best restaurants in las vegas

Alas, time machines, as I define them, can be counted on one hand in Las Vegas (although small town Nevada in general has an incredible collection of old Western Saloons). Las Vegas, even more so than Los Angeles, seems hell-bent on erasing its own history. An historic tour of Vegas (at least the history of casinos and restaurants) is generally one of those look at that parking lot or mirrored box building - it used to be there type of tours. Sure, the names of many historic casinos remain, but they are modern shells of what once was. There are a few exceptions.
The Huntridge Movie Palace - interesting exterior but essentially nothing left of the original interior. No movie palace interiors remain intact in Las Vegas.
The exterior of the El Cortez Casino, downtown in a challenging area, is still in almost perfect original shape, although the interior is remodeled. The Golden Gate at the Fremont Experience still has some original feel about it, especially the coffee shop. The most pristine remnant of 1950s Las Vegas (at least in a decent area) is the South Part of the Stardust, in the pool area (which was once the Royal Nevada Casino - I take that back - it's been imploded!). The entrance to Caesar's Palace (whoops - just remodeled) and the table gaming area when you first walk in Caesar's are also fairly original, although everything else has recently been completely remodeled. While I assume the pool at the Stardust is safe from the wrecking ball (wrong - it's now gone), there are rumors the Algiers may not always be with us (update - it just closed and was torn down - it's Vegas Baby!) There are many fascinating Motels in downtown and along Boulder Highway (but see my warnings page)I would like to start a preservation effort for their neon signs, if nothing else. While many neon signs have been saved as museum pieces, I think it would be nice to preserve them and re-light them in their original location. It would surely spruce up downtown and Boulder Highway. See the Vegas Motels page under the Miscellaneous Topics tab. Have you noticed I'm the kind of parenthetical remarks!
The El Cortez Casino, downtown Las Vegas (best preserved exterior)
The chart below, then, lists a few time machines and the rest are just quirky, fun or historic places. Las Vegas of course, despite the destruction of its pop history, is still a great place to visit, but only if you do not gamble. Gambling converts a very inexpensive and entertaining visit into an expensive and unpleasant experience for many people. News flash! - they didn't build the many Billion dollar casinos by giving out free money to scores of people. Take my advice, enjoy the shows, the incredible pop architecture, the luscious food, thrilling shopping, breathtaking nature, and don't gamble or imbibe.

The somewhat recently destroyed Algiers Motel - a classic 50's Vegas spot - now a dirt lot.
See the bottom of the page for a few gratuitous tourist tips having nothing to do with the theme of this website.
Soon, this may be the only remnant of the Strip in the '50s. This is the pool area of the Stardust on the South side, once the "Royal Nevada" [Update - it's gone!!! The Stardust is now dust].