Jen "death by snu snu" K.'s Profile

There's nothing I can yelp that hasn't already been yelped about Arepas. But alas I have to write a review if I want to add Arepas to a list (a few lists, really) of favorites.

I really haven't eaten a wide spectrum of arepas. I've had the veggie ($4) and camarones al ajillo ($5). The veggie is just meh, but the camarones with the side sauces is so good.

I guess it also helps that when I go, I'm normally hopped up on vodka and Danny G's karaoke from Dino's (shares a parking lot with Dino's). When I'm in that state, I have no discrimination filter and I love all food.

These tasty little pockets are yummy, but a little on the pricey side for the portion sizes. Though I've heard, but have no confirmation, that the corn meal is imported straight from Venezuela. Who knows. It sounds nice, though. To take your time and savor the taste and texture of the cornmeal pocket. So yummy.

You can also get tasty beverages like guanabana ($1.75)  to wash down your arepa. Wonderful.

Friendly staff.

Whence first I started coming here, I feel the drinks were a little cheaper and I commented to many that it's startling how reasonably-priced the drinks are, considering they have so much tech to pay for. I went last week and paid $8 for a vodka, pre-tip.

Since they opened, I've only been a handful of times, not nearly as much as I'd like. The few times I've gone, they've undergone a few subtle changes, like rearranging the table and seating arrangements. Also they started with video game-themed art for sale on the frontmost wall. That's no more. Maybe they all got bought? Or no one cares?

It's location is great, as it's accessible for the Las Vegas local, but also really close kitsch to the Fremont Street Experience for one-timer tourists.

Though it masquerades as a legit vintage arcade on one side, it's still a full-service bar and you will get carded on any night of the week to get in. No cover (that I've ever experienced ... maybe on special event nights).

They have old school vid games like Tron, Joust, Centipede, Mrs. Pacman, Tetris, The Simpsons, classic SF, MVC, Tekken Tag, House of the Dead. Only two pinball machines. Last time I went, one was down. Machines range from 25c to $1. Be warned: a lot of the machines are quarter-eaters or their joystick is tired and shitty.

One of my favorite things about Insert Coins is you can sit at the bar, drink your Knock Out or Button Masher (house concoctions) and you hand over your driver's license as collateral for a game controller. Then you can play a game by yourself or with a buddy on monitors that are mounted above the bar. You can play your bf/ gf/ bff/ fwb OR you can challenge a complete stranger. Say, the cute girl sitting next to you. Makes for a great ice breaker.

Someday I'll participate in their bottle service. You and about four other buds can sit in one of their booths that has two flat screen monitors and play semi-privately. I'm not sure what the catalog of games is for this setup, but I'm thinking it's quite comprehensive because they always have a variety of demos playing. When last I asked, it's a minimum of $25 per person to have your own booth. What?! Such a deal! I can drink $25 in a hot dirty minute.

I normally go late Thursday nights and there is a bathroom attendant in the later hours. Which I think is unnecessary, but whatever.

They have a dance stage and normally a DJ in the back of the bar. I've never seen the floor get very crowded. I think I just never go on the right nights. They spin the Vegas brand of EDM. There's also a multi-paneled big screen behind the dance floor that plays -- it alters. I guess most nights, it's footage of classic arcade game play like Street Fighter. And I remember during the NFL playoffs, they were playing the games.

Their bartenders are hot chicks that I've had mostly good experiences with. Bartender-patron experiences.

In the midst of themed bars like Insert Coins and Don't Tell Mama, The Vanguard Lounge is an understated neutral bar. Even down to it's decor, it spells simple and unpretentious. The lounge is like a cold container, floors and walls concrete (I bet the fact that there's not a lot of fabrics in the room keeps the cigarette smoke from sticking and stinking up the place). I feel like the walls deserve more provocative or interesting adornments.

There's about ten seats up at the bar, about twelve along the walls, and in the front, just past the DJ kiosk, there's a few white croc couch and ottoman setups, enough for about twenty. There's also outdoor seating, just on the other side of the glass-windowed garage door.

The front of the bar is pretty open and you can sit and people-watch the passersby on Fremont Street, I think a fun, eclectic mix of people -- fat tourists, junkies with 40's, hipsters, and homeless (sometimes the last two are hard to tell apart).

The place is low-lit with tea-sized wick lamps at every table, on the bar and behind the bar. If I were a bartender/ cocktail wench there, I would hate those damn candles. The staff has to continuously check on all of them all night long and relight the snuffed ones.

