HAPPY HOUR, HOT DOGS, GIN-SOAKED CAVIAR & BIGFOOT
The Starters
Las Vegas Arts District restaurants are paying attention to patron pleas, as more first-rate happy hours pop up throughout the ’hood. Main St. Provisions set the standard early-on with its popular version (daily until 6pm). It's so good, one of us simply ordered one of everything. Then, Ada's doubled down in May, expanding their happy hour to twice daily (see the Order of the Week below). Now, in steps Bar Boheme, with its own bar-top deals (4–6pm, Wed–Sun). The advantage? Enjoying a $9 martini and a $16 Nicoise Salad (or, a $5 beer and $10 poutine!) while overlooking what is arguably the Arts District’s most elegant dining room. It's a low-key, high-falutin’ bargain at a moment we could all use one.
Let’s chat about the celebrated corn dog. Unlike the (available at every ball park and most Costcos in America), the corn dog is relegated mainly to Disneyland, county fairs, and shopping mall food courts. It’s that last one local entrepreneur Stephen Siegel (Pinkbox Doughnuts) hopes to expand, after buying Hot Dog On A Stick from bankruptcy. Citing that “people remember [this brand] with real emotion and nostalgia,” Siegel plans to grow the 44-store footprint with, among other concepts, high profile street-front stores and drive-thru only locations — which begs the questions: Why visit Hot Dog On A Stick if you can't see the staff in goofy outfits smashing lemons in a garbage can? and, Why not Wienerschnitzel? No word on whether the short-shorts will return.
A venue where retro short-shorts are acceptable is the summertime pop-up Camp Palms. (Note: You will never see John here.) Located in the same vacant restaurant where Santa’s Saloon showed up during the holidays, Camp Palms offers a similar immersive set-up and kitschy vibe the kids (21+) love. This time, however, think 80s summer camp: Capri Sun-style cocktails-in-a-sippy-bag, sing-alongs, campfire stories, Wagyu hot dogs (you had our attention… and then you misspelled “wiener” on the menu ), and Bigfoot sightings. We’re convinced drugs (a) were involved in the creation of Camp Palms, and (b) are required for full, uh, immersion.
Remember Nothing Bundt Cakes — the local success story that launched in 1997 in the kitchens of Dena Tripp and Debbie Shwetz, and was recently sold for $2 billion ? Well, a curious new dessert concept is on the way from Ms. Tripp and other partners, called Shook Shakery. The idea? Cake mixed in with milk shakes. Four (!!) local shops are already in the works, and from the renderings, it appears the concept calls for the small (900SF) stores to be drive-thru and walk-up only. The intent seems clear: a scalable franchise that apes the success of Dutch Bros. Will cakes-in-shakes some day be worth $2 billion?
Pet Peeve of the Week
When a restaurant host or hostess greets me with “Do you have a reservation?” instead of "Welcome! How may I help you?”
–S
Order of the Week
Lemon Pepper Pork Ribs
Adas’s
If you're wandering the Arts District in search of a tasty snack or light meal, the pork ribs at Ada's are the kind of gem that slips under the radar — or they did, until they landed on the twice-daily Happy Hour menu (3–5pm and 9pm–close). The ribs get sous-vide until spoon-tender, then coated in a zesty lemon-pepper batter, then deep-fried into what John calls "the best little bar snack on Earth." Served with a side of Ada's house-made ranch, they hit just right whether you're grazing at the bar or chasing a late-night, protein-forward bite. Even better? At Happy Hour, they're just eleven bucks!
