From www.lasvegasadvisor.com

Q:
I know a lot of the casino hotel coffee shops have closed but my question is, are there any dinner specials offered in any of the hotel restaurants like there used to be? I am talking about the off-the-menu items you used to have to know about in the coffee shops that were not usually posted and that you were not always told about unless you asked?
A:
You’re correct that many of the classic 24-hour casino coffee shops of old have gone by the wayside (see QoD 7/23/2011, plus various subsequent updates in the Today’s News archive), and with them their off-menu specials, like the Prime Rib & Crab Legs Dinner, which came with potato, steamed vegetable, and fresh bread for $14.95 at Cafe Lago at Caesars (replaced by Michel Richard’s Central.
In addition, some former off-menu specials, like the $9.99 T-Bone Dinner and the $5.99 Half-Chicken Dinner (now $8.99) at Terrible’s Bougainvillia Cafe are now distinctly on-menu, so not as fun to order.

However, we’ve still been able to dig up some "secret" menu items around town, both in and out of the casinos, and we’re not talking about Animal Style Fries with a Neapolitan Shake from the so-not-secret-it’s-posted-on-their-website In-N-Out Burger "secret menu," nor the limited-duration Jack in the Box bacon shake that the Las Vegas outpost we called had no knowledge of. (In fact, they sounded pretty disturbed that we’d even request such a thing). We do love the whole concept of Fatburger’s off-menu veggie burger that comes topped with crispy bacon bits. They call it the "Hypocrite" and it could be the perfect burger!

CASINO COFFEE SHOP OFF-MENU SPECIALS

•Okay, for those of you out there who don’t know about this one, we have to start with the "Gambler’s Special" at Mr Lucky’s coffee shop at Hard Rock. Featuring a New York steak (that’s gotten smaller over the years) and three grilled shrimp (once jumbo, now seemingly smaller), plus a choice of potato or broccoli, and salad, it debuted in the ’90s at $5.95 as a lure to cab drivers. It was later raised to $7.77 but has kept that price point ever since. The $9.99 off-menu prime rib special that was added to the roster back in 2008 is now served on Sunday only, the vague-sounding waitress informed us, and comes only with potato, no veggies, as it formerly did. We’re not convinced by what she told us, so check with your server if you’re interested.

•The off-menu steak special at Ellis Island, which includes a 10-ounce steak, potato, bread, green beans, and a beer is now $8.99 with a (free) players card. You an still take a shot at getting it for the former $7.99 price, if you play $1 through any slot or video poker machine: Playing a single dollar on one of EI’s 9/6 Jacks or Better games means playing short-coin, which eliminates the royal flush bonus and drops the game’s return to 98.02%, for an average loss of just 2¢ (although losing the dollar is the most likely outcome, when playing just one hand). The better play is to put $1.25 into the machine so you’re playing full-coin, for a 99.54% return, i.e., an expected loss of just six cents to satisfy the requirement to get the dollar discount.

•Station Casino’s Grand Cafe coffee shops offer a $9.99 T-bone and eggs special, which comes with your choice of "starch" (various types of potato, or rice), which is also available with shrimp for $13.99. It’s served 24/7.

•The Sour Dough Cafes at both Arizona Charlie’s locations (Decatur and Boulder) serve an off-menu steak and shrimp special 24/7, which comes with a choice of potato, plus veggies, and soup or salad. It’s $10.99 with your player’s card ($11.99 without, but they’re free, so get one).

•While not a coffee shop, obviously, we’ll include Ron’s Steakhouse at Arizona Charlie’s Decatur in this section. It has a little-advertised three-course dinner special which, for $34.99, includes soup or salad to start, followed by your choice of one of three entrées (chicken "Oscar" or Atlantic salmon, both regularly $24, or filet mignon, which is $26 à la carte), with a side of potatoes (normally $6), and choice of dessert (ditto), plus a beer or a glass of wine, for $34.99, all-in.

•You’ll find pretty much every casino coffee shop (minus ones like Bally’s, which closes at 2 p.m. these days) serves a separate menu of "graveyard" specials — which are often off-menu, so ask — from around midnight to 6 a.m. These can offer great value on a late-night-munchies carb fest. For example, South Point’s Coronado Cafe offers a steak and eggs special for $3.95, which includes a 7oz. New York strip steak, two eggs, hash browns, and toast and jelly. A cheeseburger with fries is $3.75 on the same menu, which offers a half-dozen cheap deals for night owls.

NON-CASINO OFF-MENU SPECIALS

•While Cosmopolitan boasts an entire secret restaurant in its now not-so-secret Secret Pizza, Biaggio’s Pizzeria (Fort Apache and Flamingo) boasts an off-menu BLT ($9.99) that uses "extra-thick cut bacon, deep fried to create curly crispy-chewy goodness," plus vine-ripened tomatoes, served in a roll that’s "Capriotti’s-style, maybe even better." It’s off-menu-ness is in part because of a house policy that if they can’t get the right bacon, they won’t make the BLT, plus it’s not available to go. In addition, there’s what the owner/chef described to us as a secret "Italian-Irish Stromboli" ($15.99), which apparently features corned beef, Swiss cheese, and sauerkraut (sounds like the "United Nations Stromboli" would be a more accurate name for this bizarre but we-won’t-knock-it-until-we’ve-tried-it combo. We have Italian friends who consider anything other than a margarita pizza to be sacrilegious, so Lord knows what they’d make of that.)

•Off the Strip Bistro & Bar at Southern Highlands has a number of Secret Menu dishes, which mainly were created as one-offs for guests with special dietary needs, and may or may not be available (the short-rib ravioli is currently really off the menu, and they’re not sure when it may return), but there’s no harm in asking and some of the dishes are regularly available, like "Justin’s Chicken."

•Mr Tofu Korean restaurant (3889 Spring Mountain) has a popular off-menu mushroom sundubu (hot and spicy stew made with uncurdled tofu) for $8.65.

•In 2012 Panera Bread launched a Hidden Menu of healthy "power" dishes in New York, then rolled it out nationwide in January of this year. Just tell your server you’re ordering off the "Hidden Menu." And wink.

•Jamba Juice locations, of which Las Vegas has 13, have four off-menu Gummie Bear smoothies (red, white, blue, and sour) which people rave about. The regular size is $7.34, the Miracle Mile location informed us.

•For this month only, which is National Burger Month, the new Honey Salt gourmet burger joint in Summerlin is serving an off-menu "Honey Salt Burger Month Burger" or BMB, featuring a hand-ground waygu patty, bacon jam, applewood and walnut smoked cheddar, pickled red onion and a fried egg, with a side of homemade potato chips. The limited-edition burger is priced at $19 and will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

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