Thursday, December 11, 2014

White Cross - There's a New Girl in Town


I have been going to the lunch counter at White Cross at The Strip and Oakey since the first time I came to Las Vegas.  It's always been a little dreary, but the food has been fantastic, consistent ... and expensive for the atmosphere.  But it has always been worth the price.  Many big business deals have been made at White Cross over the last forty years.  The customer base has been eclectic.  A well dressed woman on her way to work might be sitting next to a bum who wandered in off the street for a cup of coffee, and he was sitting next to a casino owner.  That has changed.  The power brokers and bums don't hang out there any more, but the food is still good, and it's worth a visit.

Mr. Papas ran the lunch counter for 37 years.  Its had three names over the last decades.  It was the Liberty Cafe for years.  Then it became Tiffany's about six years ago.  Both under Mr. Papas's regime.  And just this month there is a new owner, and it has been renamed Vicky's Diner.  It has also been cleaned up considerably since Vicky step in.  The old dessert case that was decades old is gone.  In its place a clean red wall and a couple of nice paintings.  There are new menu boards and new menus and new energy. When you come to Las Vegas this is the historic place to stop for lunch, dinner or a midnight snack.  They're open 24/7. 


White Cross Drugs and the lunch counter are historic in Las Vegas.  At one time the drug store was the only place in Las Vegas to buy cosmetics.  Showgirls got their false eyelashes and Max Factor there.  It was busy all night long, and it was the only place in the area to buy liquor.  But the drug store closed seven years ago and took with it many memories.  Some of the employees had been there since the 70's.  Two years ago it reopened as the neighborhood grocery store.  The prices are a little high except for the Boar's Head deli, which are standard prices everywhere.  The liquor choice has grown considerably from when it was the pharmacy.  And it is convenient for both the people in the neighborhood and tourists.

So stop in.  Have a hamburger at Vicky's and pick up a bottle of wine at the grocery store and become a little piece of Las Vegas history.


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