Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Breakfast 24/7

Palace Station's Grand Cafe Breakfast Skillet

I remember being in LA once and wanting to eat some breakfast at night. I wandered around for 45 minutes to only end up at Denny's. Now, I'm not saying that there aren't late night diners there, but I'm just telling you what happened. 


What I love about Las Vegas is that breakfast offerings are abundant here. You can safely assume, though, that a simple two egg breakfast can be upwards of $10 plus on central Strip properties. However, just off the Strip, down Sahara Ave is Palace Station, a well known locals casino. Twenty-four-seven, the $3.99 two egg breakfast with meat skillet is available. Now if you want to travel farther off-strip to other locals casinos, you will find even cheaper breakfasts, but I'll save that for another post. 


No doubt, it's a good price, but it doesn't stop the fact that I'm reminded of a time when Palace Station's cafe offered the same breakfast for $1.99. I was a total regular there back then. In back then, I mean about five years ago. 


My absolute favorite server was a Korean lady named Kang and she was thick accented and to the point. The conversation went like this: 


Me: I'll have the breakfast special.
Kang: Eggs!?
Me: Over medium
Kang: Meat!?
Me: Bacon well done
Kang: Toast!?

Me: Wheat 
Kang: OK!


Notice that there's the exclamation point before the question tone. It was like you better know the answers! I loved her, she cracked me up. Fast forward to a few years later and I ran into Kang - but she was now serving at another locals casino. It brought back memories! 







The Awesome Steak Special

Ellis Island Steak Special

It used to be sort of a secret...until Ellis Island Casino and Brewery in Las Vegas put it up on their board outdoors for all to see. It's one of the best steak specials in the entire Las Vegas valley. At one time, not too long ago, it was priced at an awesome $6.99. During a recent drive-by, I'm a little sad to report that the special has crept up by one dollar to $7.99. It's a part of the mental conditioning process, to think that a one dollar increase isn't so bad. I just hope that one day I don't see yet another dollar increase after we become comfortable with the $7.99 price.

In either case, it's STILL a great deal. I must have sent countless people over to Ellis Island. It's not the grandest establishment by any means, but in today's landscape when The Strip is filled with ultra fancy fine dining, Ellis Island is a welcomed throwback to the intimate good ole days. So what do you get with this dinner? You get a really nice cut of steak (just order it medium or rarer for them to not filet it), your choice of potato, vegetables, your choice of soup or salad, AND your choice of beer from their brewery. If you don't drink, then try the awesome in-house made root beer...simply said....it's delicious. It's not overly sweet. It's just right.

Now, with any great deal there's a demand. Go on any normal out of town heavy visitors night and you're going to be waiting for quite a while. Is it worth it? Well, of course it is but don't show up starving or you will never make it. You see, Ellis Island knows how popular this steak special is and for that reason, there are no reservations allowed. You must show up and declare the number of people in your party before the hostess kindly hands you a handwritten number on a white piece of paper. Now, don't lose it because your name isn't written down upon arrival. If you drop it, it can be like treasure for another waiting party. 

So Ellis Island is a small establishment but being a brewery also allows them to list their brews at incredible prices. With karaoke that frequently happens in the bar section right next to the restaurant, I'd say that even having to wait for your seating isn't so bad. Trust me, it's an experience that you just have to try.