My qualm with the bathroom is that the mirrors are these circular mirrors varying in size, but each no larger than a DVD. They are scattered along the wall in front of the sinks and enough to check your grill, but not enough to get the gestalt of your top half. I imagine this bathroom was decorated by a male.

The staff is always courteous and the drinks are average priced, if i remember correctly, at $6 for a vodka.

Like: Downtown Cocktail Lounge

The Lady Silvia is a sweet little speakeasy located on the street level of ultrachic SOHO Lofts. It opened I think fall 2011, still few people know about it.

Enter Lady Silvia from Hoover St, near Resnick's Grocery. We always find street parking, but it looks like you can park in a flat lot across Hoover St. Upon entering, you are met with a Please No Smoking sign.

It seems to me the main customers of Silvia are the denizens of SOHO Lofts. Secondary audience, I think, is the artsy-fartsy crowd -- I heard about Silvia through my ubertrendy art cluster.

I've been only a couple of times and both times, it was relatively slow. The bar entertained near it's max capacity of twelve, but the table seating (of maybe 40 tops) had only two parties of two. I don't know if it ever gets crazy busy, but the times I've been there, it's been a mellow place to hang out and just talk either with a date or a medium-size group of friends.

The theme is kind of like The Library [bar] in NY. The longest walls are stuffed with old legal texts, encyclopedias, year books, etc, and a couple mounted flat screens. At the far end is the DJ booth, though the music isn't so loud you can't hear your party talk about the latest American Apparel ad campaign. Don't expect to find a dance crowd; this is a loungey lounge.

The high ceilings are adorned with spray paint, looking like Basquiat did the honors after being forced to take Lithium for a year.

The furnishings are very World Market Center. Gilded Rococo chairs with pops of sick neon green, acrylic chairs, curly elaborate fixtures, and the like. Unusual color combinations that seem to work.

The drinks are not that expensive. I had a $6 gin and tonic with an average pour.

Super decent.

I stayed here Wed through Fri in Oct 2011.

The resort is just 40 minutes outside of Las Vegas. Once you get off the 95 and into the mountains, the drive is pretty. We saw three mule deer crossing the road. Idiots.

The resort has a large three-tier parking lot. When you get up to the front of the parking lot, you see an ugly water feature. When you approach the main entrance, you'll see the large shallow pond in front has young koi-looking fish. There's also a small water feature to the right of that with two ducks. So cute.

The large lobby is the hub to the restaurant, the Bistro, and the bar. There is also a wedding and banquet kiosk to the left of registration. The whole place is decorated with rustic cabin crap. There's also stuff like an old cash register from the 40's and a pin ball machine from the pre-electricity era.

Check-in is 3p, check-out is 11a. They let us check in a little early. We checked in and took our bags up to the room. We were on the top (third) floor. There are no room elevators, so we had to hike up a couple of short flights of stairs to get up to our room. At the mezzanine of the stairs are three arcade games, including Metal Slug and Bust-a-Move. So relevant!

The whole place smells a little funny, but not stink. And I got used to it.

We got an upgraded room. The balcony is what makes it an upgrade. The 3' x 4' balcony. So fancy. We paid $99 per night, plus charged a $25 per night deposit. They also threatened a $125 charge if you smoke in the room. Smoke ... what? Other rooms would have been $10 cheaper per night. Also check for AARP and AAA rates. They seem to be on average $10 cheaper than regular shmuck rates.

We had two queen beds, super soft. Gave me a kink in my neck so I had to do the Batman for the next few days.

When I booked our room, I also tried to book a few services in the spa, only to find that their spa person (just one?) has left the building and they are currently seeking a new spa guru. "But you can still use the sauna and steam room." Pf, thanks. I wish the website would've told me the "resort" part of the resort was nil. Whatev.

Anyways, our room was clean. Nothing weird. The bathroom was stocked with all the basics (I guess the standard basics these days does NOT include conditioner, though). Also had a super dummy-proof coffee-maker. There are these single serving ground coffee portions.You just pop one in the coffee maker and it puntures the top and bottom of the thing. Then when you close that compartment, the water compartment pops open and you fill it up. Then in three minutes you have bad coffee!

Our room was also stocked with a "safe," an iron, and ironing board.

We had a flat screen tv and a listing of movies you can rent. Never turned on the tv though.

