Las Vegas Old-School Dining

 


With less than a week left in Las Vegas,  Ira started rattling off a list of restaurants he wanted to hit before we left. Chicago Joe's was at the top of that list. When we were planning our wedding, we asked our realtor and friend Deborah for her favorite spot in town that had staying power. We knew how places in Vegas would come and go, and we wanted somewhere we could keep coming back to every year for our anniversary. Without missing a beat, she said "Chicago Joe's." So, after our Justice of the Peace wedding, we went there for dinner with Johnny, Rebecca, Kimber and Jacqueline. It was such a lovely evening. We later found out that Joe was actually Deborah's partner's brother--small world!. 

Back in the day, Ira would pick up takeout and Joe would be there, offering him wine while he waited. We've been back so many times with friends. The meat lasagna never disappoints and the marinara sauce with cheesy garlic bread is just so yummy! It was fun to take our friend Adrian there as a thank you for letting us stay, especially since he had never been before.

Cheesy Meat Lasagna

While I was looking for a good photo of Chicago Joe's I stumbled across this article called 14 Historic Las Vegas Restaurants for an Old-School Dining Experience. We've actually eaten at half of them, which I think is pretty cool. Battista's made it on the list too, and funny thing--when Ira and I were at the dentist last week, he was chatting with the staff about our move to Italy. Another patient in the waiting room asked, "Oh, do you speak of Italian?" Ira said no,  but we're learning. Then the guy mentioned that his grandfather came to Vegas from Italy and opened Battista's. He said his uncle used to play the accordion (which I totally remember from the one time I went), and he worked there as a kid.


He said it was so cool to see the mix of regular people and celebrities--it was a really fun place to work. But the family sold it in the 2000s, and now Harrah's owns it, which explains why my two experiences there were so different. It's sad that the corporations have taken over. If you talk to any of the old-timers, they'll tell you how much they miss the days when the mafia ran things. They treated everyone like family. It's crazy to think about, right? But I guess it's just another way of longing for simpler times, which I can relate to.

A dopo

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