Siegel’s 1941 Closes at Downtown’s El Cortez Casino

By Scott Roeben, on April 22 2026
3 min read 1 comment
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A longtime downtown eatery at El Cortez casino, Siegel’s 1941, has closed.

The restaurant is getting a renovation and partial rebrand. It’s complicated. Early word is that for breakfast and lunch, it will be Siegel’s 1941. For dinner (starting at 5:00 p.m.), it will be Alex Prime, a New York steakhouse. The restaurant will be named after Alex Epstein (who recently passed away), the daughter of ElCo’s owner, Kenny Epstein.

There’s no timeline for when the new concept will open. The over/under is three months. Luckily, the neighborhood is replete with dining options, so you’ll figure something out.

Construction walls aren’t sad, they’re a symbol of unbridled potential. Or something.

We told you back in Nov. 2025 that Siegel’s 1941 would be closing for a renovation.

Siegel’s 1941 opened at El Cortez in June 2015.

It replaced the Flame Steakhouse.

The 1941 in Siegel’s 1941 is a reference to the year El Cortez opened. It was 1941. Please try and keep up.

The pickings are slim, but you aren’t here to eat, you’re here to gamble and drink and get rejected by an attractive woman who visited by accident and besides she’s married so get over yourself.

The “Siegel” in Siegel’s 1941 is a reference to noted murderer Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel.

Yes, Las Vegas has a habit of glamorizing murderers (Oscar’s Steakhouse at Plaza features a statue of another mass murderer, Tony “The Ant” Spilotro, and Flamingo has a restaurant called Bugsy & Meyers, for example).

Las Vegas leans into mob mythology for color and nostalgia, but it’s essentially marketing built on people who’d be prosecuted as serious criminals today. Then again, the greater culture seems to be much more forgiving of past criminal acts, as long as the person is famous or rich. There’s a statue of convicted rapist Mike Tyson at Resorts World. Mark Wahlberg was convicted of racist hate crimes and he’s treated like royalty when he talks about making Las Vegas the next Hollywood. Benny Binion murdered people and his name is on a casino, and there’s a statue of him at South Point. It’s a whole thing.

Anyway, don’t get us started.

While Siegel’s 1941 is closed, guests can try the new Hot Noods inside El Cortez, or cross the street to Eureka (again, mid) or Sushi Ichiban.

Hot Noods hasn’t gotten enough love. It’s solid Asian food.

Our recommendation is to stroll a few feet farther to Le Thai, in the Fremont East district. La Mona Rosa on 6th Street has excellent Mexican food, or hit Evel Pie on Fremont Street for a slice. Park on Fremont, next door to that, has excellent burgers.

We hope to scoop everyone on the next food concept at El Cortez, as we did the closure of Siegel’s 1941. El Cortez is one of our favorite Las Vegas casinos, and if you haven’t visited before, you’re missing out.

If you park in their garage, make sure to keep an eye out for the mantis at Downtown Container Park, just across the street.

It’s a unique blend of gritty, old-timey Las Vegas casino, with a recent injection of new and shiny with its ongoing enhancements.

Next to the former Siegel’s 1941, they’ve knocked down the walls at the Parlor lounge. Not exactly headline news, but it opens the space up and makes it more inviting.

See the specialty cocktail menu on the official site. When you see the prices, you’ll think it’s still 1941.

El Cortez has somehow balanced its longtime customer base (grinders) with a new influx of the aforementioned fellow youths, including bar-hoppers from the aforementioned Fremont East. That mix was a disaster at Palms when it was owned by Station Casinos, but at El Cortez, it just seems to work. There’s a new energy in the place, but you can still find dark, smoky corners and coin-operated slots, the way Mother Nature intended Las Vegas casinos to be.

More details about Alex Prime at El Cortez soon.