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BC Dave Site Admin
Joined: 18 Dec 2005 Posts: 1597
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Posted: Oct Sun 08, 2006 7:57 pm Post subject: BC Dave's Best of Reno! |
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Best Italian Food (possibly on Earth): La Strada .. And my wife and I only had an inexpensive early bird special. Wow it was good!
Best Buffet(s): I love the Eldorado's and the Peppermill's .
Best Bar: Well they're all pretty good after a few, but the Fireside edges out over Shooters (especially on Tuesdays).
Best Gambling: I once would have said the Cal Neva and I still spend a disproportionate amount of time there, but I'm not quite as big of a fan of the place as I once was.
Best Burger: The Awful Awful of course!
Best room price: Often is at the Sands. Their rooms are large too.
How about Best Closed Casino? I get teary eyed when I think of all the fun I had at Harold's Club, Flamingo, Nevada Club, Comstock, RiverBoat, Colonial, Riverside, Horseshoe, Eddie's Fabulous Fifties, Sundowner and Pioneer Inn. I loved 'em all!
I'll update this posting as more favorites come to mind.
BC Dave |
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stan_allen
Joined: 19 Dec 2005 Posts: 1129
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Posted: Oct Mon 09, 2006 8:24 am Post subject: Best of the best |
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Best Reno era: the '90's. - Okay, I wasn't there to witness the golden ages of the '50s and prior, which were probably even better - but I loved it when there were casinos jammed into every open space in the downtown. It's already getting difficult to remember, so here's to you:
-Sundowner
-Comstock
-Flamingo Hilton
-Old Reno
There were probably more, but I'm already forgetting - I'm trying to imagine what other establishments might have existed circa 1996... |
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Obijuankenobe
Joined: 17 Dec 2005 Posts: 34
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Posted: Oct Sat 14, 2006 5:45 pm Post subject: Re: Best of the best |
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stan_allen wrote: | Best Reno era: the '90's.
-Sundowner
-Comstock
-Flamingo Hilton
-Old Reno
There were probably more, but I'm already forgetting - I'm trying to imagine what other establishments might have existed circa 1996...
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How can you forget the prospector and his mule?....
Harolds
Nevada Club |
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stan_allen
Joined: 19 Dec 2005 Posts: 1129
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Posted: Oct Sun 15, 2006 3:54 pm Post subject: Well, I said my memory was getting foggy... |
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Both Harold's and The Nevada Club were there in the '90's? Wow...what were their locations? I can't remember which page has a street map of the heyday era...
And it never occurred to me in those heady days that the party could possibly stop.
As I mentioned, my memory of that period is already rather rough, but it's quite possible that I strolled through those very joints in my initial forays to Reno.
So in honor of drinks I may have imbibed and slots I may have fed in these fine, sorely-missed establishments, I salute thee. |
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JD
Joined: 18 Dec 2005 Posts: 956
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Posted: Oct Mon 16, 2006 2:23 am Post subject: Missing Reno Landmarks |
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Harold's Club was just North of Harrah's and across the street from the Little Nugget with the Nevada Club next door. It's where Harrah's outdoor plaza and the stage for the concerts is today.
And don't forget Dick Clark's American Bandstand club. It was upstairs and played American Bandstand's theme song through speakers on the street 24/7.
Interesting sidenote.... The Mapes and Harold's Club came down the same day. But the city of Reno took reponsibility for redeveloping the Mapes property while Harrah's was to dress up the rubble that was Harold's Club. Enough said? |
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evandors
Joined: 23 Dec 2005 Posts: 37
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Posted: Oct Mon 16, 2006 5:53 pm Post subject: |
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OK if we are going to talk about the good old days I have to chime in. here are my favorites of the old casinos from the 1990's (when I started coming to Reno)
Harolds Club - The huge big bertha in their front window. You could stand on the street and watch it played
Nevada Club - Kilroy Burger in the restaurant upstairs - sorry Awful Awful but it had you beat
Riverboat - Really attractive black jack dealer (I forget her name) that used to flirt with me every time
Comstock - Great steak and baked potato dinner for $5.95 Plus it was my moms favorite casino and after she passed I always thought of her when I was there
Flamingo - For awhile was one of few places that let you double down on any 2 cards single deck
Sundowner - Best blackjack game in town there at the end
Continental - Never played there
Nugget (or maybe the place next to the nuggetI forget its old name) - First place I ever saw someone bet $1000 on the pass line. Came ina cab, they said table limit was $500 so he went and got this obvious hooker out of the cab and had her bet the other $500....One roll and he crapped out with ace deuce...Lost teh grand, went and got in the cab and drove away. the stick man said "What the hell was that"?
