Monday, September 7, 2009

Dinerwood on the Road: Las Vegas's Tiffany's Cafe



White Cross Drugs is the oldest still standing business location in Las Vegas. We all know what the oldest profession in Vegas is. That's right:



...Crazy Old Prospector.

Our first night in Vegas, Charlie and I, led by our host Laurenn, cruised into the White Cross Drugstore pretty late. Well, regular people and regular city late. It was positively early by Vegas standards, which meant that there was nobody eating at Tiffany's Cafe. Tiffany's is open 24 hours; in fact, it was Vegas's first 24 hour restaurant, but it really is meant for an after-hours crowd.



Tiffany's is an amazing throwback to the classic greasy-spoon: a little dirty, a little messy, but you know the crew has their system down. The matron behind the counter was wearing a white t-shirt with a leopard print bra underneath. She was manning the grease trap and she had better things to do then worry about fashion.



Tiffany's also has some very bizarre artwork on the walls. The above landscape is thrown into disarray as the floating head of the outlaw Josey Wales descends from heaven.



Charlie ordered the Manhattan Burger. It's a regular burger with a sourdough bread bun.



Lauren ordered the BLT. It came with some home-made steak sauce. It was awful. It was VINEGAR with a little Worcestershire, and maybe some rat poison mixed in. While the cook was making the sandwich, I noticed that after frying up the bacon, he then wiped it off with a towel.



I ordered the Tiffany Burger. I figured I couldn't go wrong with the signature dish. It was a basic mushroom burger, that when I bit into it, sprayed grease all over Laurenn.

All of our french fries were slightly stale tasting.

Tiffany's was not all that good. Sometimes it is not about the food, though. The majesty of "setting" really pulled this place from out of the "DO NOT WANT" bin. It has such a classic feel and with the added benefit of the artwork, the place becomes wonderfully surreal in a town that is often depressingly surreal. It would be worth checking out, but know what you are getting into food-wise.

Food: Greasy
Service: Adequate.
Price: $8.00-$14.00
Pie: Various, located in a pretty display case at the entrance.

Tiffany's Cafe in White Cross Drugs.
1700 Las Vegas Blvd. S
Las Vegas, Nevada

4 comments:

Unknown said...

That photo of the prospectors perfectly captures our collective reaction to the food that night.

lynn said...

this place looks great - wish i had known about it when i was in vegas last month...

laurennmcc said...

Aw. I miss you, Hurtin' Ernie!

Anonymous said...

Tiffany's Cafe isn't trying to impress anyone: it's a place to eat for the taxi drivers, slot attendants, etc., who criss-cross that area on their way to & from work. I saw that you also did a review of Hash House a Go-Go, which is a tourist trap someone decided to build six miles west of the Strip. If you want to crack into the local diner scene in LV these places are easily searchable on the web: THE Hash House on Decatur & Sahara (NOT to be confused w/Hash House a Go-Go), The Omelette House, The Peppermill Coffee Shop, Blueberry Hill Restaurants. I hope that you will find these leads useful.