The rooms also have free wifi. But as with my experience with free wifi in all hotels, kinda sketchy. I also noticed a "high speed internet access" computer in the lobby. Oh, AND the hotel's network was blocking Google+! What the eff is that? I kind of fenaggled my way in, but then later I couldn't get back in again. SO lame.

Our room faced the pond (odd-numbered rooms face northwest-ish) and you get a pretty good view of the mountains.

The art in the halls on the way to the room was bad, by the way. Downright offensive.

We went down to the restaurant, A Cut Above, for an early dinner. My mom got the Pulled Pork Platter  ($15) and I got the Penne Primavera ($14). Both were awful. We're not that hard to please. But really? Cut Above what? Crapping in my hand and eating it? Just kidding. But not really. No, I'm kidding.

So we hit the bar. I got a Irish creme for $3 during happy hour (3-7p on the weekdays, dunno about the weekends). Regular would have been $6 -- totally out of line. But $3 is wicked cheap. So worth it. The bar also has a 7' pool table -- sexy awesome! $1 coin-operated plays. Next time we go, we'll mos def bring our own pool cues and run that joint. The table is encroached upon by bar patrons. But what the hell, we're armed with pool cues.

The resort is surrounded by a number of hikes. We hit up three hikes in one day -- Mary Jane Falls, Robber's Roost, and Fletcher's Trail -- all just a short drive away. The Spring Mountains Visitor's Center is also just a short drive away. The front desk guy also told me we could hike the old golf course. Not exactly sure what that entails.

While we were there the first night, it rained like the dickens. Then the second night, it snowed wicked haad for hours. The whole property was covered in white. Frickin' gorgeous. During the second day it peaked at about 50F and then dropped to below freezing in the afternoon.

In all, it was a rad get away and I would come back again. Only crappy thing was that they didn't have spa services available at the time.

p.s. I booked at the Mt Charleston Lodges for $125 and when I found the Resort, I immediately retracted my reservations with the Lodges.

I always feel like open late sushi joints are danger. Eat lots of rice and then go to sleep. That's how sumo tori bulk up. Kanak attack.

I've come here a couple times for late night AYCE ($27). Being that you can order ANYTHING off of the menu and the chalkboard specials and it's all under the AYCE umbrella, that's a pretty great deal. Some of their menu items included hamachi kama and okinomiyaki.

I really feel like the true testament to the nuts of a sushi place is in their nigiri. Find out what you wanna know ... it's in his fish. Anyways, the nigiri was kind of wussy, thin pieces of fish. Nothing exceptional, but also nothing catastrophic.

I think it's worth mentioning that all of the employees are Korean. There were three parties at the bar and no one else in the restaurant. The THREE sushi chefs behind the bar seemed to have trouble keeping up with orders.

The waiter boy isn't like a beck and call kind of guy. If you really want something, you'll have to stare at the back of his head for a bit.

* off the strip, non-casino

We were headed to Haze for industry night (Thursday) but got diverted by a Gold Lounge promoter wielding gold wristbands. "Open bar," he says.

Once up at Gold, there is no line, but there is a $10 cover for ladies and $20 for men. Open bar is well drinks only and they give you four drink tickets each. "Come back for more drink tickets," the door man says. But only until midnight. Then you have to start paying for their diluted swill.

It's to be expected that if there's an open bar, the drinks will be diluted well drinks, but they also had to be mixed drinks. You can't just get a vodka. It has to be a vodka-something. Like vodka-soda. Always a load of caveats with these clubs and lounges.

The stool-less bar-in-the-round sort of separates the lounge in two. The left side of the bar had a few reserved tables and very limited non-VIP seating. The right side of the bar had only reserved tables and the dance ... area.

The DJ was decent. He didn't do anything awful. Nobody was on the dance floor til around 1130p.

The bathrooms are notable, though. The private bathrooms are perfect for sex. No, really, just hear me out. There are four or six private unisex bathrooms. Each roomy bathroom has it's own sink and toilet. And there's a sink at the end of the hall so if you just need to wash your hands or check your mug, you don't have to wait for a stall. There is a bathroom attendant.

The exterior of the lounge is kind of like this open cage so you can see into the lounge as you approach, but we noticed they closed curtains around the cage. I guess so people couldn't look in and see how sparse the crowd is.

Gold is kind of a decent place to stage before you hit up Haze. But if you want to get into Haze on free cover, you have to get in before midnight.

