But here is a new reason to love Capriotti's: they are having a ceremony at a wedding chapel in which people may marry one of their sandwiches.

I'll give you a second.

The "Marry a Bobbie" ceremony is either about to happen or has just happened depending on when you read this: July 21st to be specific. Fans were encouraged to dress up as the bride or groom (or both, perhaps) and show up at The Little White Wedding Chapel on The Strip to get "married" to the Bobbie sandwich. All participants are getting a free sandwich and one extremely devoted fan is being selected to receive free Bobbies for an entire year.

The event was inspired by an ad campaign (called Holy CAPrimony) where a man professes his love and marries a sandwich. You can see the original spot here. If you happen to be reading this before July 21st, you can watch the event online at http://www.alittlewhitechapel.com/istreambis.html (it runs from 4pm to 7pm, Pacific Standard Time).

Told you there were a lot of reasons to love Capriotti's.

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For those of you who haven't visited Hash House a Go Go, shame on you. Although they serve lunch and dinner, it really is their breakfasts that get people excited. From pancakes the size of pizzas to skillet scrambles to their signature hashes, everything they serve is gigantic in both proportion and flavor. Forget the breakfast buffet with their trays of dubious scrambled eggs and go here instead.

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The Chapter 11 filing will allow them to keep the doors of the hotel open and as far as most customers are concerned it should be business as usual.

The Riviera opened in 1955 and for years was one of the most luxurious properties on The Strip. But times have not been kind to the hotel over the last decade or two and it has not gotten the kind of upgrading and remodeling that other classic casinos have gotten.

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A 55,000 square-foot addition to the casino had its first look last week with room for more than 600 slot and video poker machines plus a redesigned race and sports book, a new keno room, and a new lounge. Work will continue on the expansion into the fall when two new restaurants will be added - a Japanese sushi place and an outlet of an old favorite Steak 'n Shake.

Adding all that room to the casino makes it one of the biggest for locals properties (read: hotels that aren't on The Strip or Downtown). But it still isn't THE biggest. That honor still goes to Sam's Town over on Boulder Highway.

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The Dolphin Habitat, Roller Coaster, Shark Reef, and SpongeBob ride range from $14-17 for admission. Pick any three of those and you can spend less by just buying regularly priced tickets. But mix one or two of those in with Titanic ($27), CSI ($30), or Bodies ($31) and suddenly you have just saved yourself a few bucks.

You can purchase the package at the box office of any of the hotels featuring a participating ride.

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But the following list gets much more specific in the dining category: my favorite things to eat, regardless of all the rest of that stuff. Granted, many of the restaurants that serve these dishes will probably wind up in the year-end Best Of list, but here it's the food that trumps all other considerations. Maybe I'm just hungry. Maybe you will be too by the time you finish reading.

Warning: if you're on a diet, absolutely nothing on this list is for you.

Filet at Austins Steakhouse
There is still lots to love about this local's favorite but it is always the filet that I return to every time. It's so tender you can practically cut it with a fork and so flavorful that you don't need any sauces or dressings to amp up the taste.

Cadillac Nachos at Cabo Wabo Cantina
The problem with nachos, often, is that you have a layer of all the good stuff and then lots of layers of chips underneath it, which means that you often run out of the sour cream, cheese, tomatoes, and the like long before you ever get to the to the bottom of the plate. Cabo Wabo solves this by individually loading each chip with zesty meat and all the other fixings.

Ham and Cheese at Capriotti's
Sandwiches don't get any better than these and although there are plenty of more adventurous options, I always go with the traditional ham and cheese. The Italian bread sets off the juicy ham perfectly, turning it into a flavor sensation that will ruin all other sandwiches for you forever.

Oh My Gosh Ganache at The Cupcakery
Picking a favorite cupcake at this place is definitely a "Sophie's Choice" experience, but the one I get every time I visit is the Oh My Gosh Ganache. It's an insanely moist white cake with a big hunk of chocolate ganache baked inside and then topped with chocolate buttercream frosting. Need I say more?

Pork Green Chili at Gilley's
I'm kind of picky about chili especially since I don't like beans, so it's difficult to find a truly exceptional version that meets my criteria. This dish at Gilley's not only meets them, it beats them with tender chunks of pork and not-too-spicy poblano chiles. There's a reason why it won a chili cookoff award.

Bacon Waffle at Hash House a Go Go
The mad geniuses at Hash House took a waffle, roughly the size of a checkerboard, and then baked gigantic strips of bacon right into. Of all the inventions throughout time including electricity, this one is actually more significant as far as I'm concerned.

Smothered Fried Chicken at M&M Soul Food
Lightly spicy and very juicy southern style fried chicken covered in a smooth brown gravy. Told you there was nothing on this list for people watching their weight.

