VEGAS RESTAURANT ROUNDUP: Morgan Wallen Opening Ole Red Clone, Last Roundup for Holsteins at Cosmo

Looks like Blake Shelton will soon no longer be the only one in the country-star-opens-a-restaurant-and-bar-in-Nashville-and-then-Vegas business.

As a 20-year-old, Morgan Wallen competed on Season 6 of “The Voice” in 2014. However, he wasn’t on Blake Shelton’s team. Shelton later said: “Now here he is having these gigantic, huge number-one hits, and I can’t take any of the credit. It’s like, ‘I had him right there and he got away.’” (Image: Getty)

Morgan Wallen — called “the biggest country star of the 2020s” by the New York Times — is opening what is likely to be second location of This Bar and Tennessee Kitchen at a Las Vegas shopping mall, according to a Las Vegas Review-Journal report.

The logo for Wallen’s This Bar and Tennessee Kitchen, which is slated to debut this summer in Nashville. (TC Restaurant Group)

According to Wallen’s own website, the first This Bar is slated to open in Nashville this summer as a six-story, 30,000 square-foot bar, restaurant and live-music concept that sounds almost identical to the four story, 27,000-foot Ole Red, which Shelton opened in January at the Grand Bazaar Shops in front of Horseshoe Las Vegas.

Wallen’s second This Bar, according to the R-J, would only be 10,000 square feet and occupy the second and third floors of the 63 Las Vegas mall at the corner of Harmon Avenue and the Strip, atop of which sits Ocean Prime.

Wallen is partnering in This Bar with TC Restaurant Group.

The R-J story identified a building permit application that names only a $9.75 million “Vegas Country Music Restaurant” and a includes an “ellipse rooftop balcony” that connects to the restaurant.

Holsteins opened along with the Cosmopolitan in December 2010 and, rumor has it, will close this summer. (Image: shermansfoodadventures.com)

Dining Ins & Outs

Holsteins, the burger restaurant that opened along with the Cosmopolitan in December 2010, will reportedly close this summer. This news comes from Casino.org’s own Vital Vegas blogger Scott Roeben, who reports it only as “a rumor” provided by an anonymous source.

That source seems to be fairly informed, since they also reported that the restaurant was a victim of a shakeup by new casino owner MGM Resorts, and that its former space will handed over to Clique Hospitality.

Last August, we reported that Bojangles — the franchise that expanded from its first location in Charlotte, NC in 1977 to 800 outlets across 15 states — is building 20 new restaurants in Las Vegas. It looks like the first will be at the Diamond Plaza retail center at the intersection of South Rainbow Boulevard and Blue Diamond Road, more than 10 miles southwest of The Strip. Bojangles operated as Bojangles’ Famous Chicken ’n Biscuits until 2020.

The El Herradero Nightclub, at 3402 E. Lake Mead Blvd. in North Las Vegas, was closed by the Southern Nevada Health District on April 17.

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VEGAS RESTAURANT ROUNDUP: 3 Caesars Palace Eateries Make OpenTable’s Top 100

Online restaurant reservation service OpenTable announced its annual list of Top 100 US restaurants on Thursday, and six Nevada names made the grade. All are located in Las Vegas, and three are located at Caesars Palace.

Hell, Caesars! Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen is one of three Caesars Palace restaurants to make OpenTable’s 2023 Top 100 list. (Image: Caesars Entertainment)

The only states with more entries on the list were California (14) and Florida (7), while New York, Illinois, and Ohio also had six.

OpenTable did not rank any of the 100 restaurants it listed. So where each one stands among the 99 others, or even among others from their own state, remains unknown.

The Vegas winners, in alphabetical order, are:

  • Eiffel Tower
    Paris Las Vegas
    Cuisine: French
  • Golden Steer
    308 W. Sahara Ave.
    Cuisine: Steakhouse
  • Hell’s Kitchen
    Caesars Palace
    Cuisine: Gordon Ramsay
  • Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab
    The Forum Shops at Caesars
    Cuisine: Seafood
  • Partage
    3839 Spring Mountain Road
    Cuisine: French
  • Restaurant Guy Savoy
    Caesars Palace
    Cuisine: French

According to OpenTable, its list was derived from “12 million verified diner reviews and dining metrics.”

Federal Donuts of Philly is opening at Red Rock under a new name. (Image: Federal Donuts & Chicken)

DINING INS & OUTS

Red Rock Casino Resort is getting a Federal Donuts but with a new twist. The Philadelphia chain, founded in 2011, is rebranding as Federal Donuts & Chicken before its Vegas debut.

