What’s Eaten Where: Las Vegas: overpriced real estate, rich fare

Foreclosures have been much in the Cyprus news of late, with the government’s ongoing inability to make a decision concerning those who are unable (or refuse) to pay their mortgages.

Not so Las Vegas – in this American city, the rate of foreclosures is believed to be among the highest in the world! According to recent data, more than one in 25 Las Vegas properties had received notice of foreclosure within the last few months! This is largely driven by the city’s astronomical property prices. Las Vegas may be set in the midst of the Mojave Desert, but it remains one of the most desirable real estate locations in the US.

Las Vegas stands on the land of the Southern Paiute, an indigenous people who were primarily nomadic hunter gatherers. Subsisting on a diet of berries and plants, they hunted mule deer, elk and rabbits, moving from place to place depending on the availability of food resources.

Today, an area once known for its natural springs and grassy fields (Las Vegas means ‘the meadows’ in Spanish) is celebrated as ‘the Entertainment Capital of the World’. In 1941, the El Rancho was the first casino to open on the Las Vegas Strip; now the city boasts dozens of casinos, resorts, and entertainment venues that attract millions of visitors each year. And the fare couldn’t be further from berries and rabbits!

The home of the complimentary buffet (designed to keep gamblers at the tables), Las Vegas is known for its rich fare. Perhaps the most iconic dish is the prime rib: in 1942, Las Vegas restaurant The Last Frontier introduced the prime rib (at a cost of $1.50 per plate!), and it’s been a local favourite ever since. Most of the city’s restaurants still offer prime rib as a signature dish, often served with sides such as creamed spinach and mashed potatoes.

Then there’s the shrimp cocktail, a gamblers’ staple, which is believed to have been invented by The Golden Gate Hotel in 1959 (and originally priced at 50 cents). Despite the city’s arid location, this succulent seafood concoction took off in a big way: today, more shrimp are sold in Las Vegas each day than in the rest of the United States combined!

On the cheaper end of the city’s most iconic foods, there’s the dirt dog – a twist on Mexican street corn. Cheap and cheerful, this grilled corn is covered in butter, lime mayo sauce, crushed Hot Cheetos, melted cheese, and cilantro: a full meal for the out of pocket. If you’ve gambled away your pricey home at the tables and are waiting for your foreclosure notice this might just be the way to go!