jossel said. “It’s going to be sensory overload and very Instagramable.”
Above the new casino floor space will be the Oscar’s Steakhouse rooftop patio.
Named after former Mayor Goodman — he doesn’t own the restaurant, but rather has a licensing agreement that allows his name to be used — the steakhouse’s patio will have seating for just over 200.
If facing the Plaza’s main entrance — where the Carousel Bar will be — the Pinkbox shop will be to the left, with part of the buildout facing Main Street.
Pinkbox co-owner Judith Siegel said the company’s ownership had been searching for a spot downtown for a while, eventually deciding that the Plaza would be a prime location.
“We were looking for a while on the Fremont Street Experience, so, when Jonathan contacted us, we thought our brand really fit (the Plaza) brand,” Siegel said. “Jonathan wants to create this great experience here and, when you walk into a Pinkbox location, we’re the modern day Winchell’s (Donut House) — we’re creating smiles.”
Siegel said the franchise’s Plaza store will feature an exclusive alcoholic “doughnut milkshake.”
Construction on all four projects is set to begin later this month, officials said. SR Construction will serve as the general contractor.
