Chef Guy Fieri has 18 restaurants and several hit TV shows but there’s always room for more on his plate. His newest project, The Flavortown Sports Kitchen, just opened at the Horseshoe and, with two newly crowned championship teams in Las Vegas, the timing couldn’t be better. The menu features food one would expect from the king of “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,” — wings, brisket mac n’ cheese, donut cheeseburgers (weirdly delicious) — as well as a surprisingly sophisticated cocktail menu. As Fieri says, “Not everybody who comes to Vegas is into sports. Not everybody is into gambling, but pretty much everyone is into food.” Here’s an excerpt of his chat with Desert Companion, edited for length and clarity.
You’ve got a distinctive image. Is that something you developed, or has it always been your vibe?
I’m big into tattoos. This (necklace) is from the Mr. T starter kit — I’ve always been a big ring, big jewelry guy. One of the first tattoos I got is the culinary gangster, that became the logo of everything I did. My company is called Knuckle Sandwich, which is also my cigar company’s name, so I’ve got that in this ring … Everything I do, I want to go full throttle. Bobby Moynihan said it best when he did me on Saturday Night Live: “FULL THROTTLE!” Bobby and I are good friends and, I go “Dude, it's the funniest thing in the world because you depicted it so perfectly. I’m like that. I’m nonstop.’”
When you were going to UNLV, what did you do? Where did you hang out?
I loved going to Rebel games — that was such a great experience. I loved school — I’m so passionate about the restaurant industry, and it's the greatest hospitality school. Maybe I hung out at the Stake Out Bar & Grill, across from UNLV; that was the only bar we had at the time. Maybe I hung out at the T-Bird Lounge & Restaurant, which is gone, unfortunately. There may be a picture of me in the fountain at Caesars Palace, but I can’t confirm or deny that.
How has Las Vegas changed since then?
I sold meat for a meat company, Schulman Meats, and I was the plant manager. When I used to start coming back to Vegas, I was happy to see the development of the restaurants. Because I remember when I was selling meat, it was all buffets. There were high-end buffets and low-end buffets, the Four Queens Hotel and Casino had a great steakhouse. But we weren’t known as the culinary destination. And what’s so awesome about it now is, you’re going to get some of the best food in the world. You can get the best of anything in this town.