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Venetian Gondola Ride: Is This Iconic Las Vegas Experience Worth It? · Vegas Revealed

• 0:00
  Dayna Roselli: It's episode 330 of Vegas Revealed.
• 0:03
  Dayna Roselli: We talk to celebrity chef Emmeral Lagossi as he opens a new restaurant off the strip.
• 0:08
  Sean McAllister: Plus, a visitor from Hawaii hits a progressive jackpot and wins almost a half million dollars.
• 0:14
  Sean McAllister: We'll tell you how and where.
• 0:16
  Dayna Roselli: We hop aboard a gondola and take a ride through the canals of Venice at the Venetian.
• 0:21
  Sean McAllister: Plus, country stars are already announcing shows during National Finals rodeo time.
• 0:27
  Dayna Roselli: We got a lot to get to and much more now on Vegas Revealed.
• 0:32
  Dayna Roselli: Welcome to Vegas Revealed, episode 330.
• 0:35
  Dayna Roselli: I'm Dana Roselli, along with Sean McAllister.
• 0:37
  Dayna Roselli: And Sean, I know in our inbox we always get a lot of, you know, payouts when people win a big jackpot, etc.
• 0:44
  Dayna Roselli: This one, I don't know why, it was close to half a million dollars, and I was like, wow, but I love how they kind of explained how he did it.
• 0:51
  Dayna Roselli: So I thought we would mention this.
• 0:53
  Dayna Roselli: I know there's been bigger jackpots.
• 0:55
  Sean McAllister: And this is the kind of thing that every Vegas visitor kind of hopes for.
• 0:59
  Sean McAllister: Right.
• 0:59
  Sean McAllister: You hope you're gonna come to Vegas, play your luck, and walk away with a giant jackpot.
• 1:05
  Sean McAllister: If you don't do it at the casinos during your trip, maybe it'll happen at the airport on your way out of town.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_06: Right.
• 1:11
  Sean McAllister: But for this guy, it happened right uh in downtown Las Vegas at the Fremont Hotel and casino.
• 1:17
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah, it's funny because in the picture they sent, he's covering his face with the check.
• 1:20
  Dayna Roselli: I don't blame him because he doesn't want the family and friends calling for money.
• 1:24
  Dayna Roselli: Um, but um he did win on July 10th.
• 1:28
  Dayna Roselli: Uh the payday was$446,000 uh$83.
• 1:33
  Dayna Roselli: So a lot of money.
• 1:35
  Dayna Roselli: Um, and one on Pie Gao.
• 1:37
  Dayna Roselli: So I don't know much about Pie Gao, but apparently he placed a$1 progressive side bet on Light and Wonder's Fortune Pie Gao poker table game.
• 1:48
  Dayna Roselli: He was dealt a seven card straight flush in clubs, ace, king, queen, jack ten, a wild card, and an eight.
• 1:57
  Dayna Roselli: Okay, so he got eight, the wild, which would be the nine, the ten, jack, queen, king, ace.
• 2:02
  Dayna Roselli: Wow.
• 2:03
  Sean McAllister: Yeah.
• 2:03
  Sean McAllister: So this pie gow poker is a variation on the typical poker game that you play in Las Vegas.
• 2:10
  Sean McAllister: And pie gow poker has become really popular at uh properties in downtown Las Vegas, really, and on the strip too.
• 2:17
  Dayna Roselli: Hmm.
• 2:18
  Dayna Roselli: Interesting.
• 2:18
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah, good for him.
• 2:20
  Dayna Roselli: Hey, that's a big check to go home with, right?
• 2:23
  Dayna Roselli: Sure is.
• 2:23
  Sean McAllister: I wouldn't mind that.
• 2:24
  Dayna Roselli: I've had friends text me when they win uh 10,000 on a slot and they're like elated.
• 2:29
  Dayna Roselli: But I was like,$446,000.
• 2:33
  Sean McAllister: The poker gods must have been shining down that day.
• 2:36
  Dayna Roselli: I know.
• 2:36
  Dayna Roselli: I just saw something pass uh by on the Fox Five affiliate in our Instagram saying two people won like million dollar jackpots on the strip.
• 2:43
  Dayna Roselli: But I thought this was cool because it was off the strip too in downtown.
• 2:46
  Dayna Roselli: Fremont Hotel and Casino.
• 2:47
  Dayna Roselli: So I haven't been there in a while.
• 2:48
  Dayna Roselli: We need to hit that up.
• 2:49
  Sean McAllister: Yeah, we do.
• 2:50
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah.
• 2:51
  Dayna Roselli: Um, but congratulations to him.
• 2:54
  Dayna Roselli: And hopefully he can ride it out without his phone ringing.
• 2:58
  Sean McAllister: Yeah, get that into a good savings account.
• 3:01
  Sean McAllister: Get an attorney to, you know, uh figure out how to how to divvy all that up within your life.
• 3:06
  Dayna Roselli: Can you imagine when those are like come like I'm assuming they well, is it a oh, it's a table game.
• 3:12
  Dayna Roselli: So are they handle or is it like video?