Curry Pizza House, a popular fast-casual mashup of Italian pizza and Indian spices from California, is opening its first Las Vegas restaurant at noon on Saturday, Dec. 2 by UNLV at 4700 S. Maryland Parkway, Ste. 110. The first 200 guests will receive a free personal pizza of their choice.

A former restaurant manager for SkinnyFATS was arrested on Nov. 19 and charged with embezzling tens of thousands of dollars over the course of a year. According to court records, Patrick Norena was booked on charges of stealing more than $25K but less than $100K.

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Casino Crime Roundup: Rapid City Casino Robbed at Knifepoint

Rapid City, S.D. police officers are continuing to search for the knife-wielding bandit who robbed a local gaming property on Wednesday.

Sign for 777 Casino in Rapid City
A sign for 777 Casino in Rapid City. The South Dakota casino was robbed once again. (Image: KNBN)

The brazen holdup took place at 777 Casino on West Main Street at about 8 a.m., according to Rapid City TV station KNBN.

The sole robber ordered a casino employee to turn over money. The worker gave him the cash and the suspect fled.

The suspect was believed to be Hispanic or Native American and about 5’4″ tall. He was wearing a red, white, and blue mask, a grey sweatshirt, and dark pants.

Police didn’t reveal how much money was stolen and no one was injured during the robbery.

Late this week, police have yet to identify a suspect

The same casino has been previously robbed, including one holdup that took place last Christmas Eve. That suspect fled with an undetermined amount of cash.

Shooting Near Oklahoma Casino

A fight between brothers led to shots being fired outside of the Gold Mountain Casino in Ardmore, Okla. on Tuesday morning.

Ten officers from the Chickasaw Nation Lighthorse Police Department responded to the Oklahoma crime scene, according to Texas TV station KXII.

No one was injured during the struggle and confrontation.

An unnamed suspect was apprehended by police, who also seized a firearm.

A nearby educational institution, Southern Tech, was placed in lockdown while the incident unfolded. The casino apparently remained open during the incident.

Illegal Gambling Leads to Five Arrests

Five suspects were arraigned in court recently after numerous gaming machines were seized during raids of storefront operations last year in Michigan.

The Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) revealed the arrests after investigations into activities at The State Road Spot in Davison, Mich., and The Bristol Spot in Burton, Mich. Both are located in Genesee County.

Authorities seized 100 illegal gambling devices during the raids. Also seized was more than $29K in cash and 62 gift cards.

The Davison gambling den had 65 gaming devices, including 54 computer towers and 11 gambling machines. The Burton gambling den had 23 computer towers along with 12 gambling machines and other devices.

The raids both took place on April 27, 2022

Two suspects, Joseph Toporek and Mary Larkin, each are facing eight charges. They include:

  • Three counts of running a gambling operation without a license
  • Three counts of using computers to commit a crime
  • Maintaining a gambling house for gain
  • Keeping a gambling house

The other suspects, Shaun Bellah Sr., Shaun Bellah II, and Ghazwan Brikho, are each facing 10 charges, including:

  • Five counts of conducting a criminal enterprise
  • Conspiracy to conduct a criminal enterprise
  • Running a gambling operation without a license
  • Using computers to commit a crime
  • Maintaining a gambling house for gain
  • Keeping a gambling house

Each of the suspects was arraigned during August and September in Genesee County District Court. The suspects were released from custody on personal recognizance bonds.

The investigation was launched after the MGCB received a tip about illegal activity going on in Burton. Officials learned about gambling going on in the second location as part of the continuing investigation.

Accountability is crucial when it comes to upholding justice and ensuring a fair and honest gaming environment in the state of Michigan,” MGCB Executive Director Henry Williams said in a recent statement.

“While the Michigan Gaming Control Board will continue to hold those who choose to circumvent the law accountable for their actions, we also acknowledge the importance of fairness, equality, and the presumption of innocence until proven otherwise.”

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VEGAS MUSIC ROUNDUP: Santana Extended Instead of Canceled, Sphere Phishing

MGM Resorts International has extended Carlos Santana’s “Supernatural” residency at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay.

The 15 new dates are: Jan. 24, 26, 28, and 31; Feb. 2-4; and May 10, 11, 15, 16, 18, 19, 22, and 23. Tickets go on sale 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 23, via Ticketmaster.

Carlos Santana
Carlos Santana performs on May 7 in The Woodlands, Texas. (Image: nbcnews.com)

The extension comes in spite of the anger the guitar legend stoked by uttering anti-trans comments during a concert over the summer.

“When God made you and me, before we came out of the womb, you know who you are and what you are,” the 76-year-old rocker told the crowd at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino’s Etess Arena in Atlantic City.

