Category: Las Vegas Advisor

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Neon Museum

Neon Museum


The original “boneyard” for broken, defunct, and replaced Las Vegas signs was behind the YESCO plant on Cameron Street just south of Tropicana, where they were forgotten and subject to elements and entropy. In 1996, the city of Las Vegas and the Allied Arts Council of Southern Nevada got together and established the Neon Museum to preserve this unique part of Las Vegas history. Today, the non-profit organization occupies a big piece of property on Las Vegas Blvd. just north of downtown, consisting of the old La Concha Motel lobby from the Strip, the two-acre Neon Boneyard, and the North Gallery.

Green Shack sign
Ernie’s Pool Hall

For many years, we’d intended to review the Neon Museum and finally got around to it.

You check in at the La Concha building, where you can buy tickets or show your pass purchased online. From there, you walk into the main Boneyard, where more than 200 neon signs and other pieces from a couple of hundred Las Vegas properties are collected and displayed. To say that this is a wonderland of symbolic Las Vegas history is an epic understatement. It’s quite a thrill, even overwhelming to start, to lay eyes on these bright slices of the past; small or large, famous or obscure, monochrome or multicolored, they’re all as rare as they are fascinating.

Be sure to access the museum’s app via a sign with the QR code for the self-guided walking tour with 25 stops. The signs start just down the stairs and to the right of the gift shop and under the towering Hard Rock guitar; you walk the loop counterclockwise. In addition, informational signs along the path impart more historical details about what you’re seeing: signs from the Golden Nugget, Moulin Rouge (one of the biggest and brightest), Binion’s, Sassy Sally’s, several motels, a pool hall, a dry cleaners, a dairy (established 1907), the Green Shack restaurant (one of the longest lived in Vegas history), Treasure Island (a lying-down skull), wedding information, the Riviera and Sahara, even an Ugly Duckling (car rental).

Anderson Dairy
Ugly Duckling

It’s a dirt yard covered in gravel and since there’s a lot of wandering involved, it’s best to wear good walking shoes.
You can also pay for a tour led by highly knowledgeable guides. One idea is to do it on your own and perhaps catch some snippets from the guide or guides as you go; then, if you’re really into it, you can came back and take the tour.

the tour

Best is to come 20 minutes before sundown to see all the signs, including the ones that won’t be lit up; many aren’t. When it gets dark, you see all the illuminated signs — spectacular against the desert night sky and a new perspective. (You’ll also save by buying the daytime admission and taking it into the night.)

Another attraction at the Neon Museum is “Brilliant,” a 20-minute or so “audiovisual immersion experience” that takes place in the North Gallery. “Brilliant” reanimates 40 more vintage signs via eight projectors housed by the two Champagne-bubble cylinders designed to resemble the one from the original Flamingo; two dozen 3D speakers amplify the soundtrack of classic tunes about gambling and Las Vegas.

You gather in a park across the street from the lobby and at the appointed time, a guide takes you over to the North Gallery. The outside wall has a long mural depicting some historical moments that the guide describes; then he opens the gallery and you file into the first space to see a short video from the artist who put together the show. From there, you walk around to the outdoor “showroom” for the presentation.

After two hours on our feet touring the main Boneyard and waiting for “Brilliant” on a cold and windy early-spring evening, we didn’t enjoy as much as we could or should have. If you have to see everything, you should catch it, but if you don’t, you can probably miss it. (Here’s a link to the video.)

You leave the Neon Museum and drive south back into downtown and the neon night. As you pass all the historical signs installed along Las Vegas Blvd. and the original Glitter Gulch, you can’t help but be thankful that the museum is preserving this important part of Las Vegas’ past.

Daytime admission to the museum is $20 adult, $10 (7-17 years old), and $15 military; evening is $25/$12.50/$20. With the “Brilliant” package, add $17. The guided tour is another $8.

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Buffet Update – June 2024

Bellagio – The Buffet at Bellagio: Seafood Brunch turned to Seafood Dinner. Saturday & Sunday, 11 a.m. – 8 p.m. for $79.99. Brunch was 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. for $66.99. A $13 difference.

Circus Circus – Circus Buffet: This week’s buffet schedule is: Breakfast Buffet was Friday only but now it changed to Monday only. Same time 7:30 – 11 a.m. for $19.95. Weekend brunch is Saturday & Sunday, 7 a.m.-2 p.m. for $24.95, and weekend dinner is Friday-Sunday, 4:30 p.m.-10 p.m. for $24.95.

