Eating Better for Less - Las Vegas - page 87

$-$$ Just beyond the Stratosphere (which is usually considered the end of the
Strip, but hey, it's walkable, so I'm stretching it here), Dona Maria Tamales 5 9

(910 Las Vegas Blvd. S.; % 702/382-6538; www.donamariatamales.com;
Sun-Thurs 8am-10pm, Fri-Sat 8am-11pm; AE, DISC, MC, V) has outlasted many a
casino (it was founded in 1980) by keeping everyone who comes here extremely
happy. And I mean everyone. Sports fans crowd the front, glued to the TV screens
that blare out the latest exploits of the Mexican soccer teams. Locals use this as an
unofficial clubhouse, the place jammed at lunch with cops and office workers,
many of whom go from table to table, chatting in Spanish. Families are welcomed
by the friendly waiters, and the well-priced kids menu (all of the items are $6.60)
offers both Mexican specialties, and for the unadventurous tot, chicken fingers
and french fries. The occasional tourist who wanders in knows that he's in for an
authentic Mexican experience as he gazes at the diners' walls covered with murals
of life in the Mexican countryside and the ceilings strung with colorful papel pic-
ado (looping banners created from intricately cut pieces of paper). The food is also
a crowd pleaser, not as fiery as in some restaurants, but accompanied by an assort-
ment of hot sauces for those who like a touch more heat. You gotta order the
tamales ($3.30 each), but don't overdo it: One or two of these fluffy, crumbly,
comforting corn meal cakes will fill you up, especially if you've dug into the
warm-from-the-oven chips and salsa they'll bring you before the meal. Among the
four choices—chicken, pork, cheese or sweet (with raisins and pineapple)—the
pork is the hands-down-winner, a clean tasting hunk of starch and meat with a
tangy, mild red sauce. You can have the tamales on combo platters with tacos, bur-
ritos, chile rellenos, or enchiladas ($12-$13 at dinner, about $3 less at lunch), and
it's all flavorsome but mighty filling, so consider sharing a platter (as they all come
with rice and beans).

$-$$ For G-rated fun, that is “g” as in proudly “geeky,” head directly to Roxy's
Diner 55 9 (in the Stratosphere; % 888/458-3002; www.stratospherehotel.
com; Sun-Tues 11am-10pm, Fri-Sat 11am-11pm; AE, DISC, MC, V), a strangely
glitzy, utterly synthetic recreation of a 1950s diner: Happy Days as re-imagined by
Charo, all red neon and high gloss chrome. The fun isn't the setting, though—
this is just one of many Rat Pack-era diners in town—but in the fact that the
charming young staff, in bowling shirts and poodle skirts, not only wait tables but
sing like “Teen Angels,” applying that American Idol glissando to all the dippiest
hits of the '50s. Though obviously a corporate ploy by the mucky mucks at the
Stratosphere to bring in business, these kids are so talented and enthusiastic that
watching their little show is a joy. And the food's swell too; nothing fancy of
course, but served in shareable portions and reasonably priced. Get into the spirit
of it all with a straw-clogging thick shake ($4.75), a monumental open-faced tuna
melt with a small mountain of onion rings ($7.50), or a steaming bowl of chili
($4.80). A kid's menu for the 9-and-under crowd has miniature versions of all the
standard diner comfort foods for between $3.80 and $4 (one of the cheapest kids
menus in town, by the way). The only “no no” here: Don't be conscientious and
order a salad instead of fries. Are salads ever good in a diner? And be sure to brush
up on your '50s-era trivia before you arrive: Several times during the day, a quiz
becomes part of the show, and whoever knows the most silly stuff gets a free ice
cream sundae.