The Linq Las Vegas Unveils First Wave of Restaurant, Bar and Retail Offerings
The Linq, a new dining and shopping district at the center of the Las Vegas Strip, has opened its first batch of shops, restaurant and bars.
While just a handful of stores and restaurants opened Dec. 27, 2013, others will make their debut in the next couple of months.
The exact tenant list for The Linq is fluid, even as venues begin to open. Some tenants which were officially announced have dropped out of the project for various reasons. Lost tenants include the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame (which we reported exclusively back in October), Off the Strip Bistro (an Italian restaurant that couldn’t get financing) and something called The Foundry. Still, there’s a lot of Vegas newness coming to The Linq.
Ready for a walk-through the first phase of The Linq? Let’s have at it!
As we posted, O’Sheas has been a highlight of The Linq so far. O’Sheas sits inside The Quad, but is readily accessible from The Linq corridor. On its first day, the new O’Sheas was absolutely packed. Read more about the much-anticipated opening of O’Sheas.
Outside, The Linq is showing off its new, 130-foot-tall digital marquee.
Here’s a short video clip of The Linq’s new marquee in all its “So You Think You Can Dance” glory.
The Flamingo has a stunning new side entrance featuring massive flamingos.
Why they’d choose to plant two palm trees in front of it, we have no idea, but it was about the only facepalm of our visit to The Linq.
We predict the newest must-do photo op in Las Vegas will be for guests to stand under the raised leg of the flamingo, pretending as though they’re going to be crushed. Trust us on this one.
Speaking of photo ops, The Linq has set up a number of large, interactive video screens so visitors can snap photos and share them via social media.
Similar kiosks can be found around Las Vegas, but these are the largest and most colorful. (Careful as you enter your e-mail address on the screens if you’re concerned about privacy, as it is very large and very public.)
The only restaurant to open at this juncture is Haute Doggery, which is a small space serving, as one might guess, hot dogs.
This shop should do a lot of business, as the prices are reasonable and dogs are a great on-the-go source of party fuel as visitors “do The Linq.”
We’ve got the full menu, including the Haute Dogs and Retro Dogs.
Next up is the Purple Zebra, a slushy drink and candy shop. The store offers about 20 alcoholic slushy drinks, 10 non-alcoholic and more specialty drink containers than we’ve ever seen in one place (and Las Vegas has a ton of specialty drink containers).
There are 38 novelty drink cups at Purple Zebra, ranging from 16 to 100 ounces.
Our favorites drink receptacles are the stocking leg cup ($24.95 empty, $29.95 with non-alcoholic beverage and $39.95 filled with regular daiquiris) and the 100-ounce saxophone ($26.95 empty, $35.95 filled with non-alcoholic slushy and $49.95 with a liquor-laden daiquiri).
Free samples of all the slushy flavors are available, of course. Insider tip: Just have 0-40 of the free samples and you’ll be all set. Or you’ll be kicked out. Hey, you haven’t truly had the Las Vegas experience until you’ve been frisked and forcibly removed from a slushy drink store.
The other retail store at The Linq is Koto, a novelty gift shop. Nothing too remarkable about it, other than that it has the jump on its competitors who haven’t opened yet.
The last venue which opened at The Linq on Dec. 27 was a Starbucks. Perhaps you’ve heard of them.
A Mexican restaurant, Chayo Mexicano, adjoining The Link at The Quad didn’t quite launch on The Linq’s opening day, but it appears to be ready. We wish we could share a photo of this new restaurant, but that would involve a security breach which we’re definitely against. Probably.
Here’s Chayo Mexicano at The Linq!
Chayo Mexicano will have two levels, including a patio with outdoor seating on the second floor.
That’s it for the venues at The Linq at the moment, but the flurry activity mid-Strip is truly amazing. We’re hearing good things about yet another new bar coming to The Quad called the Living Room.
Also, we slipped into an upper level at The Quad and caught of glimpse of a space we hear will be home to a new food court. No further details are available at this time, but we wouldn’t be surprised if The Quad called upon the services of the company that runs the food courts at Flamingo and Bally’s, Fifth Avenue Restaurant Group, to oversee out the food court at The Quad.
The Linq, of course, will really begin rolling when the High Roller observation wheel opens, probably within the first few months of 2014. Exciting stuff!
Enjoy more poorly-composed photos of all the new stores and restaurants at The Linq Las Vegas.
The Linq Las Vegas Opens
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