• 3:15
  Sean McAllister: Uh it's handdle.
• 3:16
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah, so seeing those come out one by one by one.
• 3:20
  Sean McAllister: And and the like stress level as each card lays down.
• 3:25
  Dayna Roselli: Oh my gosh.
• 3:26
  Dayna Roselli: And then so exciting at the end.
• 3:28
  Dayna Roselli: Wow.
• 3:29
  Sean McAllister: Oh my, that would be uh kind of unbelievable.
• 3:32
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah.
• 3:32
  Sean McAllister: Like to have that happen in front of you and then be like, wait a second, is this real life?
• 3:37
  Dayna Roselli: I know.
• 3:38
  Sean McAllister: Is this really happening right now?
• 3:40
  Dayna Roselli: Seriously.
• 3:40
  Dayna Roselli: That's exciting.
• 3:42
  Sean McAllister: That is exciting.
• 3:43
  Dayna Roselli: Um, we're getting more details about the hard rock hotel.
• 3:46
  Dayna Roselli: Um, it sits where the Mirage used to be.
• 3:49
  Dayna Roselli: They're using a portion of the Mirage that already exists, you know, um, and then they're building the hotel guitar tower.
• 3:55
  Dayna Roselli: And we're hearing a bunch of things because we're, you know, because there's like permits and stuff being submitted.
• 4:00
  Dayna Roselli: So you start to hear like, oh, they're submitting a permit for a theater, which I wasn't sure if it was definitely gonna have.
• 4:06
  Dayna Roselli: Um, but I guess a 2000-seat theater.
• 4:08
  Dayna Roselli: So that's exciting to that we'll possibly have a new like residency show in there, unless they're gonna revolve axe.
• 4:14
  Dayna Roselli: I don't know.
• 4:15
  Sean McAllister: Right.
• 4:15
  Sean McAllister: And I mean that would be in addition to uh the theater where the Beatles Love uh performed inside of the old Mirage, and also the Mirage Theater that was the Terry Fader theater for years, Boys to Men played uh their residency shows in there.
• 4:32
  Sean McAllister: So really this property could potentially have uh uh three separate theaters on site, and it's gonna be they're adding a lot of like actual building to that site.
• 4:45
  Sean McAllister: Because that whole space where the Mirage Volcano was, you know, they're building the actual structure of the building is coming up to the edge of the strip, where before the Mirage sat pretty far back.
• 4:59
  Dayna Roselli: Right.
• 5:00
  Dayna Roselli: So now I think they'll probably have something uh in between.
• 5:03
  Dayna Roselli: Well, you said you saw a drone shot.
• 5:04
  Dayna Roselli: Was there anything in between?
• 5:05
  Dayna Roselli: Is that or maybe they're big.
• 5:07
  Dayna Roselli: They're doing like a guitar pool, a guitar-shaped pool.
• 5:09
  Sean McAllister: Uh yeah, so Chris Holmes, he's uh uh he's here in Las Vegas, very active on social media.
• 5:15
  Sean McAllister: He does drone flights all over Las Vegas, and he's done a few uh by the new hard rock uh to show the construction.
• 5:23
  Sean McAllister: Um and right next to the uh guitar tower, it looks like there's uh a big pool area uh being built.
• 5:32
  Sean McAllister: Um you could see where the the theater construction was uh gonna be happening in there too.
• 5:39
  Sean McAllister: Um and it's just wild seeing how much they're gonna be packing into that site.
• 5:45
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah, that that is crazy.
• 5:47
  Dayna Roselli: So I wonder, I mean, I hope they keep the other two theaters, but who knows?
• 5:50
  Dayna Roselli: They could be doing something completely different.
• 5:51
  Dayna Roselli: They could be.
• 5:53
  Dayna Roselli: Who knows?
• 5:54
  Dayna Roselli: I forgot about those two theaters.
• 5:56
  Dayna Roselli: But yeah, a lot going on in the middle.
• 5:58
  Dayna Roselli: Huh.
• 5:58
  Dayna Roselli: Interesting.
• 5:59
  Dayna Roselli: I mean, because that'll be in addition to the other pool, but I guess it's a bit if you're building a whole other tower, that's a lot more rooms because the Mirage has a lot of rooms.
• 6:06
  Dayna Roselli: I guess you gotta have different places for people to they can't all listen, it was hard to get a chair at the Mirage Pool to begin with.
• 6:14
  Dayna Roselli: So if you add that other tower, you do need another pool, and that'll be the guitar shape pool.
• 6:17
  Dayna Roselli: Everyone's gonna want to be in that one.
• 6:19
  Sean McAllister: And it would be a long, it would be a long walk back to the pool at the back of the property, too.
• 6:25
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah, true.
• 6:26
  Sean McAllister: If you were staying in the guitar tower.
• 6:27
  Dayna Roselli: I know.
• 6:28
  Dayna Roselli: Although Vegas is known for long walks.
• 6:29
  Dayna Roselli: That is true.
• 6:30
  Sean McAllister: You get your steps in for sure.
• 6:32
  Dayna Roselli: Um, exciting.