Old Reno - Had a ton of money on display...Ok it was a butt load of pennys but still a ton
Actually the best part of all of them was the perfect little loop they made. A nice little circle that kept you from ever being outside long while you made the circle moving from place to place. Back then all the places had very different feels and it was great to move between them. Plus the streets were jamemd with people drinking and carrying change buckets. Oh I wish those days would have lasted forever..Now I seem to only play at Cal Neva and Fitz....I leave Reno a little depressed every trip now |
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john Site Admin
Joined: 17 Dec 2005 Posts: 1181
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Posted: Oct Tue 17, 2006 5:57 am Post subject: |
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evandors wrote: | Harolds Club - The huge big bertha in their front window. You could stand on the street and watch it played |
Speaking of Berthas...does anyone remember John Ascuaga's Bertha? I remember years ago, early every evening, she'd walk down B Street on her way to work. Traffic would slow to a crawl, but no one cared because it was such a treat to see her lumber down the street. Of course, she stopped doing that when the show she had played for 37 years closed. She died a few years later at age 55 and I wondered if it was because she no longer felt needed.
John |
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llkraus
Joined: 28 Dec 2005 Posts: 104 Location: Tyler, TX
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Posted: Oct Wed 18, 2006 6:43 am Post subject: |
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john wrote: | evandors wrote: | Harolds Club - The huge big bertha in their front window. You could stand on the street and watch it played |
Speaking of Berthas...does anyone remember John Ascuaga's Bertha? I remember years ago, early every evening, she'd walk down B Street on her way to work. Traffic would slow to a crawl, but no one cared because it was such a treat to see her lumber down the street. Of course, she stopped doing that when the show she had played for 37 years closed. She died a few years later at age 55 and I wondered if it was because she no longer felt needed.
John |
The night she died, my friend and I were at the Nugget for the Michael Martin Murphy show. They had a moment of silence for her and treated it as a very sad moment. (For an outsider, who did not know the history of Bertha, it was somewhat surreal! I had never before observed a moment of silence for an elephant.) They also gave everyone at the show a one-dollar Bertha chip (a commemorative chip they had made a few years before to honor her service) as a memento. I still have it somewhere.
It was also a show where a band from Viriginia City (Comstock Cowboys, perhaps?) played two or three songs, one of which was high praise for David Koresh, the Branch Davidian who had been involved with the Waco incident. Since David was from my part of the world (he is buried about 7 miles from my house), and being somewhat familiar with his particular loonacy, I was somewhat taken aback.
All in all, a truely weird evening that still merits a "remember when" on our trips to Reno/Tahoe.
llk _________________ Larry L. Kraus
Tyler, TX |
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ErininSD
Joined: 19 Dec 2005 Posts: 265
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Posted: Jan Tue 16, 2007 6:27 pm Post subject: |
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It was the Bertha AND Tina show...LOL, we can't forget Tina. Did Tina die before Bertha? I remember driving on I-80 and sometimes would get a peek of Bertha or Tina, as they were taken out of their pens...it was thrilling as a kid.
Oh, I have to add The Holiday to the old "best of's". I also lived at Dick Clark's AB during my mid 20's. I didn't gamble at that time, but thought Harold's club was kind of a snoozer casino. |
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john Site Admin
Joined: 17 Dec 2005 Posts: 1181
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Posted: Jan Wed 17, 2007 7:55 am Post subject: |
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Erin, if you're referring to the Holiday Hotel (now Siena), I remember their 27th anniversary special. They were stooooopid enough to sell draft beers for 27 cents. Every vagrant and homeless bridge dweller in the Reno/Sparks area joined in the festivities. It kinda looked like the mission on 4th Street. Strangely enough, I somehow felt right at home. |
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ErininSD
Joined: 19 Dec 2005 Posts: 265
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Posted: Jan Fri 19, 2007 4:02 pm Post subject: |
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Yep, I sure did mean the Holiday, which is now the Siena. We loved that place. It used to attract all sorts of riff-raff...LOL. We used to play the Gamemaker machines near the bar on the southside of the property. That way we could easily get cocktails when we needed them.
The Siena took over, now it's just too fancy...LOL.
Erin |
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jerry
Joined: 11 Jan 2006 Posts: 759
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Posted: Jan Mon 22, 2007 2:48 pm Post subject: |
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sorry, Erin, but the Siena/Holiday is once again attracting way too much riff-raff to suit me. The place stinks when you step in the drawer.
I have heard one way to avoid too much riff-raff when visiting Reno casinos is to fail to let John know you are coming to town. |
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BC Dave Site Admin
Joined: 18 Dec 2005 Posts: 1597
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Posted: Jan Tue 23, 2007 12:29 am Post subject: Riff-Raff |
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Jerry, which drawer did you get into?
Now you you be nice to our host or I'll get the Cyber-Puffer out again.
Perhaps a little jaunt over to Shooter's will help you adjust your Riff-Raff quotient.
Oh yeah, something on topic - hmm, "Best of Reno".... er, ah, the "Arch Liquor Store!"
BC Dave |
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JohnTS71
Joined: 05 Mar 2006 Posts: 51
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Posted: Jan Wed 24, 2007 7:23 pm Post subject: |
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this thread is very helpful since i never been to reno |
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ErininSD
Joined: 19 Dec 2005 Posts: 265
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Posted: Aug Sun 17, 2008 2:55 pm Post subject: |
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Best French Dip Sandwich - Biscotti's at the Peppermill. It might be a little pricey, but well worth it. The tenderest prime rib, it melts in your mouth.
Best New Rooms in Reno - Peppermill Tuscan tower, though you have to be a member of Mensa in order to figure out how to use the light switches...LOL |
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