VEGAS DINING NEWS: Jason Aldean Sets Date to Fight Blake Shelton (Restaurant-Wise)

Posted on: November 19, 2024, 09:24h. 

Last updated on: November 23, 2024, 09:47h.

Corey Levitan Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas, Restaurants, Las Vegas Myths.

Do enough country music fans visit Las Vegas every weekend to make Jason Aldean’s new Southern restaurant and honky-tonk just as successful as Blake Shelton’s almost identical Ole Red across the Strip and a 10-minute walk north? TC Restaurant Group, the corporation that runs Jason Aldean’s Kitchen + Bar, is betting on it. It’s opening the eatery on Monday, December 2 at 63 CityCenter, just in time for the annual National Final Rodeo.

Jason Aldean’s expression in this publicity photo seems to be daring us to name another Nashville honky-tonk on the Las Vegas Strip that also serves Southern comfort food while pretending to be run by a country superstar. So we did. (Image: Brian Higbee)

“I’ve always loved Las Vegas because it’s unique and has an energy like nowhere else,” Aldean said in a prepared statement that ignores Ole Red like an 800-lb. gorilla in the bar. “People are ready to have a good time and celebrate. I want this to be a spot where people come to kick back, enjoy great music, awesome food, and create good memories.”

Aldean’s three-story venue, shown in an official rendering, will feature two music stages (the same number as Ole Red), six bars (two more), and one outdoor terrace (same) in 22,500 square feet of space (4,500 shy of Shelton’s). (Image: jasonaldeansbar.com)

This will be the fourth location in Aldean’s restaurant stable, which started in Nashville in 2018 and now includes Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, Tenn. (Ole Red also has locations in Nashville and Gatlinburg. Just saying!)

Aldean’s Southern-inspired menu features Grandma’s Pot Roast and Mama Aldean’s Peach Cobbler.

“This menu is personal to me,” Aldean said in the release. “My mom was an amazing cook and there’s no way I could open this place without her food such as her peach cobbler.”

As of Tuesday, Ole Red’s menu features no items inspired by recipes from Blake Shelton’s mother or grandmother. But check back once this fight officially gets underway.

Jason Aldean’s Kitchen + Bar will open daily at 10 a.m. and close late Thursday through Saturday. For intel, visit jasonaldeansbar.com/las-vegas.

Dining Ins & Outs

Adios, Señor Frog’s at TI! (AI Image: Scott Roeben/Vital Vegas)

Treasure Island will soon make Señor Frog’s and Las Vegas Yacht Club walk the plank, as per Casino.org’s own Vital Vegas blogger Scott Roeben. Though still open, the restaurants’ spaces are both being advertised for lease. The listing by Logic Commercial Real Estate states that the spaces can be “available within 30 days.”

This is about as fun as seeing your own job listed on Indeed.com.

While everyone knows Señor Frog’s, no one knows Las Vegas Yacht Club, which failed to make a splash since opening last November in the old Seafood Shack space.

The former Banger Brewing Company at downtown’s Neonopolis, which closed last year, will be replaced by the Hush Puppy early next year. This Southern comfort restaurant (jambalaya, catfish, and –surprise!! — hush puppies) was founded on Vegas’ Westside in 1975. Its second location will open next door to the Heart Attack Grill, Fat Sal’s and the Dirt Dogs loaded hot dog shop, thus rendering Neonopolis a one-stop shopping destination for all your arteriosclerosis needs.

Coming to Grand Bazaar Shops at Horseshoe is Chilangos Tacos, according to permit sleuthing from the “Five Hundy by Midnight” podcast. This is a small chain from chef Joel Mendoza with six outlets in Texas and Nashville so far. A Chilango is Mexican slang for a native of Mexico City, Mendoza’s hometown.

Hot Dog on a Stick has closed at Excalibur, another restaurant story broken by Vital Vegas this week.