Pulled Pork Sandwich at Memphis Championship Barbecue
Barbecue is like a religion to some, with all sorts of variations from sweet to vinegar. The tender pulled pork (as a sandwich or by itself) at Memphis Championship is like a favorite hymn that everyone wants to sing.

The Planet Hollywood Dog at Pink's
The famed Pink's hot dogs came from Los Angeles to Las Vegas and added a bunch of Sin City specials, including this one - a Polish sausage smothered in grilled onions, bacon, and cheese all piled so high that you need a fork to clean up the mess after you've polished off the dog.

Bacon Wrapped Tomato at Raku Grill
There are dozens of fantastic skewers available at this Japanese grill but the one that keeps popping back into my brain when I think about the place is relatively simple: a sweet, cool, cherry tomato wrapped in sizzling, wood-smoked bacon providing a taste combo that both surprises and delights.

Frozen Hot Chocolate at Serendipity 3
Yes, the hype is justified. Basically a hot-chocolate flavored milkshake/sundae, this sweet concontion is the perfect antidote to the Vegas heat. Great for sharing too!

Prosciutto Appetizer at Sinatra
There's a lot of pork based products on this list (which shouldn't be surprising for those who know me well), but this is the Rolls Royce of them. Delicate and almost sweet, set off by fire roasted peppers, this prosciutto is simply the best.

Meatball Trio at Sirio
This appetizer dish could pass as a meal if you wanted and why not? This triple threat includes meatballs of veal in a sweet tomato and onion compote, lamb over braised lentils, and duck in wild mushrooms. share around the table and vote on which one you think is best - it'll probably not get solved before dessert comes.

The Carvery at Todd English P.U.B.
For a fixed price you get your choice of about a dozen different meats (from prime beef to salmon), half-a-dozen breads (sourdough to pita), and multiple sauces (horseradish to blue cheese), which you can then mix and match to create the sandwich of your dreams.

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When The Flamingo opened in 1946 it was not, as is often reported, the first hotel on the dusty piece of desert that would eventually become 'The Strip'. The first one was actually The El Rancho, which burned down in the 60's. But although it wasn't first, it certainly was the most heralded - a million-dollar oasis for the rich and powerful built by legendary (reputed) mobster Benjamin (Bugsy) Siegel.

Poor Bugsy wouldn't recognize the place now. The last little bit of the original remaining structure was torn down in 1993 to make way for new construction. These days, The Flamingo is a huge, upscale tropical themed palace - not a mobster or moll in sight. Oh well.

The glittering pink and orange neon façade is one of the most famous in Vegas and the casino area is a faux-tropical wonderland. The gaming area wanders and meanders throughout the property so there are lots of different sections in which to spend your money but the overall feeling is pretty good. This is also one of the few places where you can still find low limits on blackjack tables, although they are becoming more rare here as well. To be honest, this isn't a place that I spend a lot of time gambling in but not for any good reason other than there are places that I like better. They do have a full spectrum of gaming options including slots of all denominations, all the usual table games, a race and sports book, and a poker room.

But it is once you get upstairs that the real magic of The Flamingo begins, with their "GO" rooms. Done with a big nod to the Bugsy Siegel era, the rooms feature decidedly retro décor with big white padded vinyl headboards, white built in desks and chairs that look like they time traveled from the 1940s, and full walls of white drapes (electronic no less) offset by vibrant pinks and deep browns in the wallpaper, carpeting, and accents. Flat panel televisions, CD/DVD players, and high-speed Internet keep it modern so the overall effect is very hip. The bathrooms have also been completely redone with frosted glass walls, a television built into the mirror, and all new fixtures, lighting, and amenities. Staying in one of them will cost you extra (about $50 more per night if the website is any indication) but it's totally worth it.

The standard rooms are much more pedestrian although larger than average with comfy furniture and all the typical amenities you'd come to expect in a Vegas room. Crisp white linens and throws give it a modern enough feeling but still, this is a comfortably plain room and nothing more.

Another truly remarkable part of the hotel is the pool that rivals The Mirage for the nicest in town. Dense tropical foliage frames the area and there are even live tropical animals including penguins and, you guessed it, flamingos. Get it?

There are several restaurants (including a branch of Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville) plus a couple of shows and a health club. If you're really into committing to Vegas you can buy into a time-share.

It's difficult to pin down prices here - sometimes they are higher than they have any right to be, but when they are moderate this is really a hotel you should pay attention to.

Although the overall package still places The Flamingo in the second tier of hotel choices for me, those GO rooms make a huge difference and move it up several notches in esteem.

For contact information and more details visit the Flamingo Las Vegas page on Vegas4Visitors.com.

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