Battista's and Stage Door reopen
When I first discovered The Stage Door, they had Heinekins for $1 and fifty cent hot dogs.
Quote: billryanThese two local landmarks had closed back in the summer, and I wasn't aware of any plan to reopen them, but to many people's surprise, they opened last weekend. They are open under the same management and have no plans to change from their traditional ways.
When I first discovered The Stage Door, they had Heinekins for $1 and fifty cent hot dogs.
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The Stage door was great. It also housed a great many professional ladies between 1am and 8am. A friend of mine worked as a graveyard bartender there and had lots of stories.
Quote: ThatDonGuyI've been to Battista's before, and it had the vibe of the "old country" Italian restaurants that I used to go to in the San Francisco area. I will have to try the reopened one.
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It did have that old feeling but sadly the food was below par.
Quote: DRichQuote: ThatDonGuyI've been to Battista's before, and it had the vibe of the "old country" Italian restaurants that I used to go to in the San Francisco area. I will have to try the reopened one.
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It did have that old feeling but sadly the food was below par.
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Can you recommend a better one in the same style?
Quote: billryanThe original Lotus of Siam is reopening. It had been closed since its roof collapsed back in 2017.
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Seems egregious to close a place for 8 years because of a roof collapse. 💡 Roofs should take about a year to rebuild, not 8 years. 💡
Most of the food I've found around town is the kind you serve to people when you don't really care if they come back.
Quote: ThatDonGuyQuote: DRichQuote: ThatDonGuyI've been to Battista's before, and it had the vibe of the "old country" Italian restaurants that I used to go to in the San Francisco area. I will have to try the reopened one.
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It did have that old feeling but sadly the food was below par.
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Can you recommend a better one in the same style?
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For the "old school" feel try Casa Di Amore on Tropicana. They still have a lounge singer and decent food.
My go to Italian restaurant was the Bootlegger. It is on Las Vegas Blvd by the outlet mall between Warm Springs and Windmill.
Quote: DRich
For the "old school" feel try Casa Di Amore on Tropicana. They still have a lounge singer and decent food...
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I drive past that all the time, I should check it out.
Funny though, due to its location and the style of its signage, it's not obvious that it's a restaurant. Looks more like something that belongs on Tropicana on the other side of the Strip, if you know what I mean.
Quote: AutomaticMonkeyThe only Italian place in town I've been to and liked was the Pasta Cucina at the Sunset Station. Every other attempt has been kind of gross.
Most of the food I've found around town is the kind you serve to people when you don't really care if they come back.
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Strange - I had the pasta there, and actually preferred the one served at Sbarro's, although that might be because Pasta Cucina mixed the sauce in with the spaghetti too much (the spaghetti had an almost orange color), rather than pouring it on top (or, if you're Sbarro, on the bottom).
Quote: billryanMy family has debated for years whether spaghetti and sauce should be mixed in the kitchen and served in one bowl, or served separately so each can make their own ratio of noodles to sauce. I'm a big believer in premixing them before serving.
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I vote for separate. My wife puts so little sauce on hers and I like lots.
Quote: AutomaticMonkeyQuote: DRich
For the "old school" feel try Casa Di Amore on Tropicana. They still have a lounge singer and decent food...
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I drive past that all the time, I should check it out.
Funny though, due to its location and the style of its signage, it's not obvious that it's a restaurant. Looks more like something that belongs on Tropicana on the other side of the Strip, if you know what I mean.
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I agree, and just the looks of the outside do not look like a restaurant. If you like garlic bread, their "Garlic Loaf" is fantastic and I order it with every meal.
Quote: ThatDonGuyQuote: AutomaticMonkeyThe only Italian place in town I've been to and liked was the Pasta Cucina at the Sunset Station. Every other attempt has been kind of gross.
Most of the food I've found around town is the kind you serve to people when you don't really care if they come back.
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Strange - I had the pasta there, and actually preferred the one served at Sbarro's, although that might be because Pasta Cucina mixed the sauce in with the spaghetti too much (the spaghetti had an almost orange color), rather than pouring it on top (or, if you're Sbarro, on the bottom).
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That's a restaurant thing and pasta cooked al dente will remain servable longer when a little bit of the sauce is mixed in immediately. Matter of taste if you like it that way. I happen to like it. A casino restaurant kind of straddles between short order and fine dining, because even in the more upscale places most people didn't come planning to spend the evening in the restaurant.
Coming from Connecticut where half the population is Italian and everybody can afford to go to restaurants I feel like I'm taking a cheap shot by criticizing the restaurants anywhere else. But what I'm accustomed to, the restaurants elsewhere usually fall short. Closest I've found was in Florida where there are a lot of transplants from the Northeast and they expect the same things.
Quote: billryanI'm rarely thrilled with Italian food outside the Providence-Philadelphia corridor. Exceptions are usually either in Florida or Phoenix. If there is a great Italian restaurant in Tucson, I've yet to find it.
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I am in Southwest Florida and I haven't found any excellent Italian food. Southwest Florida tends to be more where the Midwesterners migrate to where the East coasters tend to migrate to the east side of Florida.
I like combining it all lightly with extra sauce on the table so you can add more ... on pasta not white
