VEGAS DINING NEWS: Seeing (Ole) Red Over Auto Gratuity, No Viva Another Vegan
Posted on: July 16, 2025, 12:38h.
Last updated on: July 16, 2025, 05:18h.
- Vegas diners reach the tipping point over an Ole Red receipt
- Another plant-based eatery dies on the vine in Vegas
A July 11 receipt from the Las Vegas Ole Red has achieved virality due to several apparently outrageous elements.
The receipt — for an $18 Caesar salad, a $21 crispy chicken salad, and an $11 natural cut fries — added an automatic gratuity of 20% ($10) to a meal eaten only by two, while contradictorily noting “tip not included” at the bottom. Appropriate tip amounts were then suggested.
It was emailed by a diner to Vegas411 publisher Sam Novak, who posted it to his Facebook account.
“This is exactly why less people are coming to Vegas,” commented @iamroot661 below Vital Vegas’ X reposting, which received more than 184K views. “Until it stops, we aren’t getting those tourists back.”
(Note to @iamroot661: Your high-school English teacher informed us that it’s “fewer” people, not “less” and that you should know better.)
X user @NevadaPlayer even tagged the restaurant’s famous owner, asking the country singer, “Did you know they were pulling this nonsense, Blake?”
It turns out that the auto gratuity was not inappropriate. Novak informed Casino.org that he was later contacted by Ole Red’s manager, who reported that a three-way split was applied to a six-person group.
However, that doesn’t explain the incorrect “tip not included” message.
Others beefed about the $1.75 entertainment fee, but that’s a mandatory tax on all Nevada venues providing live entertainment.
At least there was no charge for the side of ranch.
Uprooted
ChagaRoot, the Henderson restaurant focused on plant-based dishes and milkshakes made with mushrooms — plus some real meat add-ons – closed on July 3 after three years.
A farewell Instagram post read, “From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for being part of this journey.” The Vegas-based brand continues to sell its mushroom protein powder online.
Though ChagaRoot never claimed to be a vegan restaurant, last year, it ranked 57th among Yelp’s top 100 vegan restaurants in the US. Our last column reported on the recent shuttering of both locations of NoButcher, which ranked 16th on the same survey.
That makes six vegan restaurants (or five, if you don’t count ChagaRoot) that have closed in Las Vegas in the past three years. Rounding out the list are VegeNation, Graze Kitchen, Pots, and our favorite, Violette’s Vegan from poker pro Cyndy Violette.
Dining Ins & Outs
Starting July 24, Naughty Patty’s will fill the burger void created at the Cosmopolitan when Holsteins Shakes and Buns closed at the Block 16 Urban Food Hall in July 2024.
Also opening July 24 will be Electric Mushroom in the former Therapy space at 518 Fremont St. The psychedelic-themed bar and nightlife venue will also feature a restaurant. We assume any mushrooms on its menu will be legal, as much as the façade suggests otherwise.
Nacho Daddy, one of the eateries co-founded by late Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh, is shuttering its West Sahara Avenue location, leaving only its spots downtown and in the Miracle Mile Shops on the Strip.
Big B’s Texas BBQ will finally open its relocated westside location at 8125 W. Sahara Ave., Suite 300 on July 23. The smokery closed its smaller location at 6115 S. Fort Apache Road in May 2024 in preparation for a move that September, but construction and permitting delays ensued.
Smelly Cat Karaoke has moved into the space vacated by Bourbon Parade at the Grand Bazaar Shops in front of Horseshoe Las Vegas. The New Orleans-inspired bar only operated from October to November of 2023, and its replacement — inspired by Phoebe’s trademark song from “Friends” — may last even longer. But not according to Vital Vegas, who calls it “like traffic school, waterboarding and erectile dysfunction, all in one place” and warns that “if you plan to visit, you should probably do so as soon as possible.”
Despite a menu crafted by “Hell’s Kitchen” Season 12 winner Scott Commings, the Freedom Beat at the Downtown Grand has cut its operating days to weekends only, as per Vital Vegas.
Last Comment ( 1 )
The first time I went to Cabo Wabo at Miracle Mile about 12 years ago, beforeobing here, they tried to charge me a Live Entertainment Tax or similar. I refused. They didn't give me an issue over it. I've never been back or go to The Strip for anything.