• 6:33
  Dayna Roselli: Um, expected to open end of 2027.
• 6:37
  Dayna Roselli: Um, so we'll we'll see.
• 6:39
  Dayna Roselli: As things develop, we'll keep you posted.
• 6:41
  Dayna Roselli: But I know a lot of people comment on social media under anything we do about the hard rock.
• 6:45
  Dayna Roselli: Uh the ones that have been to the one in Florida or live near it, saying it's really cool.
• 6:49
  Dayna Roselli: Give it a chance.
• 6:50
  Sean McAllister: Uh yeah, and it I mean, the one in Florida has, you know, the LEDs on the outside of the guitar tower, so it puts on a light show, and I have no doubt the Las Vegas one will too.
• 7:01
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah, I'm looking forward to it.
• 7:02
  Dayna Roselli: Didn't we also see something that a few of them had balconies?
• 7:05
  Sean McAllister: Or there were Yeah, the on the it looks like on the strip side of the guitar there were balconies on some of those upper floors.
• 7:15
  Dayna Roselli: I can't wait.
• 7:16
  Sean McAllister: I mean, I imagine those would be like the big suites.
• 7:18
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah, probably.
• 7:20
  Dayna Roselli: All right, well, we will see.
• 7:22
  Dayna Roselli: I don't know.
• 7:22
  Dayna Roselli: I kind of like it.
• 7:23
  Dayna Roselli: I'm excited about it.
• 7:24
  Dayna Roselli: Hey, we went to a staple right across the street and up a little bit.
• 7:28
  Dayna Roselli: Uh the Venetian, we we took a gondola ride for our TV show because we were thinking, like, we always talk about all these new things opening, but what about the staples that have been here for a long time that are like the must-do, because we get a lot of people that listen to the audio podcast who have never been to Vegas and ask us, like, what should I what are the must do things on the list?
• 7:47
  Dayna Roselli: And it's like, well, yeah, you've got to do all these before you get to the other ones.
• 7:51
  Sean McAllister: Right.
• 7:51
  Sean McAllister: And the gondolas are a classic attraction that have been here, I mean, forever.
• 7:57
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah.
• 7:58
  Sean McAllister: I and it it's one of those things that is kind of a quintessentially Vegas uh kind of thing to do.
• 8:05
  Dayna Roselli: Right.
• 8:06
  Dayna Roselli: And the gondoliers are professional singers.
• 8:08
  Dayna Roselli: So we went over um and and did the ride.
• 8:12
  Dayna Roselli: This story is very visual.
• 8:13
  Dayna Roselli: If you want to go on our YouTube, you can actually watch it.
• 8:16
  Dayna Roselli: But we thought we'd share this with you because a lot of people are interested to know more about it.
• 8:20
  Dayna Roselli: What do you get?
• 8:21
  Dayna Roselli: And it's stunning.
• 8:22
  Dayna Roselli: You go through the canals of Venice, basically, except you're in Las Vegas.
• 8:27
  Dayna Roselli: So listen up.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's an immersive experience.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of people have never been to Venice.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_01: So we're kind of educating them on what Venice is, what it's like, and this is the experience they're getting, and it's really fun because it's just gorgeous here.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_01: My name is Valentina, and we're off to Venice in Vegas.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_01: Lost Venice, we call it.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: Off to Venice in Vegas.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_01: I love seeing people come on the boat for the first time or be in the Venetian for the first time ever.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_01: People are truly in awe of Venice.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_01: In Venice, actually, it's a tradition to make a witch under all the bridges.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so this is our designated one, but people can definitely kiss under every bridge if they're feeling it.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: We're on the singers.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_01: When you ha in a dream, but you know, you're not dreaming.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_01: I try to make my run relaxing.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_01: I I just read the room.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_01: Some people read the room, you read the boat.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_01: You read the boat.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_01: We we do get a lot of proposals for.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's the cutest way to propose.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_01: It's so romantic.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_01: When they come back, it's a whole thing.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, and then everyone claps and it's really, really special.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of people get on the ride mainly to take their pictures, and then you know, okay, this is what they're taking the ride for.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_01: They just want a really good photo shoot.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_01: Everyone has their reason for writing.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_01: I can't think of a better date night, honestly, for a couple.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_01: All in all, we're we're giving them an experience that maybe they're not ever gonna get anywhere else.
• 11:01
  Dayna Roselli: And it is really relaxing.
• 11:03
  Dayna Roselli: And she was mentioning some people just get on it.
• 11:05
  Dayna Roselli: You can tell they just want a photo sesh.
• 11:08
  Dayna Roselli: You heard her say that.
• 11:09
  Dayna Roselli: So, I mean, everyone has their, you know, their reason for going, but it is really beautiful.
• 11:14
  Sean McAllister: It is, and we did the uh gondola ride indoors.
• 11:17
  Sean McAllister: There's also an outdoor option, but that's kind of a more seasonal uh thing when it's really hot outside.
• 11:25
  Sean McAllister: I don't think that they're running the gondolas outdoors.
