{"id":42756,"date":"2025-02-03T02:55:43","date_gmt":"2025-02-03T10:55:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/?p=42756"},"modified":"2025-02-03T13:03:39","modified_gmt":"2025-02-03T21:03:39","slug":"downtowns-historic-el-portal-reopens-gird-for-disappointment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/downtowns-historic-el-portal-reopens-gird-for-disappointment\/","title":{"rendered":"Downtown’s Historic El Portal Reopens, Gird for Disappointment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Other than a Boy Scout Jamboree, Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas is the last place you should bring children. (Kudos for dodging that bullet, Vatican City.)<\/p>\n

Apparently oblivious to that fact, a new business geared toward children (and families) has opened in downtown’s historic and long-neglected El Portal building on Fremont.<\/p>\n

It’s an arcade called In The Game Fremont Street. We told you to gird.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The reverence Las Vegas shows its history is remarkable.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the Game has 10 locations and comes from a company called Family Entertainment Group, an arcade operating company<\/a> that loves playing fast and loose with sentence case.<\/p>\n

Here’s a blurb from the official news release about In the Game Fremont Street: “Open nightly until 2:00 a.m., In The Game Fremont Street offers an electrifying mix of arcade games, group challenge experiences, and unique attractions. From the adrenaline-pumping Giant Human Crane Experience and exciting Group Challenge Games to the thrilling Shocker Chair and Hangtime Challenge, this venue provides endless excitement for guests of all ages. Beyond the games and prizes, In The Game Fremont Street serves up an impressive selection of food and beverages.”<\/p>\n

When we popped in, there was no food available, but it should be soon.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Kids eating “handhelds” and playing arcade games. Behold, ground zero of the next pandemic.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here’s a look at the beverage menu.<\/p>\n

We trust they’d like to have an outdoor bar on Fremont, but the casinos will never let that happen.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Beer for $9. About the going rate on Fremont if you aren’t gambling. If you’re gambling, a beer can cost upwards of $1,600.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We have already exhausted our attention span for this idiocy, so you can learn more at the official In The Game Web site<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
They spent $10 million to build this arcade. Our question: “Why?”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the Game doesn’t really talk too much about the El Portal, but it’s a pretty big deal.<\/p>\n

El Portal opened on June 21, 1928 and was “Las Vegas’ cultural center for many years,” according to plaque which somehow survived the building’s overhaul. We hope the gum has been removed.<\/p>\n

\"\"
For our fellow youths, “plays” were like movies, but with real people performing onstage. Weird, right?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The El Portal, originally a theater, was reportedly the first air-conditioned building in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n

El Portal was built on the site of the old Las Vegas Airdome, an outdoor theater and a place for masochists to get heat stroke.<\/p>\n

El Portal was built by Ernie Cragin, a former mayor of Las Vegas and one of its leading racists. Cragin was a big supporter of segregation, so people of color had to sit in El Portal’s balcony. Yes, Las Vegas has a long history of dumbassery nobody really talks about.<\/p>\n

Racism ended in Las Vegas in 1964 as it did everywhere else in America, especially Mississippi.<\/p>\n

The first film shown at El Portal was Clara Bow’s movie, “Ladies of the Mob.”<\/p>\n

The El Portal building has been vacant for many years, as various projects were announced and fell through along the way. There isn’t much left of the original building. We popped our head in for one of the last interior photos before the building was filled with arcade games and ankle biters. Read more<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
You’re welcome, posterity.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At one point, El Portal was going to be home to a Taco Bell Cantina, part of something called the Fremont Food Emporium.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Leave it to an arcade to make Taco Bell seem downright classy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Fremont Food Emporium was also supposed to have Evening Call (slushy drinks), Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers and Krystal Burger at various points.  Learn to live with disappointment.<\/p>\n

Most recently, the El Portal was home to a tacky Indian Arts & Crafts store. In recent years, El Portal has mainly served as a canvas for asshats who constantly tagged it with graffiti.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Should’ve said “dibs” on the totem poles.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Isn’t an arcade for kids better than blight, you ask? Marginally, we answer.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, arcade games make about as much as slot machines ($200-300 a day), on average. See also Horseshoe (formerly Bally’s) replacing its sports book with an arcade. It’s called Arcade at Horseshoe<\/a>. Naming things is hard.<\/p>\n

Guests at In the Game use “Game Cards” and load them up with credits. The more credits you buy, the better the deals. You’ll figure it out.<\/p>\n

\"\"
No coins, just like casinos. Arcades, of course, are casino training grounds. It’s awkward<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fremont Street didn’t really have a place for terrible parents to dump their kids (locals casinos have “supervised play centers” called Kids Quest, don’t get us started), but now they have In the Game Fremont Street.<\/p>\n

These are the same geniuses rolling their groggy kids down Fremont Street in strollers at midnight and up against the speakers near the stages with dangerously high volume levels. The same people pushing their kids into the arms of costumed characters (some registered sex offenders) for photos.<\/p>\n

Does an arcade on Fremont Street signal the end of civilization? Pretty much. But the claw games looked sort of fun.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Other than a Boy Scout Jamboree, Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas is the last place you should bring children. (Kudos for dodging that bullet, Vatican City.) Apparently oblivious to that fact, a new business geared toward children (and families) has opened in downtown’s historic and long-neglected El Portal building on Fremont. It’s an arcade […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,23,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-downtownlasvegas","category-vegas","category-things-to-do-las-vegas"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDowntown's Historic El Portal Reopens, Gird for Disappointment | Vital Vegas<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Other than a Boy Scout Jamboree, Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas is the last place you should bring children. 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