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Dinner in Vegas! I've seen a lot of vintage postcards showing Las Vegas, with neon signs, glittery casinos and glam pools.  This is a postcard from the cute place where we ate dinner in Las Vegas, New Mexico! No neon or glam decor shown in these photos. But, the postcard looks vintage and the restaurant itself looked pretty vintage, when we visited in 2017. The Plaza In 2017, Don and I stayed at The Plaza Hotel. No, we weren't at the ritzy Plaza in NYC... we were in Las Vegas.  We weren't in the gambling Vegas, we were in New Mexico! The Nevada and New York locations would have been very entertaining, but this overnight was all about easy. We walked out of our sweet historic hotel and strolled across the plaza to dinner. El Rialto The Garcia Family has been running El Rialto since 1975.  They've had some time to accumulate some curious things for their windows. I have no idea about the age of the building, but once inside, the high, pressed tin ceilings, hinted at old. Busy on July 3 It was the day before the holiday, so there was a weekend energy to the restaurant.  Most of the tables were taken up with large groups of locals, many with children. Big Outfits Big Meals Don and I did some dressing for dinner. I don't think our shirts or jewelry fooled anyone into thinking we were locals. However, our server said she loved my squash blossom necklace.
She said her grandmother had lots of turquoise and she hoped to get turquoise, one day. Don's bolo tie got noticed on our walk to dinner. A very polite panhandler asked for a quarter. Don gave him a dollar and then received a thank you, along with positive words! "Nice bolo tie!" We hoped there was no sarcasm in his voice. Eating and Watching Each of our piping hot meals was served on 2 thick plates. I ate my taco, tamale and relleno while keeping an eye on the busy kitchen. It was quite entertaining.
Don had chicken enchiladas and filled me in on the happenings in both rooms. He had a good view of many woven rugs, displayed on the wall. One had a large "R" in the center. Was that for el Rialto? The Garcias I studied a framed photo before we left. I don't know if we met any of the Garcia family that night.  It was too busy to bother anyone with questions. If we'd had some chatting time, I would have asked how the restaurant got its name. Rialto makes me think of the bridge in Venice. Shopping There were some curious lamp creations for sale and a t-shirt or two.  We could have completed our meal with a purchase. But we headed off, with full stomachs and empty hands. Quiet Plaza We headed across the plaza to our hotel. It was fun to imagine the little city, once a booming railroad town in the early 19th century.  After WWII, the town grew quiet. We may have missed out on the excitement of a bigger city, but we made it back to the hotel, just in time for karaoke!
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The Dining Blog
This is a blog about Dining Adventures. Sometimes, I talk about food. Below, you can read how this started. On July 4th 2011, I set a goal to try 50 culturally diverse restaurants in one year! (I knew that was possible, living in the Houston area) I spent the year pulling in friends and family to join me, on some unusual dining adventures. I met some curious people, tried some scary foods and explored places and cultures I never would have otherwise. Even though I met my goal, I learned too much to end my adventures in dining. I have continued blogging about memorable dining adventures of all kinds, near and far... and all the discoveries and funny things I've learned along the way! Locations and types of dining adventures, are listed further down. Archives
August 2024
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