• 11:29
  Dayna Roselli: It's about 14 minutes long, so uh you get a nice chunk in there, and I glance tickets are a little under started a little under$40.
• 11:38
  Dayna Roselli: So I feel like it's worth it because it's a it's it is a must-do thing in Vegas to go on a gondola ride.
• 11:44
  Sean McAllister: Yeah, it is.
• 11:45
  Sean McAllister: And it really was, it was relaxing.
• 11:47
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah.
• 11:48
  Sean McAllister: It was more relaxing than I thought that it would be.
• 11:50
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah, and you get lots of little tidbits of knowledge, and the inside does change, like you heard in the story.
• 11:56
  Dayna Roselli: You know, you'll have like a sunset, or you know, it's really it's really beautiful.
• 12:00
  Sean McAllister: And there was that uh white and gold uh gondola that was pulled off to the side that they use for proposals and weddings.
• 12:08
  Dayna Roselli: Yep, right.
• 12:09
  Dayna Roselli: Vow renewals, all the things.
• 12:12
  Dayna Roselli: We're ready for everything here in Vegas.
• 12:15
  Dayna Roselli: Um, National Finals rodeo is a ways away.
• 12:18
  Dayna Roselli: It's in December.
• 12:19
  Dayna Roselli: But you know, you gotta get your tickets if you want to see some of the big country acts.
• 12:22
  Dayna Roselli: Uh there's music up and down and all over Las Vegas during those well, two weeks, ten days, right?
• 12:28
  Sean McAllister: Yeah.
• 12:29
  Dayna Roselli: So, um, but they did announce some shows coming up during that time period.
• 12:34
  Dayna Roselli: And one of them is Dirk's Bentley.
• 12:37
  Dayna Roselli: He's gonna do back-to-back shows at Blue Live Theater at the Fountain Blue, and his shows are set for Friday, December 4th, and Saturday, December 5th.
• 12:45
  Dayna Roselli: If you want to see Dirks, you might want to get on tickets.
• 12:48
  Sean McAllister: And also on December 5th, there's another show happening at the Coliseum at Caesars Palace.
• 12:54
  Sean McAllister: This is Rascal Flat.
• 12:55
  Sean McAllister: Yeah.
• 12:56
  Sean McAllister: They're taking over the Coliseum uh during National Finals rodeo uh on December 5th.
• 13:01
  Sean McAllister: They're like playing their hits up there.
• 13:04
  Sean McAllister: They're fun, they're a fun group to see.
• 13:06
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah.
• 13:07
  Sean McAllister: Um, fun group of guys.
• 13:09
  Sean McAllister: I've interviewed them over the years various times, and um, it's gonna be good to have Rascal Flats here.
• 13:15
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah, it says a one night only, but I feel like maybe that could change.
• 13:19
  Dayna Roselli: But I don't know, maybe not.
• 13:20
  Dayna Roselli: Maybe there's only room for one night only.
• 13:22
  Sean McAllister: There could be.
• 13:24
  Dayna Roselli: But that'll be a show to see for sure.
• 13:26
  Dayna Roselli: And then so many other you know, people are coming into town, and those will roll out, we'll keep announcing different country acts.
• 13:33
  Dayna Roselli: Um, I also did see that Luke Holmes uh category 10 is hiring.
• 13:39
  Dayna Roselli: They're getting ready to do a big hiring event, and that's right in the old Margaritaville spot on the Las Vegas Strip.
• 13:44
  Dayna Roselli: And I'm wondering, uh I forget when he plans to open.
• 13:47
  Dayna Roselli: Is it October-ish?
• 13:49
  Dayna Roselli: I think that will be open for NFR though, for sure.
• 13:52
  Sean McAllister: It could be.
• 13:52
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah, because if they're already starting to hire, I would assume.
• 13:55
  Dayna Roselli: I think it was October.
• 13:56
  Sean McAllister: Yeah.
• 13:57
  Sean McAllister: So and that's a massive space, too.
• 13:59
  Dayna Roselli: Right.
• 14:00
  Sean McAllister: Multi multi-level.
• 14:02
  Sean McAllister: I think we talked about how there was gonna be stuff on the roof, like rooftop patio kind of kind of vibe up there, too.
• 14:09
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah, it's a great spot.
• 14:10
  Dayna Roselli: So now we'll have Luke Hombs, uh, we'll have Old Red and Jason Aldeen.
• 14:16
  Dayna Roselli: And Jason Aldeen.
• 14:17
  Sean McAllister: So kind of and then we have Gillies at Treasure Island, too.
• 14:21
  Sean McAllister: Gillies is still hanging in there.
• 14:23
  Dayna Roselli: Of course.
• 14:24
  Dayna Roselli: And Stoney's off the strip has a lot of locations.
• 14:27
  Dayna Roselli: So um good stuff.
• 14:30
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah.
• 14:30
  Dayna Roselli: I mean, people love these country honky tonks.
• 14:33
  Dayna Roselli: Because you can add in restaurant, drinks, and entertainment and live music all in one.
• 14:38
  Sean McAllister: And it's just a a good vibe.
