Las Vegas Weekly

June 16, 2009 · 3:18 PM

Photo Gallery: First Food & Bar aims to serve patrons in the after-hours

By Robin Leach

Laura Croft at the hot dog stand in First Food & Bar in the Palazzo.

Photo: TVT

Hidden treasure! The brand new First Food & Bar features a photo booth, and at the grand opening in the Palazzo, crowds hopped in and out to make their own four-strip of images. There was even a hot dog stand for the baby buns and Sabretts. Also on the menu: sliders. The more you explore at First, the more delights you discover!

My friends from Jersey Boys in the Palazzo were there, along with our Nevada Sen. John Ensign and a host of other Las Vegas VIPs. Corey Maggette of the Golden State Warriors is one of the investors and says it will be his hangout the entire offseason. Actor Mekhi Phifer loved the honey walnut shrimp, American Idol’s Ryan Starr hit the hot dog stand, and Dr. 90210’s Dr. Gary Motykie hung out with friends near the DJ booth. The crowd wandered the circular sports bar, sprawled on the window booths to watch the Sirens and firework show across the Strip, lined up at the carving station and sat at the diner counter.

First is in the Palazzo, but you can actually enter it from the gondola station and canal at the end of The Venetian or from a bridge that leads right in across the Strip from Treasure Island. Hidden a little, but the treasure awaits, and many are already predicting that First will become the Strip’s hottest late, late nightspot.

The chef is Sam DeMarco, known to everybody as Sammy D, who started his culinary career in New York’s East Village also at a restaurant aptly named First. It became the ultimate late-night hangout for all the chefs of the city when they shut their kitchens. The same will happen here! He serves up classic, nostalgic American food favorites with an inner-city flavor. Call it a modern-day spin of a neighborhood bar or diner from home. Anyone for Grandpa’s Pizza, watermelon arugula salad, lobster rolls or cream cheese grits?

You’ll find chef Sammy at work in the open-to-all kitchen, and he won’t mind if you wander in and ask him to cook up something special you crave. “We wanted the neighborhood bar where burgers and fries taste like heaven at 2 a.m. We’re a little bit rock and roll, but we don’t scare away your folks when they stop in,” Sammy said. “We have captured the authenticity of your old favorite local bar and diner and given it a hip, comfortable hangout feel, yet remaining casual. We’re there 21/7 for those who stagger in to feed late-night cravings or those wanting an early breakfast or midday business lunch.”

Photo: Isaac Brekken

Jersey Boys cast members Jeff Leibow, Erich Bergen, Travis Cloer and Deven May.

The restaurant is a 10,000-square-foot mesh of edgy intimacy within its high-ceiling walls. It was truly a case of first-night applause at First! Sammy summed up: “You can build great restaurants and serve great food, but you can’t buy it a soul. It’s about the people, the culture and the fiber of the neighborhood. Our neighborhood here is right on the Strip, and that’s unique.”

With the L.A. Lakers win over the Orlando Magic in the NBA finals, it means the NBA star invasion of Las Vegas gets underway. First to town was Robert Horry, and he checked out First, dining on lollipop chicken wings and original mini sliders and giving it a slam-dunk review!

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

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