Luxor – The Buffet at Luxor: Weekday and Weekend Brunch ends 1 hour sooner. From 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. now. Weekday brunch is still at $30.99 per person. While Weekend Brunch increased by three dollars to $36.99.

Westgate – Fresh Buffet: Brunch went up by two dollars to $30 per person. Crab Leg Brunch was added this month. It’s served Friday and Saturday starting at 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. for $37.

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Otoro Robata Grill & Sushi (Mirage)

The Mirage is closing next month, so why are we reviewing Otoro Robata Grill now? Two reasons. First, we had a terrific meal there. Second, we figure lots of people will be heading over for a last look at the casino, so dinner at Otoro might work in well with that plan.

As the name indicates, this is robata cooking, which pretty much means skewers cooked over very hot charcoal. There’s also a full sushi/sashimi menu. The oysters in truffle ponzu with kizami and chives are a great starter if you don’t mind fading $39 for eight ($4.88 per). Sweet-and-sour calamari with wasabi vinaigrette ($18) is another winner.

A tall Kirin beer was $22 and a single Murai Nigori sake was $13.

The Skewers

Meat skewers are $10 (chicken) to $32 (baby lamb chop), seafood is $10 (salmon) to $28 (lobster), and vegetable is $6-$10. Trying all three categories, we went with Togarashiu sirloin steak, lamb chop, Chilean sea bass, and shishito peppers. We haven’t reviewed many robata restaurants, so we don’t have a lot to compare to, but the Otoro skewers were as good as any we’ve had. They’re not the teeny skewers you get at the Japanese Izakaya’s; instead, they’re substantial and three to four per person are enough.

The Sushi

Sushi and skewers make a good combo. There’s nigiri, rolls, and sashimi. The nigiri comes two pieces to an order, most selections priced $10-$14 ($21 for uni, $38 for bluefin tuna belly). We had several, including akimi tuna and a spicy yellowtail hand roll. Although the robata cooking is the main focus, the restaurant’s name comes from otoro bluefiin tuna, so the sushi is also a priority.

The Verdict

Everything we tried was good. It’s ironic that we’d have the best meal we’ve ever had at the Mirage (except for some buffet visits when it was there) just as the casino is about to close. It’s not cheap—the bill was $263 for two, including $55 for drinks—but you can get the experience for less during the Fri.-Tues. happy hour (see ENTERTAINMENT), which might fit in even better on a farewell visit to the Mirage. Check out the full menu here.

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Xiao Long Dumpling

This place opened in Chinatown (4275 Spring Mountain Rd.) in late 2021 with a ton of hype and high expectations, given that the restaurant’s name is its purported specialty, xiao long bao soup dumplings. We were impressed at the start — big room, plenty of customers, interesting menu — and it was looking like another good play in Chinatown. But it didn’t hold up. We tried several items—wonton in chili sauce, scallion pancake, beef chow fun, sauteed green beans, and, of course, the soup dumplings. Odd as it may sound, the best dish was the green beans. Price isn’t a problem; most of the dishes we had were $10 and under, with the chow fun most expensive at $14.95. A tall Asahi beer was $12. Our bill for two with two beers was $97 and we had a lot to take out.

Scallion pancake
Sauteed green beans
Beef chow fun

Peanut Butter Wontons?

One dish did stand out, but not in a good way. The spicy wontons are served in a peanut sauce that tastes a lot like peanut butter (the wontons are at the bottom). It’s a strange mix of flavors that we found interesting at first, but then too strange to keep eating. Think wontons mashed in with a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.

The Soup Dumplings

The dumplings were good. The pastry is very delicate, so you have to eat them with a spoon. It was a minor annoyance that they stuck to the paper they were served on, so some were punctured in the process of getting them out of the basket. Overall, we’d rank them below others we’ve sampled, e.g., China Mama or Shanghai Taste.

The Verdict

Hours are 11:30 am to 10 pm daily. Located in the Chinatown Plaza, Xiao Long Dumpling is easy to find and and get to, but there are too many other good options in the area to make it a priority, unless you just gotta try those Reese’s wontons. Click here to check out the full menu.