• 14:41
  Sean McAllister: Like it's a a good spot to go and just like hang out.
• 14:45
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah.
• 14:45
  Sean McAllister: And not have, I don't know, not have any agenda, not feel rushed, whatever.
• 14:50
  Dayna Roselli: It's more casual, right?
• 14:51
  Dayna Roselli: It is, yeah.
• 14:51
  Dayna Roselli: It's that country laid-back feel.
• 14:53
  Sean McAllister: Yep.
• 14:54
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah, it is good.
• 14:56
  Dayna Roselli: Um, let's do some celebrity news with a Vegas twist now.
• 15:02
  Dayna Roselli: All right, well, Sean, we love when social media is a buzz of a good celebrity moment over the weekend.
• 15:08
  Dayna Roselli: And Ed Sheeran went to the Backstreet Boys show at Sphere, and everyone was showing clips of him dancing in his seat and all this, and then he did his show here in town on the Saturday and mentioned that he landed Friday at 8 p.m.
• 15:23
  Dayna Roselli: and he made it to the Sphere by 8:30 to see the Backstreet Boys.
• 15:26
  Sean McAllister: That's good timing.
• 15:27
  Dayna Roselli: I know.
• 15:28
  Sean McAllister: I bet there's a lot of Backstreet Boys fans who have tried to do exactly that and may or may not have shown up in time for the show.
• 15:35
  Sean McAllister: Right.
• 15:36
  Dayna Roselli: Well, they probably don't have as many people to get him there.
• 15:38
  Dayna Roselli: Exactly.
• 15:39
  Dayna Roselli: But um, I love I love the camaraderie of that kind of stuff, though.
• 15:42
  Dayna Roselli: You know, and it's cool that he went there and that he's you know talked about it at his show, and it's fun.
• 15:47
  Sean McAllister: Well, I think that just shows how iconic the Backstreet Boys show at sphere has become.
• 15:54
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah.
• 15:55
  Sean McAllister: I mean, there have j there have been so many celeb I think just about every show has some kind of celebrity in the audience there.
• 16:03
  Dayna Roselli: Definitely.
• 16:04
  Sean McAllister: And I mean, they're doing a ton.
• 16:06
  Sean McAllister: They've got I mean, tons of shows through August before they're back at the end of the year in in December.
• 16:13
  Sean McAllister: But uh I mean they are just packing the sphere, which is great.
• 16:18
  Dayna Roselli: And then the Eagles added more shows too, and now they're the longest running show at the sphere.
• 16:23
  Dayna Roselli: They kind of said they were done.
• 16:24
  Dayna Roselli: Right now they're coming back in December too.
• 16:27
  Dayna Roselli: So I don't know.
• 16:28
  Dayna Roselli: It's interesting.
• 16:29
  Dayna Roselli: It's like there's a lot of farewells and then a like, we're back.
• 16:36
  Dayna Roselli: I need to try that sometime when I need like a long vacation.
• 16:40
  Dayna Roselli: Thank you for listening to Vegas Reveal.
• 16:42
  Dayna Roselli: Thank you for watching.
• 16:43
  Dayna Roselli: We're ending the show, blah, blah, blah.
• 16:45
  Dayna Roselli: Do all our goodbyes.
• 16:47
  Dayna Roselli: And they'll be like, hey, you know what?
• 16:48
  Dayna Roselli: We're back.
• 16:49
  Sean McAllister: We're back.
• 16:50
  Sean McAllister: We're back.
• 16:51
  Sean McAllister: That's like the taking a page out of Rod Stewart's playbook over at the Coliseum.
• 16:56
  Dayna Roselli: Right.
• 16:56
  Sean McAllister: He ends a he ends one residency and then a week later announces he's got a new one.
• 17:00
  Dayna Roselli: It's so funny.
• 17:01
  Dayna Roselli: But I guess that's all.
• 17:03
  Dayna Roselli: You know, we're no PR expert.
• 17:04
  Dayna Roselli: Maybe that's the whole because we're talking about it.
• 17:06
  Sean McAllister: We're talking about it.
• 17:07
  Sean McAllister: Maybe that's the way to go.
• 17:10
  Dayna Roselli: Too funny.
• 17:11
  Dayna Roselli: Um, listen, Emerald Legassi is a celebrity chef here in town and all across the world.
• 17:17
  Dayna Roselli: Um, he's really one of the original celebrity chefs here in town.
• 17:21
  Sean McAllister: Yeah, back in the mid-90s is the first time that Emeril opened up a spot here in Vegas.
• 17:27
  Dayna Roselli: So now he's opened Merrill.
• 17:29
  Dayna Roselli: He has one in New Orleans, too, um, at the M Resort.
• 17:32
  Dayna Roselli: And this is off the strip.
• 17:33
  Dayna Roselli: M is in Henderson.
• 17:34
  Dayna Roselli: I've had a couple people comment under our text, uh, our TikTok saying it's on Las Vegas Boulevard.
• 17:39
  Dayna Roselli: It's very far from the Las Vegas Strip.
• 17:42
  Dayna Roselli: Not like crazy far, but it's not on the strip.
