# Anyone else surprised (dismayed?) by Las Vegas? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 9, 2023, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948 "2023-03-09T21:07:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2023, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948/221 "2023-03-22T21:57:49Z")
Although I agree, views of gambling differ greatly from country to country, and people in any given stereotype vary a lot. Some Asians and Australians, for example, are said to be keen gamblers, but I’m sure this is often inaccurate and often very much so. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2023, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948/222 "2023-03-22T21:58:23Z")
@procrustus 2 above … You sound like an informed connoisseur. Where on Earth do you recommend going for the best of gambling and sex? Not disputing your contention, I just need to plan a vacation … 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2023, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948/223 "2023-03-22T22:02:17Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Where on Earth do you recommend going for the best of gambling and sex? I bring my sexual partner with me (my wife). So, anywhere works for us. For gambling, my favorite was in Hungary just after the Soviets left. A real classy place with a view of the river, and dealers would could converse with players from all over in their native languages. A little casino in Baden Baden was also very upscale and free of loud machines and bad music. (the website says they have slot machines, but they must be in a separate room, I don’t recall any) > **[Casino Baden-Baden | Baden-Baden EN](https://www.baden-baden.com/en/sightseeing/casino-baden-baden)** > > Dive into a world of old-school gaming with roulette, blackjack, poker and slot machines in the ambience of the Belle Epoque. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2023, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948/224 "2023-03-22T22:14:14Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > a (very) modest fat-cat like myself or a _seriously fat_ fat-cat can live _real_ large, Which is the Number One reason I go to Vegas: food & drink. Not the gambling; I have four huge Indian casinos/resorts within 30 minutes of home. Not the scenery; I’ve lived desert adjacent most of my life. But in Vegas I can eat at some of the finest restaurants in the country at prices well below what the same dinner would cost in L.A./Chicago. Not to mention very skilled bartenders, comely waitresses, etc. This trip coming up we are doing an “old school” theme and hitting Golden Steer, Peppermill and Bootlegger. Oh, the caloric humanity! ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2023, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948/225 "2023-03-22T22:48:05Z")
Peppermill! I spent many happy late nights there in the 1980s around the flaming water firepit with my then-young first wife while the very hot then-even-younger things brought excellent drinks for very nearly free. It was raffish, but it was fun. Last time I went back ~1 year ago was after my wife had died. I told the cute server-babe that I had been a regular here about 5 years before she was born. She said she heard that a lot. But it was still special. > [@Procrustus](#): > > For gambling, my favorite was in Hungary just after the Soviets left Immediately post-communist eastern Europe sounds like it was incredible. I missed it completely since at the the time I was still part of the military sworn to destroy all that. Once I had the freedom to participate it had become … ordinary-ish. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2023, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948/226 "2023-03-22T23:32:57Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > AIUI, you can’t drink out of a can or bottle that the alcohol was sold in, but plastic cups are fine. That is quite possibly the case, but I’m reasonably certain that I observed people drinking beer from the bottle or can. But I cannot swear to it. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2023, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948/227 "2023-03-22T23:38:54Z")
> [@Jegpeg](#): > > I flew to Pheonix (flight was cheaper than LV and I was finishing the holiday as a ranch between it and Tulsa) Between Phoenix and Tulsa covers quite a bit of ground. Where was this ranch? Perhaps you meant Tucson? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2023, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948/228 "2023-03-22T23:52:18Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > That is quite possibly the case, but I’m reasonably certain that I observed people drinking beer from the bottle or can. I’m sure it happens, but every time I’ve seen cops on the Strip or Fremont they were occupied with bigger concerns than container violations. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2023, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948/229 "2023-03-23T00:04:52Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > but every time I’ve seen cops on the Strip or Fremont they were occupied with bigger concerns than container violations. To be fair, there were a fair number of cops on Fremont on Friday night. They were traveling in packs of four or five, generally meandering through the crowd. I don’t recall seeing anybody getting hassled by the cops, but I was only out there until about 10:30 or so. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2023, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948/230 "2023-03-23T02:32:36Z")
