Category: Wake

This Just In – Champion Gourmet and Paymon’s Mediterranean Bistro (Downtown) Close

Actually, news of both closings is over a week old. It’s just that ELV and his staff have been kinda busy lately, and didn’t post this news immediately upon hearing it.

We suppose all that great Mediterranean food of Paymon’s just didn’t catch on with the downtown crowd…

What happened to Champion Gourmet is anyone’s guess, but we are saddened by the news. It had some of the tastiest soups, dumplings and Taiwanese fare in town at prices that were too good to be true. Maybe that was the problem. (sigh)

Word is that Paymon’s space (the former Tinoco’s space) will continue to operate as a restaurant with the landlord running things. We drove by last night and a new banner above the space read: “Italian Continental Gourmet Restaurant.” The continent being referred to was not specified.

We have bananas that will probably have a longer shelf life.

This Just In – PIP’S in Aliante to Close

Robin Leach reported yesterday that Pip’s — Rino Armeni’s upscale Italian restaurant and wine bar in the Aliante Hotel and Casino — is closing, effective this Sunday.

Like many restaurants that opened at the beginning of the Great Recession, Pip’s was hamstrung by a lousy economic climate.

Its location — in the middle of Vegas’s economic implosion epicenter (North Las Vegas) — didn’t help matters either.

We feel bad for uber-wine-guy-and-super-good-guy Armeni, and will miss his smiling face and gracious presence on our restaurant scene.

Bob Taylor (1923-2010)

Bob Taylor

BOB TAYLOR Bob Taylor, founder of “Ranch House Supper Club,” in North Las Vegas, passed away Sunday, March 14, 2010, one day short of his 88th birthday. Bob was a World War II veteran of the U.S. Army Air Corps, as an airplane armored gunner and mechanic, keeping our airplanes in the air. Bob built the Ranch House Supper Club in 1955. He brought in aged beef from Chicago Stockyard Packing. He cut up all of his own steaks and personally cooked them over a mesquite coal fire. An evening at the Ranch House meant you took a trip “way out of town” back in those days, but the effort was well worth it, as this was the premier steak house of that era. This practice was continued until he sold the Ranch House in September 1980. Bob said he served three generations over the 25 years.
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