• 17:45
  Sean McAllister: Las Vegas Boulevard is a long road.
• 17:48
  Dayna Roselli: It is.
• 17:49
  Dayna Roselli: But, you know, it's great if you're driving in from California or anywhere.
• 17:53
  Dayna Roselli: It'll be the M is right there on your right as you kind of start getting into the Vegas strip area or start seeing the lights ahead.
• 18:00
  Dayna Roselli: And M is very popular in Henderson.
• 18:03
  Dayna Roselli: Um, they had to build another tower, right?
• 18:05
  Sean McAllister: Yeah, they built another tower.
• 18:06
  Sean McAllister: They've uh done some upgrades to their casino floor and their rooms over there.
• 18:12
  Sean McAllister: So it's been uh an evolution, and opening Merrill uh with Emerald Legacy is just another part of what they're doing to elevate the property and keep it moving forward.
• 18:23
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah.
• 18:24
  Dayna Roselli: So we were there as he was welcomed to the resort.
• 18:27
  Dayna Roselli: There was a ribbon cutting.
• 18:28
  Dayna Roselli: He explained Merrill is named after his daughter, and we got to chat with him.
• 18:33
  Dayna Roselli: Fun interview, so let's listen to that.
• 18:38
  Dayna Roselli: Being off the strip is really nice too.
• 18:40
  Dayna Roselli: It gives people down here a chance to enjoy one of your restaurants.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_00: We've always talked about being off the strip, but just never had the right opportunity.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_00: Being with the Penn group, uh, these guys have been just amazing.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_00: My philosophy in our group is that we don't take any shortcuts, and I think they have the same philosophy as well.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: They do things right, and I think that's why it's a good partnership.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_03: What could we do to elevate it?
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_03: Take it to the next level at this property.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_03: What could we do to help elevate Wes Henderson?
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_03: Three things class, recognition, and an iconic brand.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_03: Who is that?
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_03: Chef Mimeral Legacy.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: I think the personality of Merrill is worldly, is what I could say.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um I think that the food is not just subject to just one uh type of cuisine.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's from all over the world, particularly from my travel.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, when I was inspired when I did eat the world.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I went around the world twice, and so a lot of the dishes that I I you know, that's a little bit of Korean, there's a little bit of Italian, there's a little Mexican, it's just a little of everything I think which really m makes people excited and excites their palate.
• 19:50
  Dayna Roselli: You were really one of the first celebrity chefs here in Las Vegas now.
• 19:53
  Dayna Roselli: It's i I would say I would say it's become a thing, but we have a lot of different restaurants.
• 19:57
  Dayna Roselli: I mean, what did you ever think that you would kind of start what don't we have?
• 20:02
  Dayna Roselli: Every day there's something opening, right?
• 20:04
  Dayna Roselli: I mean, did you ever think you would uh from when you started out here to now that it would grow to be this big of a culinary town?
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: No, when I when I started here, actually, you know, the gentleman that really I have to give credit to is uh the gentleman that ran the MGM, Danny Wade was his name.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_00: He had a vision that he didn't want to have any any fast food.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_00: He his philosophy was that hotels can run hotels, but hotels have a very different time running restaurants, uh not being a restaurateur.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_00: And so he was the first guy that went out and got Wolfgang, he got Mark Miller, he got myself, Charlie Trotter, and that was the original, the original group.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_00: And then from there, uh a gentleman by the name of Lou Silvestri was there at the MGM, worked for Danny, went to the Venetian uh when the Venetian was starting.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_00: And Rob Goldstein and Lou Silvestri, their vision was to have 20 of the top best chefs and and nothing else.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_00: And so we were we were the first uh to sign up at the Venetian.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_00: And I had to arm wrestle Sheldon Adelson because uh I told him I wanted to do the steakhouse, and he was like, What do you know about steak?
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, uh I what I don't know, I'm gonna learn real quick.
• 21:26
  Dayna Roselli: And look at you now.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 21:28
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah, so we didn't do a sit-down dinner or anything, it was kind of a preview before it was opening in two days.
• 21:34
  Dayna Roselli: It's now officially open, but got to taste some of the pasta and the meat, delicious, the barbecue shrimp, so good.
• 21:42
  Dayna Roselli: And so uh it's gonna serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
• 21:46
  Dayna Roselli: And in the press release that they put out, they are positioning it as more of a casual neighborhood spot.
• 21:51
  Sean McAllister: Okay.
• 21:52
  Sean McAllister: Yeah.
• 21:52
  Sean McAllister: How was the barbecue shrimp?
• 21:54
  Dayna Roselli: Delicious.
• 21:54
  Dayna Roselli: And we're gonna have yes, we're gonna have more on that.
• 21:56
  Dayna Roselli: That's his sign that's what he told us to have for we do something and Uh, that's new in our TV show called the Insider Dish.
• 22:03
  Dayna Roselli: And we said, What's the one dish that we need to try or challenge us to eat and that you know we're gonna love?
• 22:08
  Dayna Roselli: And he said the barbecue shrimp.
• 22:10
  Dayna Roselli: So they made us specifically a plate and we'll have that on our TV show coming up soon.
• 22:14
  Sean McAllister: Ooh, because I wasn't able to go over there uh for this uh ribbon cutting event.
• 22:19
  Sean McAllister: Um, but I'm excited.
• 22:20
  Sean McAllister: I'm excited to go over there, check it out, try some of that barbecue shrimp.
• 22:24
  Sean McAllister: I've never had barbecue shrimp before.
• 22:26
  Dayna Roselli: It's very um and the ones that they the dish that they prepared, because they had a lot for because it was stations.
• 22:33
  Dayna Roselli: It was just a preview, wasn't like, you know, you could just go grab some, you know, the smaller shrimp, regular size shrimp, but but the plate that they made us of like I'm assuming if you order it there, it the the shrimp huge and just so like very meaty, so good.
• 22:49
  Dayna Roselli: So um, so yeah, it was great.
• 22:52
  Dayna Roselli: And it makes sense because the restaurant's in New Orleans, the original one.
• 22:55
  Dayna Roselli: So and he said it's named after his youngest daughter, and so um Merrill is what it's called.
• 23:01
  Dayna Roselli: And you'll see it, it's off the casino floor.
• 23:03
  Dayna Roselli: You gotta walk through the casino, kind of bend to the left and to the and it does have a patio, by the way, that sits right over the pool.
• 23:10
  Dayna Roselli: So I think that'll be nice.
• 23:11
  Sean McAllister: That is, yeah, and I love a great pool too.
• 23:14
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah, it is.
• 23:14
  Dayna Roselli: I love the breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
• 23:16
  Dayna Roselli: I think that's good because usually a lot of the celebrity restaurants are only open for dinner.
• 23:20
  Sean McAllister: Right.
• 23:20
  Sean McAllister: Yeah, yeah, and to see a celebrity restaurant opening off the strip too is great to see.
• 23:26
  Dayna Roselli: And you heard him.
• 23:27
  Dayna Roselli: He said he's always wanted to, he just hasn't found the right fit, and so now he found it.
• 23:31
  Dayna Roselli: He found it, and so that's cool.
• 23:33
  Dayna Roselli: It's something good for for the M.
• 23:35
  Dayna Roselli: I also heard um side note, and I don't know if we got anything on this, but I know people love Hanks at Green Valley Ranch.
• 23:42
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah.
• 23:42
  Dayna Roselli: And I guess if it's closed and they're doing a big redo, like a big refresh inside.
• 23:48
  Dayna Roselli: So I don't have that confirmed, and I could probably Google it right now.
• 23:52
  Dayna Roselli: But yeah, I I know how popular Hanks is at Green Valley, and so um a lot of people are like, you know what?
• 23:58
  Dayna Roselli: It's amazing that they're doing a redo because it's so popular, it'll really freshen it up.
• 24:04
  Sean McAllister: So the um happy hour over at Hanks is like a competitive vibe because there are so many regulars who go to happy hour there.
• 24:13
  Sean McAllister: People have like their unofficial reserved seats.
• 24:16
  Dayna Roselli: Oh.
• 24:17
  Sean McAllister: So like if you sneak in there, you might get a tap on the shoulder and have somebody say, Hey, you're in my seat.
• 24:24
  Dayna Roselli: Oh, wow.
• 24:24
  Dayna Roselli: That's funny.
• 24:26
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah, the girl that does my hair and her the people all in the room that do, they all go there.
• 24:31
  Dayna Roselli: Cause I go get my hair done in Henderson and they all live down there and they love it.
• 24:36
  Dayna Roselli: Oh, yeah.
• 24:36
  Dayna Roselli: So they're so good.
• 24:37
  Dayna Roselli: So I don't know.
• 24:38
  Dayna Roselli: I haven't been in there recently.
• 24:39
  Dayna Roselli: I'm assuming it didn't have a patio because they were also chit-chatting that they think they're getting a patio.
• 24:43
  Sean McAllister: Oh, really?
• 24:44
  Dayna Roselli: I don't know.
• 24:44
  Sean McAllister: Okay.
• 24:45
  Dayna Roselli: Also not confirmed, just chit-chat.
• 24:47
  Dayna Roselli: Um, but I did find an article that says yes, it is being uh refreshed and uh undergoing renovations.
• 24:56
  Dayna Roselli: So there you have it.
• 24:57
  Sean McAllister: Well, Hanks is a good spot.
• 24:58
  Sean McAllister: They're uh it's like a steak steakhouse.
• 25:03
  Sean McAllister: Um, their martinis are delicious.
• 25:06
  Sean McAllister: Their steaks are so good.
• 25:08
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah, well, it's called fine steaks and martinis.
• 25:10
  Dayna Roselli: Makes fine steaks and martinis.
• 25:12
  Sean McAllister: There we go.
• 25:12
  Sean McAllister: It's right in the name.
• 25:14
  Dayna Roselli: Oh, it says that they will continue normal dinner dinner service and happy hour until the oh, until the renovation begins later this year.
• 25:20
  Dayna Roselli: And this is an article from April.
• 25:22
  Dayna Roselli: So I don't know, look into it.
• 25:23
  Dayna Roselli: It it could still be.
• 25:24
  Dayna Roselli: I don't really know all the details, but it is undergoing a re a renovation, whether it's under it right now, it's going to be, something like that.
• 25:31
  Dayna Roselli: But it's very popular.
• 25:32
  Dayna Roselli: And uh the reason I brought it up too is because we're in the celebrity news with a Vegas twist.
• 25:37
  Dayna Roselli: I feel like we always hear that a lot of our sports stars that live in town go there for dinner.
• 25:42
  Dayna Roselli: Yes.
• 25:42
  Dayna Roselli: Right?
• 25:43
  Sean McAllister: Yep.
• 25:43
  Dayna Roselli: Remember Darren Waller told us it was one of his favorites.
• 25:45
  Dayna Roselli: He did.
• 25:46
  Sean McAllister: Yes, that's right.
• 25:47
  Dayna Roselli: When he played for the Raiders.
• 25:49
  Dayna Roselli: And um, I don't know, ladies, I'm just putting this out there.
• 25:52
  Dayna Roselli: A lot of my friends that go there say that they end up meeting someone at the bar.
• 25:56
  Sean McAllister: It's a good spot.
• 25:57
  Dayna Roselli: It's two two people actually have told me that they are now in relationships with someone that they met at the bar at Hanks.
• 26:04
  Sean McAllister: Interesting.
• 26:05
  Dayna Roselli: I know.
• 26:05
  Dayna Roselli: Interesting, right?
• 26:06
  Dayna Roselli: Huh.
• 26:06
  Dayna Roselli: So, and they're like, it's always when like I show up by myself and I'm waiting for the other person.
• 26:11
  Dayna Roselli: Both incidents.
• 26:12
  Dayna Roselli: That's how it happens.
• 26:13
  Dayna Roselli: Yep.
• 26:13
  Dayna Roselli: And so, I don't know.
• 26:15
  Dayna Roselli: Could be a good, you know, good date night or good, well, no, not date night.
• 26:20
  Dayna Roselli: Hoping to get a date night.
• 26:21
  Sean McAllister: Hoping to get a date night, yeah.
• 26:22
  Sean McAllister: Could lead to many date nights.
• 26:24
  Sean McAllister: Right.
• 26:25
  Dayna Roselli: Um, hey, if you're looking for categories, date nights, live music, great stakes, you can download the Vegas Near Me app.
• 26:33
  Dayna Roselli: It's available on uh Google Play and of course iPhone as well, Apple.
• 26:38
  Dayna Roselli: It's great.
• 26:38
  Dayna Roselli: They're always loading new information in there.
• 26:40
  Dayna Roselli: You can find everything you need.
• 26:42
  Dayna Roselli: Hours, can kids go?
• 26:44
  Dayna Roselli: Where the closest bathroom is, you can book an Uber, you can book your hotel right through there, your shows, you can even build an itinerary.
• 26:50
  Sean McAllister: Yeah, it's a great resource to have right in your pocket, at the tip of your fingers on your phone, Vegas near me.
• 26:58
  Sean McAllister: Download it, use it, and it'll help you get around Las Vegas and make sense of all the endless options that we have here.
• 27:06
  Sean McAllister: Yeah, definitely.
• 27:07
  Dayna Roselli: Hey, if you want to watch any of our past shows, go to our YouTube channel.
• 27:11
  Dayna Roselli: We have uh our TV shows there.
• 27:13
  Dayna Roselli: And I was watching our show over the weekend just as I was driving, some I was like en route, and so I put on YouTube TV and I just play it like an audio.
• 27:20
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah.
• 27:20
  Dayna Roselli: Just and um, I was just like amazed at how much we have in those shows still.
• 27:25
  Sean McAllister: There's a lot of information packed in to every single episode.
• 27:30
  Dayna Roselli: Tons.
• 27:30
  Dayna Roselli: I was like, wow, there's some good stories in there.
• 27:34
  Dayna Roselli: We really do a lot and we work hard at it.
• 27:36
  Dayna Roselli: So please support that.
• 27:38
  Dayna Roselli: If you're in town in Las Vegas, you can watch us on Fox Five on the weekends.
• 27:41
  Dayna Roselli: We're usually on Sunday evening, 7.30, 9:30, but sometimes we'll get a Sunday morning show at 11:30, sometimes a pretty rare a Saturday morning or evening.
• 27:52
  Dayna Roselli: We also air in Hawaii if you have any friends there or you're listening from Hawaii on Kiku TV, and that's at 6 30 p.m.
• 28:00
  Dayna Roselli: Hawaii time.
• 28:00
  Sean McAllister: Yeah, so we love being on uh being on on the 9th Island and out in the Hawaiian Islands.
• 28:08
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah, two big travel markets.
• 28:09
  Dayna Roselli: That's right.
• 28:10
  Dayna Roselli: Spreading the word.
• 28:11
  Dayna Roselli: All right, well, we'll talk to you next week here on Vegas Revealed.