Quick Lunch, Slots in Vegas (With good, cheap food)

February 3, 2010 10:08 AM

Quick stop in Vegas (or Henderson) for lunch and slots. Where?

Next week, I'm going on a trip with five other people. We'll be driving through Las Vegas about lunchtime, and I'm looking for a place we can park, have lunch, play a couple of slots or hands of blackjack, and then get the hell out of Vegas. Quickly.

I'm looking for the best possible match for us. Here are the important variables:

-Parking. We'll have three cars. It should be free to park.
-Good food, not too much money. I've Googled up the sites with meal deals in Vegas, but it needs to fit in with the other criteria as well.
-Clean casino, and blackjack tables with low limits on weekdays.
-Doesn't have to be on the strip. Henderson would be ok. Just don't take us too far from Hwy. 93.

posted by SlyBevel to Travel & Transportation around Las Vegas, NV (6 answers total)

You could zip down to Jean, Nevada, or a bit further to Primm (at the California state line). There's nothing there but a freeway exit and a couple of casinos casinos, so very easy to get in and out of. They're much cheaper than the ones in Vegas. They market these as more traditional forgotten Wild West but of course it's all run by the big boys in Vegas, just serving a different market.
posted by PercussivePaul at 10:16 AM on February 3, 2010

What, exactly, do you mean by a clean casino? I haven't seen one yet that doesn't have a cleaning crew working 24x7.

Guadalajara Grill inside Boulder Station is decent reasonably priced food. You'd have to check and see if they're open for lunch. I'm also not sure whether Boulder Station's blackjack tables are open on a weekday afternoon. But it is just off 95 - take the Boulder Highway exit, turn South, and you can't miss it.

Well... You could. But it would take some effort.

Don't worry about parking - it's free everywhere but Downtown.
posted by krisak at 10:17 AM on February 3, 2010

PercussivePaul - that's a good suggestion, but if they're not already coming up 15 (and it sounds like they're coming from the direction of Hoover Dam), it might be a bit out of the way. If you're coming from 95 you have to take 215 to St. Rose, then that to 15, then all the way south.

However, they do have good food deals and low limits - so it's worth considering. Especially if they are coming up 15 it's definitely a good idea.

Incidentally, yeah - the one remaining place in Jean is owned by MGMM/M. And Primm is owned by Terrible's (which isn't really a huge player in the market - they're more known for a chain of gas stations).
posted by krisak at 10:23 AM on February 3, 2010

If you're coming by way of Hoover Dam, try the Railroad Pass casino in Boulder City. The Mega Cafe there has pretty good food.
posted by xenophile at 11:11 AM on February 3, 2010

A couple of Station Casinos-owned properties along US 93/95: Fiesta Henderson (at I-215) and Boulder Station (at Boulder Highway).

Green Valley Ranch is 4 miles/7 minutes from US 93/95 on I-215. Table limits may be higher there.
posted by bgrebs at 11:32 AM on February 3, 2010

Response by poster: krisak - By clean I mean we're kinda smoke sensitive, so newer is good, and, you know, well kept. Last time I visited the Red Garter in Wendover, it was a complete hole...the tables were in awful condition and the place stank...but then again, that was Wendover, not Vegas. So you're probably right.

As for the route, we're coming from SLC, so it'll be down I-15, then to 93, stop in Vegas, and then the rest of the way down to Lake Havasu City on 40.

(Any Mefiers in LHC? Any Western Pyro members in Mefi?)
posted by SlyBevel at 1:48 PM on February 3, 2010