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Chicago Brewing Company at the Four Queens

Chicago Brewing Company at the Four Queens

A Reader Leader alerted us to the great scene and good affordable food at the venerable Chicago Brewing Company in the back of Four Queens. Though we’ve had drinks and watched games at this venue’s bar many times since it opened in 1999, we couldn’t recall eating there and a search of the archives turned up no review. Given the attention that Terry Caudill, the owner of Four Queens and Binion’s, has given us over the years with coupons (plus a recent two-part Question of the Day interview), we were happpy to give it a try.

In the far corner of the casino, you walk up a short staircase and enter the bar. With its brick walls and picture windows overlooking the slots, it’s a classic brew-pub and sports-bar scene, with numerous screens filling the walls, all showing sports.

It’s open 24/7, serves breakfast all hours, and boasts a non-smoking taproom. Cigars are available for the smoking section. The beer brewed on the premises has won awards at the Great American Beer Festival and the World Beer Cup. Ales include golden, brown, and pale; you’ll also find American amber, Bavarian wheat, and Irish stout, among other small batches and specials.

The food, as our LVA correspondent insisted, is good at great prices from a big menu.

Appetizers start at $6 for garlic knots and include meatballs, quesadillas, fries, chicken tenders and jumbo wings, calamari, and shrimp cocktail ($8-$16). Soup, chili, and side salads are $5-$6. Numerous sandwiches and burgers (including filet mignon sliders) go for $10-$15. Thin crust and deep-dish Chicago-style (natch) pizzas come in 9-, 10-, and 16-inch pies from $10 to $15 with various toppings at $1, $2, and $3 extra. Desserts are $4-$6. As you’d expect from the same casino with Magnolia’s and Hugo’s Cellar, it’s big food at reasonable prices. There’s also a happy hour Sun.- Thurs. 3-6 p.m. and 11 p.m.-1 a.m. with $2 off drafts and 50% off house wines and well drinks.


We tried the raspberry-pear-almond salad and chicken club with onion rings, both excellent and filling.

Best of all, we had the pleasure of lunch with our very old and dear friend and best-selling author Jean Scott. It was appropriate that we ate at Chicago Brewing with her; this reviewer first met Jean and her husband Brad in a room upstairs (comped, of course) way back in 1992. She was here on a visit from Georgia to play in a mahjong tournament, her new passion. We’re happy to report that she’s still as vital, frugal, and, as you can see from the photo beautiful, inside and out, as she was 32 years ago.

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Play Playground

Play Playground

Play Playground opened at Luxor in mid-January. This 15,000-square-foot facility on the second-floor Attractions level offers a couple of dozen “larger-than-life nostalgic” games and two bars. Nostalgic? That’s right. Play Playground boasts no VR, AR, or video games. Rather, the activities consist of adult versions of childhood physical, memory, puzzle, and team games designed for friendly competition; most games keep score and leaderboards track the highest ones. The entire experience is advertised as lasting up to 90 minutes.

You check in at the desk, show (or buy) your ticket, fill out an annoying waiver on a tablet, and get your badge, which gives you play credits on the competitive games and tracks your scores to compare to the leaderboard; you can also trade points for prizes. When you run out of credits, you can continue participating in activities that don’t require the badge for activation, such as the Bounce House, Bullseye Bounce, Balloon Room, photo machine, three-story slide, and ping-pong-ball catchier.

The credit games include Perfect Popper (fit shaped foam into their spaces on the wall before time runs out), Doctor Doctor (put the patient’s parts back together again), Ringer Run (move the ringer through the maze without touching the track), Poker Parkour (race along the balance beam without getting knocked off by big swinging poker chips), High Five (similar to Bop It), and activities with names like Find Words, Move It, and Ramp Up that involve ball rolling, letter and word combinations, and the like.

Like the illusion museums, it’s best to come with at least one other person to play the games with and compete against and larger groups seem to get the most entertainment. But even at 15,000 square feet, the space is fairly cramped and when it’s crowed on weekends, the lines can be long and the energy ebbs. Otherwise, it’s good wholesome fun, a definite departure for this town, but true to form for the Attractions level at Luxor.

Note that though Play Playground started out with kids’ hours, it quickly pivoted to 21 and older only, probably due to the ready availability of alcohol at the two bars.

Tickets start at $37 with a $2.50 service charge for booking online; hours are Sun.-Thurs. noon-midnight., Fri.-Sat noon-2 a.m.

