A smashburger and a beer for $5? It’s not quite a Top Tenner, but it’s a good one in the Arts District.

A burger and a beer for $5? That has to be a bargain, right? Maybe not if the burger is a slider and the beer is Red, White, & Blue (wait, we like RWB), but that’s not the case here. You get a smashburger (the latest burger rage) that’s slightly larger than a regular McDonald’s burger, with cheese, pickles, and chipotle mayo. You might want another, so go ahead and order it; there’s no limit. It comes with a choice of a 16-ounce Michelob Ultra or 18Bin Blonde Ale. The deal runs Mondays-Thursdays from 11 am to 3 pm.

A Cool Place in the Arts District

Located in the Arts District at 107 E. Charleston, 18Bin is one of multiple bars/restaurants clustered in the area, including Berlin, Artifice, Taverna Costera, and Pepper Club in the English Hotel. While many of these bars are artsy types that don’t have TVs, 18Bin does and they’re tuned to sports when the games are on. The bar and tables are inside, with a big courtyard with seating outside. 

This is a busy hang on weekend nights, but mostly quiet during the day when the special runs. The full menu includes bar snacks, soups, salads, and sandwiches, with several vegetarian options; we had a decent ceviche for $13. 

The Verdict

This is an excellent lunch play and a reason to check out the Arts District, but it’s also a drinking play. The 18Bin Blonde is $9 by itself, so ordering the special gets you a $5 beer and however many hamburgers get lined up in the process. If you linger after the special, there’s “Yappy Hour” (bring your pooch) Mon.-Thurs. from 4 to 6 pm, with 50%-off beer, wine, and select appetizers. On Tuesdays starting at 7 pm, it’s all-you-can-drink margaritas and $3 tacos.

Promoting itself as the “world’s first certified gluten-free fast-food restaurant chain,” Power Soul Café is the brainchild of Las Vegan Dina Mitchell, who for 15 years was in charge of the west coast expansion of Tropical Smoothie Cafes, a franchiser with 1,500 locations nationwide. She wanted to branch out from smoothies and add healthy food items to her own brand and came up with Power Soul.

Three locations have opened this year, the flagship on Warm Springs Rd. near Durango in the southwest valley, one in Henderson (1469 E. Lake Mead Parkway), and the third right around the corner from our office at Valley View and Spring Mountain. We stopped off on a hot summer afternoon to see what it was all about.

It’s different. There’s no dining area or any seating neither outdoor nor indoor. You order from a walk-up window; scan the giant QR code for the menu or read it through the window behind the point of sale. The all-glass front allows you to see the food being prepared and it’s handed through out to you. You can also order in advance and pick up from self-serve refrigerated lockers, which are convenient, especially since the cafés are open 24/7.

The menu consists of two dozen smoothies ($7.49), acai bowls ($12.99), chicken nuggets ($5.99-$10.99) and vegan chicken strips ($5.99), eight pizzas ($12-$15), and various breakfast waffles and egg sandwiches ($3.99-$8.99). The online ordering system allows you to filter for keto and vegetarian and 60 or so allergens to avoid.

We ordered at the walk-up window and got a Soul Colada smoothie and an Ah-Sigh-Ee (for how acai is pronounced) bowl. Both were tasty and refreshing when we got them back to the office, though at 109 degrees out, it would’ve been unpleasant to consume them in the car or standing around the Chinatown parking lot. Nor would we have wanted to do that between December and March, especially with the potential for sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia (brain freeze) from these products. When it’s nice out, you can do so; otherwise, it’s best to have somewhere you can eat them, because you can’t do it at or in Power Soul.

The total bill came to $24.20 with tax and a $2 tip. It might sound a little steep for a smoothie and bowl, but they were fresh, healthy, filling, and satisfying.

Josh Capon, a New York celebrity chef with a number of restaurants under his belt, is renowned on the East Coast for his Bash Burger, a perennial people’s-choice winner at the New York City and Miami Wine and Food festivals. Which is why we found ourselves at Fontainebleau yet again, to sample the burger at Capons in the Promenade Food Hall.

As an aside, we’ve been to Fbleau way more than we would have expected when it opened. But we can say this: The easy in and out of the parking garage and the free four-parking for everyone provide all the incentive we need to try what we can there, without spending two arms and three legs.

First, the name is pronounced “KAY-pons,” not kuh-PONE’s, the way we suspected.

The menu consists of three burgers — Capons Classic with lettuce, tomato, pickles, cheese, and secret sauce ($15), the Smoke Show that adds onion-bacon jam and onion straws, and the Blackjack with truffle aioli and potato sticks (both $16). There are also chicken sandwiches ($14-$16), chicken “tenderonies” with a choice of four sauces ($15), waffle fries and onion rings ($7), a dozen varieties of scooped gelato, soft-serve shakes, and sundaes ($7-$12), and a few adult beverages ($9-$10).

We sampled Capons Classic, which might not look like much, especially in the photos, but it’s made from a custom beef blend and the patty is extraordinarily juicy, with very fresh lettuce and tomato, a sauce somewhat like In-N-Out’s, and a bun that holds up fine, even under the onslaught of ooze. And this bad boy is good for a meal and a half, even without fries. We brought home half for later.

We also had to order a Topo Chico (“Little Mole”). We rarely see this sparkling mineral water in Vegas, but we’ve always liked it in Mexico, sourced and bottled in Monterrey since 1895. It’s $7 and worth it, at least to us.

The total bill came to $27.14, including tax and a $3 tip.

Yes, pretty steep for a burger and bottled water from a food hall. We’re not soft-pedaling that. But we do like Fbleau and Capons is among the few food items there that are (mostly) affordable for the likes of us non-jetsetters.