The Smith Center – A Year in the Arts: Restaurants cater to patrons – before and after
What has The Smith Center meant for downtown restaurants? For Triple George on Third Street, expanded hours and services, special menus and the addition of brunch.
“When The Smith Center opened, we brought back valet at dinner to make sure the experience for the guests was quick and easy and convenient,” said Seth Schorr, CEO of parent company Fifth Street Gaming. “We do a special menu for every major show. We started opening on Sundays, because we knew Sunday matinees would be popular. We now open at 11 on Saturdays and Sundays and serve brunch. The Smith Center was certainly a catalyst for that.”
And, of course, they let potential customers know by advertising in playbills, co-sponsoring giveaways and through promotions.
“We’ve done as much co-promoting and co-branding as possible,” Schorr said.
As a result, he said, revenues are up by about 50 percent.
“We saw a major increase,” Schorr said. “There are other factors, but I think The Smith Center is the most significant.”
Right around the corner, the Top of Binion’s Steakhouse at Binion’s on Fremont Street started opening at 5 p.m. to accommodate Smith Center patrons, said manager Donny Winn. They are also running coupons available at The Smith Center, in programs and in mailers that offer $20 off two entrees, with a $50 check minimum, Winn said.
“We wanted to partner with The Smith Center and promote it and also capture people going to the theater, because that seemed to be our clientele,” said Ken Johnson, executive director of food and beverage for Binion’s and sister property Four Queens. “We want them to have a nice dinner before the show.” Jackson said they are considering Smith Center-linked promotions at the Four Queens’ iconic Hugo’s Cellar, but so far nothing has been finalized.
A year after the performing arts center opened, the association still is paying off. Winn said that on a recent evening some guests came in to check out the steakhouse because they were planning to attend a show a few evenings later.
And from the steakhouse’s 24th-floor aerie, Johnson said, guests actually can see the center.
That may not be the case at Mundo at the Las Vegas Design Center on Grand Central Parkway, but the restaurant is practically in the shadow of the arts center, and owner George Harris said the location has paid off — finally.
“One of the reasons I picked that location was because I knew The Smith Center was going to be built,” Harris said. “After I signed the deal, they said The Smith Center was never going to be built. So I suffered over there for two years.”
How things have changed.
“If there’s a show in the main room, the tsunami starts at 5 and leaves at quarter after 7,” Harris said. “It’s pandemonium. We probably do 340 during that period. It’s crazy.”
For large parties, he said, Mundo requires a prix-fixe menu.
“We have to do it so we know we can get you in and get you out,” he said. “If 14 people order 14 different items, it just maxes the kitchen out.”
They have done a themed wine menu with Southern Wines and Spirits, with tiers analogous to Reynolds Hall’s tiered seating.
“And we have specialty wines for people who go to the show and are very well-to-do,” Harris said.
Events in the smaller Cabaret Jazz, he said, are not nearly as taxing for the Mundo staff, but their effect definitely is felt.
“We love Cabaret Jazz and we’re probably going to start doing more special events,” he said.
A few blocks away at Lola’s: A Louisiana Kitchen on West Charleston Boulevard, owner Lola Pokorny said the restaurant’s changes because of The Smith Center have been pretty much limited to accommodating those on their way to the theater or a concert.
“What we do is make sure we know who our Smith Center patrons are, so we make sure we can get them to their shows,” she said. “We know how important that is.”
Pokorny said she’s considered themed menus and also may start a drinks-and-desserts period for after shows.
Schorr said management of Triple George and sister property Mob Bar have discussed adding a jazz band or other post-theater entertainment, depending on what the show at the center is.
Harris said he, too, has considered a post-show drinks-and-dessert menu, and has more promotions in the works.
“We’re going to do some deals with them in their ticket price,” Harris said. “The Smith Center wants people to be able to eat and come to the show. We’re very excited, and we love working with those guys.”
Contact reporter Heidi Knapp Rinella at hrinella@
reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0474.