Here’s the kicker. If you drive to Luxor, even if you don’t spend another dime there, you’ll also have another opportunity to reach into your pocket and pay the casino: If you’re not local, it’s $18 to park. It doesn’t matter if you stay 24 minutes or 24 hours, it’s 18 smackers. And we have to say, paying it is damn painful — and almost precludes us from reviewing attractions like these. We can’t in good conscience recommend coming here and ponying up 50% of the attraction price just to stash your car for an hour or so.

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The Chef Food Truck

The Chef Food Truck


Have you seen the 2014 film Chef, starring Jon Favreau and Sofia Vergara, with Scarlett Johannsen, Dustin Hoffman, and Robert Downey, Jr.? If not, the backstory on the Chef Truck, which opened earlier this year at Park MGM, will be lost on you, so here it is.

Actor, screenwriter, and director Jon Favreau collaborated with Roy Choi, celebrity chef and proprietor of the Korean-Mexican fusion restaurant Best Friend, also at Park MGM, to make the movie about a washed-up L.A. chef who restores a food truck in Miami; his somewhat estranged 10-year-old son tags along on the cross-country journey back to southern California, selling specialty Cubano sandwiches and tacos along the way.

Based on the friendship that developed between the two during the Chef experience, 10 years later Favreau and Choi teamed up again to launch the Chef Truck, a true-to-life replica of El Jefe, the truck in the movie, at Park MGM.

It’s a fairly elaborate operation, with the big food truck and its two windows for ordering and pickup, an order taker and two cooks, and a half-dozen tables in an alcove at the back.

Also, two miniature replicas of the truck from the movie are on display in Plexiglas cases, the highly detailed interior created with mirrors.

The menu consists of three Cubanos ($16-$17) and variations on the classic grilled ham-and-cheese between a torta bun; these are chicken and turkey; tofu, eggplant and portobello mushroom; and pork, ham, cheese. The Chef Truck also serves grilled cheese ($12), shrimp tacos ($13 for two), a pork bowl ($16), and plantain-chip nachos ($10). Sides include croissants ($5), mozzarella ($6) or ham and cheese croquettes ($7), and plantain chips ($7), plus four desserts ($6-$8).

We tried the chicken and turkey Cubano and the tacos. The tacos each come in two corn tortillas with a few chunks of pork and lots of julienned radishes and picked onions, and a big slice of lime. The sandwich was a little heavier and greasier than we would’ve preferred. All in all, the food was serviceable, about what you’d expect from a food truck in a casino — pricey, somewhat generic, but plenty of it. With tax and tip, the bill came to $33.

It’s very popular for lunch. We spent perhaps a half-hour checking it out around 2 p.m. on a Thursday and there was a line the whole time. Our order took around 20 minutes to arrive.

Chef Food Truck is located just beyond the casino on the way to the Aria Express tram across from Starbucks. It’s open 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.

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Free Buffet at the Wynn

[Editor’s Note: This trip report was sent to us by frequent LVA correspondent extraordinaire, Peter B, who took advantage of his Platinum status at the Wynn, which includes a free buffet for two during the month of members’ birthdays. Platinum is the second tier in the Wynn Rewards system (between Red and Black); earn 7,000 tier credits and you’re in. Get the details here. Other Platinum benefits include free self-parking, $10 birthday freeplay, priority seating at the buffet, two Wynn Master Classes for two, and a $100 spa credit.]

I just enjoyed my Wynn birthday-month Platinum comped $150 comp at the buffet. It’s not as big as the Bacchanal at Caesars Palace, but as far as I’m concerned, quality prevails over quantity. There are no big Asian or Latino sections, but that’s not what I’m looking for at at high-end buffet. There’s a salad bar, but who wants to pay $75 for rabbit food? I go for the protein.

The Wynn is generously matching tier with Caesars Platinum (free with no annual fee VISA card) and Fontainebleau Silver. For MGM Pearl (no-annual-fee MasterCard)and Mirage Legend (free for NV locals), you have to make a little detour through Silver, but once you’re on the “upgrade tour,” you’ll be able to figure it out. This is good through the end of May. Here are Wynn’s rules.

The Wynn Platinum card is good until 1/31/2025. To get the birthday-month $150 credit, show your players card and driver’s license at the Rewards desk and tell them where you want to spend it.

The line for walk-ins was long and though the one for people with pre-paid reservations was shorter, flashing my Platinum card allow me to skip both and I got seated almost immediately. Good to be a VIP.