Santana added: “Later on, when you grow up, and you see things and you start believing that you could be something that sounds good but you know it ain’t right, because a woman is a woman and a man is a man — and that’s it.”

A joint response from San Francisco Pride executive director Suzanna Ford and president Nguyen Pham read: “The fact that (Santana) used his incredible platform, onstage, to spew hate underscores the gravity of perpetuating misinformation in a society where gender’s spectrum is well-established.”

Santana posted an apology on his Facebook page a day after video of his comments made the rounds on social media, stating that his comments “don’t reflect that I want to honor and respect all person’s (sic) ideals and beliefs.”

However, another day after that, he deleted his apology.

Phish
Phish is hotly tipped for a future Sphere residency. (Image: Phish)

Go Phish

According to reports, Phish is the second frontrunner — after the Eagles — for a future Sphere residency. The jam band recently wrapped a run at New York’s Madison Square Garden — which, like the Sphere, is owned by MSG Entertainment. And Phish singer Trey Anastasio was the first to test out the Sphere’s immersive audio system, for an acoustic solo show he performed at New York’s Beacon Theatre in August 2022.

Strait to Allegiant

Country music superstar George Strait will serenade Allegiant Stadium on Dec. 7, 2024. Tickets for the show go on sale to the public Friday, Sept. 22 at 10 a.m. PT.

Carrie Underwood has added 18 2024 concerts to her “Reflection” residency at Resorts World Theatre. They are March 6, 8, 9, 13, 15, and 16; May 22, 25, 26, 29, and 31; June 1; and Aug. 14, 16, 17, 21, 23, and 24. Tickets and a limited number of VIP packages are on sale now through AXS.com/carrieinvegas.

Wynn Nightlife’s “Ultimate Race Week” series — running during the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix — will bring Marshmello to XS Nightclub on Nov. 15. The Chainsmokers are next on Nov. 16, then Swedish House Mafia on Nov. 17, and Calvin Harris (with late-night sets by Diplo and Dom Dolla) on Nov. 18. RÜFÜS DU SOL and Black Coffee close out the weekend on Nov. 19.

For more information, visit wynnnightlife.com.

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Casino Crime Roundup: Suspects Who Robbed Yonkers Casino Players Remain on the Lam

A man tailed two elderly women about a mile from Yonkers, NY’s Empire City Casino to their residence where they were robbed on Tuesday, police said.

Yonkers, New York-based Empire City Casino
Yonkers, New York-based Empire City Casino, pictured above. Two women were followed from the casino to their home, where they were robbed. (Image: Mark Vergari/The Journal News)

The two women, one 83, the other 86, had just pulled into a driveway at a Valentine Street residence in Yonkers at about 3:30 p.m. They were just about to leave their car when the suspect approached.

He pulled out a firearm and stole their purses from inside the car, according to the Yonkers Daily Voice. He next fled down the driveway to a parked black Acura sedan, which sped away with an unidentified second suspect at the wheel.

Neither woman was injured, according to Yonkers police Detective Lt. Dean Politopoulos.

The suspect is a Black man in his late 20s or early 30s. He was dressed in a black baseball-style cap and a black T-shirt, and was wearing sunglasses.

Police continue to search for the suspect. If found, officers will likely apply for an arrest warrant that needs to be approved by a judge.

Drunk Casino Patrons Arrested in Pennsylvania

Two visitors to Pennsylvania’s Valley Forge Casino were apprehended at about 2 a.m. Sunday after one allegedly resisted arrest and the second allegedly helped him in his escape scheme.

The couple were both intoxicated and police tried to arrest one of them at the Upper Merion, Pa. gaming property.

The unnamed man appeared “unsteady on his feet,” Patch reported. He also began to argue with officers. Eventually, he allegedly tried to escape from custody when cops told him they were arresting him for public drunkenness.

At that point, the unnamed woman attempted to help him resist the officers, police said.

Eventually, both the man and woman were arrested and transported to Upper Merion Police Station. They were charged with resisting arrest, public drunkenness, and other counts.

TV Damaged by Illinois Casino Visitor

A man was apprehended on Thursday after he allegedly punched an LED flat-screen TV at Harrah’s Casino in Joliet, Ill.

Joliet cops arrested Antonio Valdez, 33, of Harvey, Ill., and charged him with criminal damage to property before booking him at the Will County Jail.

Casino security guards initially ordered Valdez to leave the gaming property due to his intoxication. He started to make his way to the casino’s parking garage when, on the way, he allegedly punched the TV in a hallway.

Valdez returned to the gaming property where he was apprehended by security guards. He was later turned over to local police.

Valdez punched the TV so hard, it broke, Punch reported. Its replacement value is about $700. He wasn’t injured from when his hand struck the television.

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