{"id":917262,"date":"2026-06-02T15:29:49","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T22:29:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/?p=917262"},"modified":"2026-06-02T15:29:52","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T22:29:52","slug":"bootlegger-italian-bistro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/blog\/bootlegger-italian-bistro\/","title":{"rendered":"Bootlegger Italian Bistro"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There are a few old-time joints in Vegas. The Bootlegger Italian Bistro is one of them. The original Bootlegger opened in 1972 at Tropicana and Eastern and moved to 7700 Las Vegas Blvd. S. in 2001, about two miles south of the Tropicana corner, where it still operates today. Through the years, this place has been a go-to for food, live music, and good old-fashioned people watching. Lots of names have been through the doors and every once in a while you see one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Food<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a big menu. A little pricey and we wouldn\u2019t rate it the best Italian food in town, but it\u2019s good. Certainly different, based on northern Italian family recipes. The minestrone, for example, contains a generous ration of cabbage and beans, more than most. It\u2019s $12 for a big bowl. Basic pastas are in the $20s, seafood pastas in the $30s, Veal parm is $40. Lunch dishes are $18-$25 and there are slight discounts if you\u2019re gambling at the bar (see below). While waiting for the food you get a plate of warm bread knots with marinara for dipping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Neck Bones<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Then there\u2019s the neck bones. Years ago, one of Las Vegas\u2019 busiest non-casino restaurants was Venetian Ristorante. It was located on W. Sahara where Herbs & Rye now stands. The Venetian was famous for one appetizer that no place else served: neck bones. They were braised pork bones served in a broth with bread meant for sopping it all up. Anthony Curtis recalls trying them for the first time and wondering what the fuss was all about, but everyone ordered them. When the Venetian closed in 2003, he never saw them again until they appeared on the menu at Bootlegger ($25). Nostalgia comes in odd forms. After quizzing a bartender, we learned that the owners of the two restaurants are family; hence, the recipe travels.
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Music<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s live dinner music in the restaurant and an attached music venue where some of Las Vegas\u2019 top bands play, currently Santa Fe and the Fat City Horns, on Monday nights with admission starting at $10. Call 702-609-3390 for details.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Video Poker<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are machines at the bar and the best schedule is better than most Las Vegas bars, 7\/5 Bonus Poker returning 98.01%. If you play you can get a $11 Peroni comped, or a house red with your pasta. There\u2019s also a play-$20-get-$20 bonus every Friday if you\u2019re signed up with Gambler\u2019s Bonus (ask the bartender).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lieutenant Governor<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The daughter of the founders, Lorraine Hunt, was an accomplished casino-lounge performer. She entered politics and was elected Lieutenant Governor of  Nevada in 1998.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Verdict<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This place is too old-style cool not to like. We said it\u2019s \u201cpricey,\u201d but not egregiously so. Consider that you\u2019re paying a little more for the ambience and vibe, which is present in abundance. It\u2019s something of a must-do at some point in your Vegas exploration. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are a few old-time joints in Vegas. The Bootlegger Italian Bistro is one of them. The original Bootlegger opened in 1972 at Tropicana and Eastern and moved to 7700 Las Vegas Blvd. S. in 2001, about two miles south of the Tropicana corner, where it still operates today. Through the years, this place has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":917264,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1446,1453],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Screenshot-2026-06-02-152511.png?fit=637%2C390&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917262"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=917262"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917262\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":917265,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917262\/revisions\/917265"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/917264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=917262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=917262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=917262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}