Vickie’s Diner, at White Cross Drug site, serves final meal

For the first time since the ’50s, Las Vegas residents and visitors won’t be able to get their ham and eggs at 1700 Las Vegas Blvd. South. Vickie’s Diner, which six years ago became the last restaurant to serve at the old White Cross Drugs, had its final day of business on Sunday.

Manager Michael Hawkins said the building had been sold and, to his knowledge, the new owners plan to demolish it. He said diner owner Vickie Kelesis is looking for a new location in the Arts District or downtown.

“We have a lot of regular customers who come in daily,” Hawkins said. “We’re trying to stay in the same area for them.” He said they were taking down phone numbers so they could notify the regulars when they have a new spot.

“A lot of people are upset that we’re moving,” he said.

The history of the place is storied. Hawkins said Vickie’s husband, John Kelesis, remembers, in the ’70s, Elvis Presley coming into the old White Cross Drugs lunch counter, sitting on the end stool and eating well-done New York steak and eggs. Other famous former customers, Hawkins said, reportedly include Liberace and the Rat Pack.

Today, he said, menu favorites include the chicken-fried steak that’s made fresh daily, and that “we sell a lot of. Our ham steak is 1 pound. We do a lot of burgers.”

And one beloved old-fashioned dish.

“Liver and onions, which is hard to find,” Hawkins said. “I’ve been doing this 30 years, and this is the first place that did liver and onions.”

After closing time on Saturday afternoon, Vickie Kelesis teared up as she recounted her years spent in the building. She started working at the diner as a waitress about 14 years ago before buying the restaurant and putting it in her name in 2014.

“Everybody comes today and cries here with me,” she said. “It happened so fast.”

Vickie Kelesis said all her food is home cooked, and she treats her employees and customers like family. A man in a white apron paused while wiping down a booth on Saturday afternoon to say she is the “best boss in Vegas.”

She said that while the building is closing, she’s taking the restaurant with her when she moves locations, from the pictures on the walls to the hot pink bar stools and her memories of the building. She credited her regular customers for giving her the strength to continue.

Because of the abrupt departure, which followed the COVID-19 shutdown, the restaurant has started a GoFundMe account to help with moving expenses, Hawkins said.

“It’s not like we were trying to move,” he said. “It happened. We’re trying to keep the same feel as this ’50s diner we have here.”

Hawkins said Kelesis is one of the biggest draws of the place.

“She’s amazing,” he said. “Everybody loves Vickie. It’s like going home for dinner. She just makes you feel welcome and at home. She’s always got a smile and she’s happy to see everybody. It amazes me. It’s a gift. They come in to see her.”

Contact Heidi Knapp Rinella at Hrinella@reviewjournal.com. Follow @HKRinella on Twitter. Review-Journal staff writer Katelyn Newberg contributed to this report.