There were women in bikinis? At the Peppermill? It didn’t matter what time of the day or night you went out. Every pit boss from every major hotel, every cocktail waitress. “Oh my gosh, totally different ambiance at night. Thanks for the breakfast, babe,” Orth says as an example.Ĭome swing shift, the joint would be buzzing. “I made four grand, so here’s $500 for ya. When dealers finished their graveyard shifts, the money flowed. When Orth was hired, she was too young to be assigned the swing or graveyard shifts where the real action was, but she got the occasional taste by covering for other waitresses. “Now,” she says, seated in one of the restaurant’s booths beneath an artificial tree as dishes clatter in the background, “you’ve gotta pay ’em $24 just to show up.” (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal) started out earning $1.10 an hour, with the cooks making a little more than twice that. The famed restaurant celebrates its 50th anniversary on Dec. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal) Peggy Orth, general manager of the Peppermill, poses for a picture with her son, Nicholas Orth, who is the executive chef, on Tuesday, Dec. 26, 1972, the day Peppermill opened, as seen on Wednesday, Dec. When the Peppermill opened, a cup of Sanka cost 20 cents, a 14-ounce New York steak with the choice of fries or a baked potato was $6.75, and “lasagne - a delicacy from Italy,” described on the menu as “layers of wide, tender egg noodles and tangy cheeses, topped with a heaping ladle of meaty lasagne sauce that has been simmered for hours and hours,” would set you back $4.25. Her son Nicholas is the executive chef, his daughter Krystin is waitressing there while studying hospitality and business management, and more relatives have passed through there than Orth can recall. “I went to nursing school,” says Orth, who’s been the Peppermill’s general manager for the past 28 years. 26, 1972.Ī year and a half later, a 17-year-old Peggy Orth started working as a waitress. The identical Las Vegas offshoot, at 2985 Las Vegas Blvd. Lifelong friends Nat Carasali and Bill Paganetti opened the Peppermill Coffee Shop and Lounge in Reno in 1971. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal) early days An exterior view of the Peppermill on Tuesday, Dec. Turns out, its history is nearly as colorful as its interiors. Sugar crystals at each table are rainbow-colored, resembling something that’s been squeezed forth from a unicorn.Īs the Peppermill Restaurant and Fireside Lounge turns 50, it remains a remarkable assault on the senses - even by Las Vegas standards. The green-and-blue carpeting swirls in ways that would do a drunk no favors. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal) pink and purple neon reflect off the flattened disco ball of a ceiling. Lucky for all of us, both ELV and the Peppermill survived.An exterior view of the Peppermill on Tuesday, Dec. You might find yourselves standing up to drink one, however, as those two foot straws can be troublesome.īack in the 80s, when ELV discovered this place, the straws were a lot shorter….and were being used in the back booths for all kinds of things. The drink is a modest affair - containing as it does fresh squeezed juice, 2 shots of cherry brandy, 2 shots of vodka and 2 shots of dark rum - guaranteed to warm you up as quickly as the cozy booths surrounding the fire. In the meantime, you should plan on hitting the flaming firepool pit for one of his classic Scorpions this year, as the Peppermill is celebrating its 40 anniversary on the Las Vegas Strip. Lots of things like that happen at the Fireside Lounge at the Peppermill….although to read about more of them, you’ll have to wait for ELV to finish (and publish) his article about the place in VEGAS magazine. Like the one where a loyal customer…who wishes to remain anonymous but whose initials are Ed Lobus…put a live goldfish from the flaming firepool (where he had dumped them days earlier) and surreptitiously slipped one into his boss’ scotch and water.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |