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Rock & Rita's: Fast Facts

Circus Circus
2880 Las Vegas Blvd. South
702-691-5991
website

Hours:

  • 24 hours
  • Restaurant Type:

  • American
  • [ Yahoo! Maps ]

    Rock & Rita's: The Low Down
    Summary
    Hearty, high calorie food in a festive (maybe loud) environment.
    Menu
    American fare - big burgers, sandwiches, and more.
    Atmosphere
    It's a party bar and so not a place for a quiet meal.
    Service
    Very good.
    Price
    A true bargain.
    What Else Do I Need To Know?
    They are open 24 hours so you can nosh at 3am if you're peckish.
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    Rock & Rita's: Full Review
    Looking for a casually elegant restaurant that serves tasteful cocktails and cuisine for discerning tastes?

    Or are you looking for a place that serves a burger called the Ulcerator and giant drinks that come in souvenir cups shaped like toilet bowls?

    If you picked the latter, Rock & Rita's is the place for you.

    The call it a "Great American Party Restaurant and Bar" and that should give you all the information you really need about what kind of establishment this is: loud, a bit crude, and with absolutely no pretense and I mean all of that in a good way.

    The massive space at Circus Circus is dominated by several bars, one a converted school bus, all staffed by some of the world's most celebrated flair bartenders. There's an art to the twirling, flipping, spinning, and pouring of bottles they do ; almost balletic in its composition. Okay, maybe that's going too far but it certainly is a lot of fun to watch.

    There's also a giant stage, lots of TV screens (especially in their sports book bar), and even room for dancing to their frequent late night live entertainment.

    Or you could just come in for their beer-pong tournament where you can pay $25 and get all the draft beer you can drink or toss a ping-pong ball into, whatever comes first.

    Getting the idea yet?

    But forget about the drinking and carousing for a moment, if you will, because food is a big part of what they do here also.

    Open for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and late night bargain dining, the restaurant serves huge portions of hearty American food for downright cheap prices.

    The menu has appetizers like nachos, fried mozzarella, quesadillas, sliders, and chicken fingers; burgers and dogs of all stripe; meatloaf, Cuban, bbq pork and chicken, and other sandwiches; and a selection of entrees that run the gamut from fish and chips to stir fry to ribs to steak with a pasta and some seafood thrown in just to keep things interesting.

    They have a few salads but you really shouldn't be coming here for heart-healthy choices. One of the options is a creamy bacon fried chicken salad that is topped with BBQ potato chips. You think I'm making that up, don't you? I'm not.

    Breakfast features eggs, omlettes, waffles, and more while their late night menu, available from 10pm until 7am, has things like beef or BBQ pork sliders, chili dogs, and quesadillas for only $5.

    And that cost is not too far afield from what you pay for the regular menu items. You won't break $10 until you start getting to the entree items and even then you won't go much above that. Affordability is the key ingredient here.

    We sampled one of the cheesy chicken quesadillas (toasty and melty goodness), the chicken fingers appetizer (big enough for a meal and declared to be fantastic by the person eating them), a beef dip (also dripping with cheese, yum), and their mac and cheese entree that comes with five cheeses, smoked ham, and bacon.

    There wasn't a bum note in the bunch and while this might not be James Beard award winning cuisine, it was good, fresh, and more than satisfying especially considering how cheap it was.

    The service is fast and friendly, although admittedly we were there when it wasn't very busy. Crowded game or weekend nights will probably make things a lot more hectic in all sorts of ways both good and bad.

    In a town like Las Vegas where eating a meal usually involves an interpreter for the menu and a small bank loan to pay for it, it's a delight to find a restaurant like Rock & Rita's. Forget dining, cocktails, and merriment... just eat, drink, and have fun instead.

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