The seafood section was great: cold Maine lobster and Dungeness crab claws, steamed snow crab legs, large cocktail prawns, sushi, and much more. Even cute little caviar thingies. This is my little seafood appetizer with lobster claws, Dungeness crab legs and jumbo prawns.

Carving station has excellent garlic-infused prime rib, filet mignon, leg of lamb, all perfectly cooked. The filet mignon was very tender and lean, one of the best cuts of beef I’ve ever had at a buffet. Ask for medium rare from the center or more done from the end.

These are the cute little caviar bites. The orange is actually salmon roe on an edible spoon.

Tip: Most buffets have little plastic or metal cups for the cocktail sauce, jus, horseradish, salad dressing, drawn butter, etc. at the various stations. Not so much at the Wynn, but you can pick up an empty glass cup at the steamed crab leg station and fill it up from the big container.

I don’t care much about filling up on bread, pasta, and pizza, but it did all look good.

Unlike in previous years, the $150 birthday-month dinner credit now covers only the food, so it’s enough for two at $74.99 apiece (no sales tax on comps). Alcoholic drinks are extra. I opted for the endless pour, which came down to about $40 with tax and tip. When I asked for a drink with the nice birthday dessert surprise tray they gave me, burning candle included, the waitress told me I was two minutes over the two-hour time limit. But she asked her supervisor and got me a big cup of Prosecco to go anyway.

The Wynn is one of those few places where the customer is still king. You can get just about anything, as long as it’s a reasonable request.

At the end, they gave me a birthday dessert platter with gold-like glitters and a burning candle. No singing, fortunately!

Self parking: Insert your Platinum or higher card at the entry gate and it opens, no ticket. Do the same when you exit. Best to park on the second floor, so you don’t have to take an elevator to casino level.

Funny observation: Several guys throughout the place have big signs reading “Knowledge.” Apparently, they’re there to help first-time visitors find their way.

The Lake of Dreams has a bunch of new shows, every half-hour after dark. Not many people know about it. They’re free to watch from the balcony behind the front desk.

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Buffet Update – May 2024

Caesars Palace – Bacchanal Buffet: Regular brunch buffet is now Monday and Thursday only instead of Thursday-Monday. Still 9 a.m.-1 p.m. at the same price of $64.99. No more weekday vs weekend dinner prices. Daily dinner is 3 p.m.-10 p.m. at the price of $84.99.

Circus Circus – Circus Buffet: This week’s buffet schedule is: Friday breakfast buffet, 7:30 a.m.-11 a.m. for $19.95. Weekend brunch is Saturday & Sunday, 7 a.m.-2 p.m. for $24.95, and weekend dinner is Friday-Sunday, 4:30 p.m.-10 p.m. for $24.95.

MGM Grand – MGM Grand Buffet: Weekday brunch went up by one dollar to $32.99. Hours are still Monday-Thursday, 8 a.m.-3 p.m.

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Scoundrels Steak Special

There are a lot of good bar steak specials out there—Mr. D’s. Jake’s, Jackson’s—but this one at Scoundrels Tavern & Eatery might be the best (not counting our Member Rewards deal at Jacksons). It’s served Tuesdays only from 3 pm until they’re gone. It’s a 16-ounce ribeye that comes with salad, loaded baked potato, vegetable, and garlic toast for $19.99.

This meal is terrific and it’s huge—one dinner will easily feed two. The salad is a notch above to start, the big baked potato comes with butter, sour cream, bacon bits, and cheese, and if they’re lying about the in-house-cut ribeyes being 16 ounces, it’s because they’re bigger than that.

Do They Get Gone?

Yes, they do. Lots of steaks come out of the kitchen and we’ve been there around 8:30 pm when they’ve sold out . They usually last longer, though (the bartender usually knows exactly how many are left). Best to order as soon as you get there.

Other Items

There’s a big menu. We’ve tried the burger ($12.99), the cheesesteak ($13.99), and chicken fingers ($13.99). None of these stood out like the steak, but they’re decent options if it’s not Tuesday.

Parlay With the Bonuses

Scoundrels has a play-$250-get-$50 sign-up bonus and a play $500-get-$50-bonus Sun.-Tues. from 8 to 10 pm. These can be played on the same day. Show up before 8 for dinner, then play after.

Watch the Games

Scoundrels is a good sports bar to boot, with sports always on the big screens. The only negative is the location, way out on the north side at 6310 N. Lamb Blvd., but it’s a straight shot out I-15 N near the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.