> [@Smid](#): > > Only thing mostly lacking is BBQ, but you can find some, but more chains, though the place inside Binions, Bennys, which often was closed by 8pm, was absolutely magnificent when we finally managed to get there when was open back end of 2021. But I’d say BBQ is something the West Coast lacks too, there’s a need to serve it from a burning bucket in the middle of nowhere, I guess. When my daughter was living in Vegas, she took us to a great BBQ place in a hole in the wall in a shopping center. Nowhere near the strip. Good and inexpensive. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2023, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948/231 "2023-03-23T02:56:51Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Driving up and down the Strip shows you nothing about what’s inside the nicer hotels. > > Vegas has many places with $1,000/night hotel rooms and $500/person dinners. But those outfits aren’t flashing big signs at you on the Strip. > > I lived there roughly 1985-1995. The overall demographic had been sliding downwards during my era and has continued to slide since. The pursuit of volume naturally means more workin’ class folks and therefore an ever-smaller percentage of high-roller class folks. I’d been to Vegas a bunch of times in my 20s and 30s. Mostly for bachelor parties. My experience was that if you wanted to do anything besides wait in line for hours with the peasant-folk, you needed money. Presumably the more money you have the more exclusive your accommodations. ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2023, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948/232 "2023-03-23T10:41:51Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > When my daughter was living in Vegas, she took us to a great BBQ place in a hole in the wall in a shopping center. Nowhere near the strip. Good and inexpensive. Sounds like my sort of place, I’d appreciate if you could tell me the name of it, or the mall. I’ll travel out of my way. We did a chain BBQ next to the Linq which was uninspiring and I did think "well, brits will not become fans of BBQ with these overpriced small portions. Just checking and it’s Virgil’s Real BBQ. I will not be bothering going to there again. If anything, we’re low-rollers. Give us a locals spot and we’ll seek it out. They eat and drink cheaply there, and the type of food is often excellent. Ellis Island, though more expensive, was the one few places I’d have to visit if there for a day on a hop to somewhere else. Though even now it seems on the expensive side at 24.99, it used to be about 11.99 with a beer. The beer seems to be $3 last time I was in there. Maybe the BBQ in there would be an answer, but it never seemed to be opened, and the pull of what was cheap prime rib drew us in. From what I recall it’s Fremont street for prime rib deals now. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2023, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948/233 "2023-03-23T12:47:42Z")
I haven’t visited for decades but there are few settings where I’m more comfortable around crowds and noise than a sports book. Fortunately those are much closer to home now. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2023, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948/234 "2023-03-23T15:11:48Z")
Vegas actually has acceptable BBQ these days, but you have to get away from the Strip to find it. Closest to the Strip is [Rollin’ Smoke](https://www.rollinsmokebarbeque.com/highland-drive-menu/) on Highland behind Planet 13. Then there is [Mabel’s](https://www.mabelsbbqvegas.com/menus/) inside The Palms. But for the really good stuff, you have to travel to the hinterlands of Henderson and such. It’s there, but you have to look for it. Maybe even head out to [Fox Smokehouse](https://www.foxsmokehousebbq.com/menu) in Boulder City. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2023, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948/235 "2023-03-23T17:20:51Z")
> [@Smid](#): > > Sounds like my sort of place, I’d appreciate if you could tell me the name of it, or the mall. She’s coming to visit tomorrow so I’ll ask. If the mall had a name, it was generic - it was not a destination type mall, just a bunch of stores. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2023, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948/236 "2023-03-23T18:05:13Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I’m surprised at the dislike for it in the thread. Well, the thread title is more likely to invite the city’s detractors than its advocates. ---
**Author:** ![Jegpeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jegpeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jegpeg)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2023, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948/237 "2023-03-23T19:15:12Z")
Ooops yes Tucson ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2023, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948/238 "2023-03-23T21:17:20Z")
You know… I was just thinking that while I really didn’t like Las Vegas and that’s why I started the thread, I adore New Orleans. Maybe I should start a thread about New Orleans? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2023, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948/239 "2023-03-23T21:20:59Z")
laissez le bon temps rouler! ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2023, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948/240 "2023-03-23T23:22:31Z")
Born and raised in Boulder City- highly recommend the smoked wings at Fox’s (the rest of the BBQ is decent but the wings are amazing). Having lived her the better part of 50 years and possibly moving out of state soon, I have to say , it’s really comfortable and fun place to live , especially Boulder City and Henderson but in Vegas there are some old cool neighborhoods as well. We have our favorite local casinos and rarely venture to the Strip or Downtown (when company is in town) . Like many have mentioned, it is endless choices for food. Also , no state sales tax, traffic isn’t the worst when compared to LA , and though I still hate July-September, October- Early June is unbeatable weather. I drive out to feed my horse early in the morning and with the big open sky and mountains, every day is a new view. I’ll miss it if I go. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948.md?page=13)