3/29/2013

Downtown Las Vegas has a strange revolutionary vibe these days.  One foot firmly entrenched in the mud (and allure) of old time Las Vegas, the other foot climbing to bring downtown into a hip, fun age.  The contradiction in downtown alone can leave you to wonder, is there one approach in downtown that is better than the other.  Is there a healthier approach?  Can the old downtown spirit co-exist with the modern, trendy downtown plans?  Is there room in the current atmosphere to remember the relics, and indeed-gems, that Las Vegas holds?

The answer is, of course, YES!

I wondered into the El Cortez several weeks ago.  I have spent a lot of time recently in downtown Las Vegas, but haven’t ventured much beyond Las Vegas Blvd.  In my need to learn about the developments downtown, I was looking for the new and old small businesses that will support the urban life.  After a little exploring on foot, I ended up at the El Cortez.

The El Cortez is a treasure, the longest continuously running casino in Las Vegas.  Built in 1941, it still sports the facade from a 1952 remodel.  It is even on the National Register of Historic Places.

In some ways, the El Cortez is a typical, older downtown hotel/casino.  Compared to the Las Vegas Strip properties, it is small with low ceilings, a bit claustrophobic, but yet very intimate.  It has some machines that still take coins, so the “clank, clank, clank” of the dropping coins reminds me of a different era.  The patrons are sometimes relics as well, long-time customers who know everyone by name.  But it is in the gem that you have to open your eyes and absorb the history and the change.

I was hungry and headed for a restaurant.  It was a little early for a steak dinner at The Flame (not the original Flame on Desert Inn), so the café was my choice.  For the record, I generally have no interest in casino cafés, even at some of the bigger, fancier casinos.  What they call a café generally has all of the atmosphere of a hospital cafeteria.  They usually feel like someone just stuck up a partition in the casino and put a bunch of chairs around some tables.  That sometimes works because there is certainly nothing special about the décor or atmosphere at a Denny’s, yet I happily eat there for breakfast with no complaints.

In the casinos though, it frustrates me.  Their cafés are usually such a let-down.

I am not sure how I can describe that the El Cortez café is any different, but it just is.  There is a “feel” to it.  Even if the café doesn’t have a long, rich history (which maybe it does), I can completely imagine some mobsters or showgirls sitting at the back of the café, enjoying a meal.  For $10, I can get a surprisingly tasty and high quality burger, with great buns, a plate full of crispy fries and a Diet Pepsi.  If I want a glass of wine instead of a soft drink, the total is only about $2 more.  I get waited on by older waitresses who have probably been working in restaurants their whole lives.  They are friendly and accommodating.

The décor is tasteful and a little more intimate and inviting than most casino cafés.  Although you have to enter through the casino, the back of the café is isolated from the gaming.

On one of my visits, I was there during the week and found it to be a businessman’s (of businesswoman’s) café.  I am not sure where they worked, but there were many people dressed in business attire grabbing a nice sit-down meal delivered by their favorite waitresses.

It is fabulous for people watching as well.   Of course, there are the El Cortez visitors, staying at the hotel and enjoying their Las Vegas getaway.  But you also see patrons who have seemingly been going to the El Cortez café since it opened.  They know everyone there, and it will be a sad day when they miss their usual lunch.  For some, I am not sure how much longer they will be with us, but I do know that as long as they can move they will get their usual table, usual meal, and usual waitress.

Will the development of downtown Las Vegas push such gems by the wayside?  Will an older generation feel uncomfortable in a younger downtown?  Let’s hope that isn’t the case or the plan.  How wonderful if the two can co-exist for people like me, who have the love the old-time Las Vegas but who also want to see progress, evolution, thoughtful development and pure creativity.   They should co-exist for the betterment of Las Vegas.

I realize, at the El Cortez, what I am so irritated about with the new Las Vegas.  Sure, I am nostalgic, and even nostalgic for a time I never lived in.  But it isn’t quite that.  It is that there are few places on the Strip any longer that cater to me.  Middle-aged, middle-class, wanting good entertainment but not wanting to have bottle-service at the newest club.  I want to dress-up, but still want enough clothes to cover my naughty parts.  I want to see a singer, or a band in a club.  I want to gamble.  I want some drinks.  I want good food, but don’t want to blow my annual entertainment budget on it.  Has The Strip forgotten about me?  Presumably so.

So I am Downtown for solace.  Not that Downtown can fill all of my needs.  But as long as Tony Hsieh doesn’t forget that not everyone is 21 or even 30, I can happily co-exist with progress, hipness, and a pretty cool vibe.  The El Cortez café may not be that place to be entertained and in the traditional sense of the word, but it is a place where I can appreciated the nostalgia and yet re-enter the current state and the amazing progress being made.

I can appreciate the Neon and artistic signage that make up the El Cortez.  I can wonder in the diverse clientele.  I can imagine stories that probably never happened.  I can admire the simple pleasure of a good burger and good service.  And I can type up all of my thoughts on my modern-day tablet.

Progress is good. Hipness is fun.  Nostalgia is grounding.  And my burger is damned good.

Wendy Lee