Ten years back on this site, I posted the following…
Several years ago, I found myself at a party with several folks who were involved in the planning and construction of a forthcoming Las Vegas mega-resort. (A mega-resort is basically a hotel where you have to walk a long distance to your room.) The gent who was in charge of the food court told me — with a note of pride and achievement in his voice — that the selection of fast food outlets would include…a White Castle. I said, "Really? I always heard they refuse to go outside their area. How did you get them to agree to set one up in Vegas?" He revealed, as if mentioning a minor technicality, that the White Castle Board of Directors was as yet unaware that their wares would be in his food court.
"They cannot say no to our offer," he said in a manner that echoed Don Corleone and explained that the terms he'd be presenting were such that someone would have to be brain-dead to decline. Then he added that if by some chance the head honchos at W.C. were brain-dead or foolishly stubborn, his hotel had "certain business connections" that would and could pressure them into accepting his generous proposal. I don't think he meant Mafia or anything of the sort. I think he meant genuine, above-board business connections. I also think that at that moment, he would have bet his house and kids that he could bring the White Castle execs to their knees and force compliance.
Eight months later, the hotel opened. In its food court, in the slot that was obviously intended for a White Castle, there was a Wendy's or maybe a Fatburger. Many years later, there is still no White Castle stand in Vegas or anywhere west of St. Louis.
How things change. A White Castle opened yesterday in Vegas at, of all places, Casino Royale. This is a surprising location for this because it's one of the smaller casinos, unaffiliated with the big hotel chains. The big ones, you'd think, could threaten and bribe and outbid and get what they wanted…and probably a lot of them wanted the first Vegas White Castle. People lined up for hours yesterday to get bags o' sliders.
It may be of some interest that the other main places to get a meal at Casino Royale are an Outback Steakhouse and a Denny's…and the Denny's is reportedly the highest-grossing Denny's in America. That may have been what caused White Castle to go there.
In the meantime, the popular New York burger chain Shake Shack recently opened at the New York, New York casino and there's been a Steak n' Shake for a year or two now at South Point. All three chains once seemed confined to certain areas that did not include Las Vegas.
But I just decided that instead of White Castle, I want to talk about why the Denny's in Vegas is so overwhelmingly successful. That kinda baffles me.
I understand some of it. It's in a good location at the middle of The Strip. It's no worse — and maybe even a tad better (or at least, consistent) — than a lot of other restaurants you might choose when it's 4 AM in Vegas. The city has some of the greatest restaurants in the world, especially within walking distance of Casino Royale…but they're all shut down by Midnight. After that, you're at the mercy of casino coffee shops that are mostly on a Denny's level.
But…but during the day? You can eat a lot better in Vegas than that — and you can do it in that area for about the same price.
I understand wanting to go to White Castle or Steak n' Shake because you don't have one back home. The In-N-Out Burger near The Strip is a "must visit" for many folks from the 45 states that don't have that chain….but there are 1,593 Denny's in the United States and I did not make up that number. They're in every state. You don't have to go to Nevada to eat in one. As a person with multiple food allergies, I even understand the value of dining in a restaurant where you know the menu.
That many choose to bypass other options and go to Denny's is one of those things I don't understand. Like why, when they don't have any other options, they still go to Denny's.