We walked in with a weekly regular. Palomino is his Cheers. He says he knows all the strippers' names AND their REAL names. Pff.

Not crowded on a Thursday night.

The doorman tried to sell us bottle service, which is pretty much not worth it. We all got in for free because we're all local.

The club is pretty small, but not as small as, say, Larry's Villa.

As far as I know, this is the only all nude strip club in Las Vegas that serves alcohol. I feel like you only really get anything out of the all nude part if you sit at the stage. Otherwise, it's too dark to have a view.

The doormen were all gentlemanly. The bartender was nice, but poured stingy drinks. Pretty much everyone was cool. Sabrina even sat and talked to me about accessories. I resisted the urge to ask if there's a stripper Wal-Mart.

I paid $8 for a vodka-soda, which was a joke. And then $6.50 for just a soda water. There's about ten seats at the bar.

Since you only have to be 18 to work there, there's a lot of really young strippers. Stripper prep school. The ones that wear pink wristbands are under 18 and aren't allowed to mingle in the bar. The strippers range 3s-10s. But I'd say the mean and mode (number that occurs most often) is 6. There is a high stripper to customer ratio.

The bathrooms are the worst part - no bathroom attendant! Just kidding. It's dirty as fuck. One toilet had unflushed human waste. Par for the course, though.

Oh, and there's an upstairs. But I wouldn't know about that.

The Yelp map for this business is wrong, btw. Google Maps also doesn't want you to find it. It's across the street from Jerry's Nugget.

I went to Muncheeze one Thursday night on the SW side.

The fleet design and the name of the truck are awesome. The website design is great, menu is comprehensive. And I think the best way to properly serve a grill cheese sammich is via the immediacy only a home kitchen or lunch truck can deliver. All around Muncheeze is a superb idea. BRILLIANT! However:

I stood in front of the order window with no one in line in front of me for a good seven minutes before I got a greeting.

I got the OG ($3), just a plain grilled cheese sammich. I also wanted a $5 Tomato soup to dip my OG in and my bf wanted Mac Bites ($5) and the Lobster Bisque ($6). The soup warmer was out, so no Tomato Soup, no Lobster Bisque for us.

The OG was good. My bf said the Piggy Mac was good, too. Not overpriced. But the service was subpar. I'll be willing to patronize again, but I wouldn't go out of my way to seek them out like last time. Novel.

You enter from a porte cochere-like covering. In the foyer there's a hostess to direct you to either the bar (Bogey's) or seat you in the Onyx restaurant.

I had the Aragosta di Salmone ($27). The description begins, "Salmon and Lobster pair delectably well" but the only lobster you get is in the bisque that drowns the entire salmon steak. The bisque was really good, but it was very tomato forward and not very lobster. Plus I really enjoy salmon and i like the fish to speak for itself. I think the dish would have been better off if the bisque were a a mist; not a waterfall. But that's just my personal take on how I like salmon. Doesn't mean the dish was bad.

My mom had the Pork Loin Chops ($20) and my bf had the Rib Eye ($27).

They also had Osso Bucco ($37) and Cioppino ($35).

I'd give this place a higher rating if the prices were slightly lower. After a salad,  three entrees, two glasses of wine, and a desert, our bill was $109 before tip.

This place is kind of old Vegas. We went on a Wednesday night and there was a female lounge singer singing old Billie Holiday jams and such on a small stage in the corner. She had a great voice, but the setting was kind of inappropriate. I think if you're to have live entertainment in a low key restaurant, there should be more upholstery everywhere to dither out the sound. Otherwise, the sound is too direct.

The singer was a sweet heart, though. She interacted with the audience and half the crowd there seemed like locals.

They also had a free raffle for a gift certificate for Onyx. It's a nice gesture, but kind of corny for a place that serves salmon for $27.

I thought the color palette of the decor was kind of schitzophrenic, too.

The ladies bathroom was huge, though. For a space you could fit two stalls and a sink in, it was a private bathroom. One john, one sink, and a chill out seat, all to yourself.

There's about twelve tables and booths and a bar. It's a pretty small space, but seems large because it's a perfect rectangle, unbroken up. There's also a bar that seats about eight. The place was at about 40% capacity when we went. Pretty good for a wine and dine joint on a Wednesday night.

Our server was immensely patient, professional, and gracious.

My assessment in a nutshell is that I would go back if I didn't have to pay for it. The food was good, but beyond what I'd like to pay for that ambiance and meal.