Hash House A Go Go

September 9, 2011

Plaza Hotel, Downtown Las Vegas, NV – Was in town with good family friends for two different events this weekend. After the first event, as we walked back to the hotel, we began discussing where to go for dinner. I had seen this restaurant on the way to the event, so when we walked by on the way back and we both mentioned it, that pretty much ended the discussion.

Hash House A Go Go has five locations in the Las Vegas and Reno areas, plus one way down in San Diego. It is well known for its outrageous breakfasts, with the chicken and waffle tower being hugely popular. The Las Vegas menu is more extensive than the San Diego spot.

The restaurant is in the lobby and looks out into the passageway and, if you’re positioned right, out onto the Fremont Street Experience. A good place to people-watch while you dine.

We had a group of seven but since it was late (not by Vegas standards), we were seated almost right away.

Looking over the menu, I was overwhelmed by the choices. So many things looked good that it was difficult to make a decision. And there was bacon everywhere on the menu. I was in…wait for it…hog heaven. In the end, I went for the New York steak ($26.95) and a glass of iced tea ($2.75) to wash it down. The steak comes with mashed potatoes. It also comes with charred, almost pesto-style tomatoes but I’m not a tomato person so I opted out.

The iced tea tasted like your basic unsweetened iced tea. Nothing else to say about it.

My mouth almost fell open when the meal arrived. Accompanying the steak was some sort of potato-based mass. Let me try to paint the picture for you: imagine a small ‘building’ of grilled, chunky scallion mashed potatoes, with a ‘roof’ of melted smoked cheddar cheese, which was also mixed into the potatoes. In the attic between the ‘roof’ and the potatoes? Bacon! Hardwood smoked bacon! Grilled asparagus spears and green beans leaned against the potato ‘building’ with the steak leaning on the other side. Roasted red onion joined in, too. Atop the steak was a pair of rosemary twigs.

Obviously, the potato ‘building’ was enough to make a meal of all by itself. I really liked how the onions, cheese, bacon, and potatoes all played together on my palate. You may be thinking, “yeah, probably tasted like potato skins.” Nope. These were much better, much fluffier.

The New York steak ($26.95) was perfectly cooked medium rare. To be honest, by this time we were so engrossed in our conversation that I didn’t really pay much attention to the steak. It was pretty good, tender enough, not much fat, but that’s about all I remember. Oh, and I wish it was a little thicker. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it. It’s just that our conversation was that good.

Hash House serves something called The Stuffed Burger. It is a one-pound affair stuffed with your choice of, um, stuffing, in between the two half-pound patties. It is piled so high it should be snow-capped. It looked sooo good when one of them went past our table headed for a hungry nearby customer. I considered ordering one next time if I return. I could probably put away a full-pound burger plus the toppings but I would need to walk all the way back home to California afterwards.

My only complaint during the visit was that our server, as friendly as she was, was very tardy with refills and the side order that never arrived. Unfortunately, this knocked down what otherwise would have been a perfect score. Too bad because aside from that, we had such a good meal and as I said she was very friendly.

Presentation is king here and HH has it in spades. The menu descriptions made the food sound interesting but you really have to see it in person. I can’t wait to come back and try breakfast!

Hash House A Go Go – 4.5 forks. Highly recommended. Their motto, “Twisted Farm Food”, describes them perfectly. That, and their funky name.