Why is Atomic Lounge Opening in the Arts District When It's Downtown?

Why is the Atomic Lounge opening up in the Arts District when it has one downtown already? Will they be closing the downtown one?

Don’t worry. Atomic Liquors isn’t going anywhere. It will remain the oldest freestanding bar in Las Vegas, having opened and operated continuously in the same location, 917 Fremont Street, since 1952.

Actually, it was founded in 1945, though it was called Virginia's Cafe. As the story goes, the proprietors grew weary of cooking and capitalized on the popularity of their secret-ingredient Atomic Cocktails, which patrons sipped while witnessing the above-ground nuclear tests from the Nevada Proving Grounds (now the Test Site) starting in 1951.

Anyway, some confusion has been caused by the nuclear proliferation of the Atomic brand, spreading over Las Vegas like a mushroom cloud.

In early 2019, it was announced that Atomic owner Lance Johns had acquired the defunct venerable gay bar Snick’s for $1.35 million. In its space (and that of some adjoining businesses, like Theatre 7) will go Atomic Tavern, so dubbed on June 15. Patrons of Atomic Liquors need not fear redundancy. Johns promises that Atomic Tavern will be in no way like its corporate parent, which hosts a craft brewery among its other attractions. This is not the only Atomic spinoff. You can dine downtown at Atomic Kitchen on Fremont East.

One of the attractions of the Snick’s location was that it was going for below market value. Another was that it has a restricted gaming license, something Johns undoubtedly hopes will roll over. (Never underestimate the value of a slot route, especially in hard economic times.)

According to Eater Vegas, “The venue is approved for new signs and has already received an internal makeover by the ISI Group, famed local mural experts who worked with artist Brett Rosepiler to decorate an entire wall of the narrow interior.”

Given the expansive footprint he has to work with, Johns plans to host as many as five discrete food-and-beverage concepts. None of them will be a gay bar. Johns, however, told a reporter, “We’re very LGBT-friendly. I wouldn’t see anything over there that wouldn’t be approachable, friendly, welcoming to the LGBT community. But would it be exclusively that use? No.”

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Jul-30-2020

I'm being picky

I'm a nitpicker by nature, so don't be irked when I point out that I wouldn't really call 917 Fremont Street "downtown", even though Google Maps arbitrarily says that it is.  A "downtown" pretty much ends at the last contiguous block of downtown businesses (office buildings, government buildings including the post office, storefronts, department stores, diners & cafeterias, etc.); to my knowledge, that eastward stretch of contiguous downtown-business blocks ended at 7th Street. Beyond that line, a city's area becomes something else, often without a name, but maybe "midtown", which is a label I would definitely apply to the Huntridge Theater area. As for Snick's, I had never heard of it, so I never knew it was LV's oldest gay bar, and I didn't know there was a gay bar in that area. I honestly never noticed it on my dozens of trips down LV Blvd. by car or bus. I'm surprised that the plot of land cost $1.35M, but I assume that the owner thought that getting that much money was fabulous!

Jul-30-2020

The Atomic-LGBT connection

I'm not surprised that Atomic Liquors purchased a lot that held a gay bar in order to expand via another business.  When you think about it, a "nuclear" family has traditionally meant one that has 1 man and 1 woman, married, as its center.  Atomic power is created by ripping open a nucleus, and we could say that LGBT people, especially LGBT couples who have kids (either naturally or via adoption), have opened and expanded the concept of what a family can be.  I can't say for sure that LGBT families like mushrooms more than "straight" families do, or that any member of Fallout Boy is LGBT, but I can say that I've seen many LGBT families who radiate love and joy.

Question of the Day - 30 July 2020

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