Cursed Las Vegas Restaurant Locations

Location is everything when operating a restaurant — and some Las Vegas addresses are notoriously tough. A few are downright cursed.

🌮 How can a place go wrong at Tivoli Village? Well, it happens — especially on the opposite side of a courtyard shared with the always-busy El Dorado Cantina. Even Alex Stratta, who earned Michelin stars at the Wynn, couldn’t make it work. Tapas by Alex Stratta didn’t last a year before it was reimagined as Salt & Pepper. Eventually, the El Dorado team took over, using the upstairs level for Excluscivo (something of a dining speakeasy) before rebranding it the Chancellor, which didn’t fare much better. A former manager swore to me the space was haunted 👻 Now, it’s little more than an overflow event space.

🍜 Chinatown is incredibly competitive. Just look at 6125 Spring Mountain (on the corner of Jones), where a Dairy Queen couldn't last. It was replaced by Tsaocaa for boba tea, followed by La Moon (a place I loved for Asian food with French cafe vibes). Having an address right next to a 7-Eleven may have hurt (and repurposing the distinctive Dairy Queen sign didn’t help). Today, Pho Saigonese is in the spot (with a new sign!), serving a diverse menu of Vietnamese food.

🍩 How many doughnut spots can survive in one place? The answer is none, at least at Suite 140 on 124 South 6th Street, which faces Carson Avenue. When O Face Doughnuts closed, the space became Donut Bar, which became the Donut Hole (a boutique concept by Carl’s Donuts). Eventually, it was just annexed by neighboring Carson Kitchen and used as a much-needed dining room extension.

🍔 Down the street, Suite 140 at 616 E. Cason Ave. has been home to Zydeco Po-Boys, Two Bald Brothers (Greek), Bomb Taco, Santos Guisados, Madero Street Tacos (which also operated as a ghost kitchen for burgers and breakfast burritos), and is now The Parlour, which might’ve found the right formula, serving brunch during the day and burgers at night.

🍚 Things come and go at Town Square all the time, but the corner space at 6605 Las Vegas Blvd. seems especially troubled. It’s been the Meatball Spot (which counted Britney Spears as an investor), the Sugar Factory, and more than a few other businesses over the years. I recall some weird boozy pop-up there as well — possibly during Halloween. It’s in a busy area near the movie theater where the Yard House and Double Helix seem to do fine year after year. The spot is now Noypitz Bar & Grill, a chain for Filipino food that specializes in platters — making it a good place to sample what the cuisine is all about.