Nacho Daddy President Paul Hymas: Nachos are the Rodney Dangerfield of dishes — no respect
Editor’s Note: After a wine, boutique hotel and restaurant tour of Mexico’s burgeoning Valle de Guadalupe, Robin Leach is back working from the cooler climes of La Jolla near San Diego for the remainder of this hot month ahead of our newly designed website launching shortly. We’ll have his story of the 100 new restaurants and vineyards that have sprung up north of Ensenada next week, and we’ll continue with guest columnists until his return for Labor Day Weekend.
Today, one of our guest columns is by Sherry Gordy, the daughter of Motown founder Berry Gordy. Our other guest column is by Paul Hymas, who as president this week opened another Nacho Daddy, this one at The Miracle Miles Shops at Planet Hollywood. It’s probably the only hangout in Las Vegas where if you say, “Waiter, there’s a scorpion in my shot,” he’ll reply, “Would you like another one?” Here’s Paul with a sting to his tale:
By Paul Hymas
Nacho Daddy was founded quite simply out of love for nachos. Talking among ourselves, we realized that nachos are the Rodney Dangerfield of dishes. No respect. Usually, nachos are stripped down to not-so-fresh ingredients and served at ballgames or served in a better form as one item on a restaurant menu.
Many other dishes have been treated with much more respect and given far more attention: Burritos, pizza, tacos, salads, even a hamburger. In launching Nacho Daddy five years ago, we started out with the idea that nachos are similar to pizza: Start with a great base, add quality cheese, then top with proteins and produce to give guests many terrific options.
We had the concept. We needed a name. We knew that it wasn’t going to determine our success, which would be based on the quality of food and staff, but we knew that we wanted it to be fun, catchy and describe who we are. We knew that we wanted nacho in our name and agreed on Nacho Daddy, probably out of the rebellious and irreverent side of our personalities.
Luckily, Nacho Daddy turned out to be a name that was memorable, especially as we continually improved our guest experience. We finalized ownership, four partners all living here. Up next, location, location, location, and that was in Henderson. (Editor’s Note: This location has since closed.) We weathered the economic storm in 2010 and opened a second location Downtown three years later.
Downtown proved an immediate success, and we were soon eyeing location No. 3 after we started seeing tourists roll in, enjoy the experience and make Nacho Daddy a part of their Las Vegas vacation by taking photos with food, our Scorpion Shots and in front of signage.
We were actively seeking a Strip location but found it difficult to find an opportunity that matched what we were looking for. During this time, we came across an opportunity in Summerlin. We always wanted to serve the west side, so we moved forward with the launch of the West Sahara location opening in winter 2014.
Knowing that we were destined to be part of the Strip, we continued looking for opportunities in 2015 and signed a lease at The Miracle Mile Shops of Planet Hollywood this year. Opened this week, our Strip location is similar to Nacho Daddy in DTLV in design and ability to draw tourists.
Approximately only one-third of visitors make it to Downtown, so to make Nacho Daddy accessible to a larger number of visitors is exciting and rewarding, especially since Nacho Daddy is a Las Vegas brand through and through.
Tourists know that they can dine at national restaurants back home or on a trip elsewhere. While here, they want the Las Vegas experience as much as they can. We have created awareness with national exposure on television such as The Food Network.
We continue to pursue other national TV opportunities to reinforce that we are a destination. Downtown and the Strip are too competitive to wait for tourists to walk in the door. Fortunately, our whimsical name gives us more than our fair share of visitors.
One of the worthy guest experiences tourists have seen on TV is the Scorpion Shot. This is where a guest takes their favorite alcohol with a scorpion in the shot glass. Don’t worry! It’s dead and with the stinger removed.
Definitely one of those experiences a guest can’t wait to go home and tell their friends. To cater to tourists, we also have a retail line, from our Scorpion Shot products to our Nacho Daddy 2016 election hats. We have something for everyone to remember their visit.
We are no strangers to late-night business. We have become a destination for late-night munchies or last round of drinks and expect the Strip location to be tourists’ late-night home. From management to our wait staff, the entire team is very excited for our fourth location.
We all feel a sense of accomplishment knowing how difficult it is for a local brand to land on the Strip, and we are one of the first restaurants to do it. But as much as we would like to celebrate finally getting our Strip location, we also are in the restaurant business of which your success is measured daily.
We are hard at work to ensure that this location will be successful and hopefully lead to our next Nacho Daddy location.
Be sure to check out our other guest column today from Sherry Gordy, who takes time out from her weekly talent show at Fiesta Rancho to talk about her father, Motown founder Berry Gordy, and her family foundation.
Robin also has the lowdown on the Britney Spears biopic by Lifetime that she’s not backing, and he wraps his interview with Jennifer Romas of SEXXY at Westgate Las Vegas about to celebrate its 400th show. The story will be in Sunday’s Sunday Life in the Las Vegas Review-Journal along with changes just unveiled at The Chandelier bar at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.
