Fremont Street Questions/Concerns

[dmoore268]

Greetings all,

I'm new to the boards here, but I consider myself a "somewhat seasoned" Vegas area veteran. I have family in Henderson, so I've been out many of times to the strip and Henderson locals casinos. In January 2012 we're taking a huge 12-13 day 5 year anniversary trip to California, Nevada, and a small part of Arizona. One thing I've never done, is Fremont Street.


From what I've gathered the area is not the "greatest". However, I've heard just stay on the main drag and everything will presumably be okay. For every bad review I've read about Fremont Street, I've read 20 good ones to top that bad one. I have a few questions if there are any "seasoned" Fremont Street folks here.

1. We're thinking of taking the free shuttle from Sam's Town and getting there during the day, gambling a bit, walking from casino to casino down fremont Street, having dinner, then seeing the light show and heading back. Is it as "safe" during the day? It seems like there would be a bigger crowd/more security at night during the light shows.

2. Do you have any recommendations for places for dinner inside one of the casinos? Maybe an affordable/good buffet, and a sit down place that isn't overly priced.

3. What are you suggestions for best "low limit" casinos on Fremont Street. We like to play craps/blackjack/bacarrat. My wife is still learning bjack and craps so we don't want to break the bank playing these games.

4. Any cool stuff to see inside any of the casinos on Fremont Street? I heard Golden Nugget has the Gold Nugget. Anything else worth stepping inside to see?

Thanks for your help. Even though I've been out there a million times and used ACG coupons, I will probably have a lot of questions in the coming months about a few little things here and there. I like to pick folks brains so that I can continue to expand my Vegas knowledge.

[SteveBourieOLD]

Re: Fremont Street Questions/Concerns

If you go to the Goldne Nugget you definitely want to see the pool area. It's really nice and even has a huge tank filled with sharks and other fish.

I have stayed downtown quite a few times and I never had a problem.

On a few of my trips to Las Vegas I would get an urge to play craps and I headed to downtown because the limits are low.

I also like to play video poker at Main Street Station. They have 9/6 Jacks and a special promotion where they give you a scratch off card whenever you get a natural four-of-a-kind.

The card is worth at least $2 and up to $500 (Ithink it's that high). The highest I ever got was $5.

[Punter]

Re: Fremont Street Questions/Concerns

Welcome to this board. I have been on Fremont Street during the day and night both. I have never experienced any problems. Main Street Station has a nice buffet and priced right. Ask for a comp. If they say no, well you tried. Binions has a million dollars displayed at the entry. You can have your picture taken with your million. Sterve is right, go see that football size nugget and read the story about it. Golden Nugget also has a California Pizza Kitchen - enjoy. You can have a good time Downtown if you spend the whole day wandering. If you have a copy of the ACG it will show you some smaller but unique casinos in and around Henderson too.

[ddechenne]

Re: Fremont Street Questions/Concerns

Not only is Main Street buffet reasonably priced and quite good, but you can get a 2 for 1 coupon by going to vegasexperience.com and printing one off before you go. You just put in your email address and use realvegas as the password--no capitals, no spaces. It's one per person per year, but if you are traveling with someone, you can do it twice. A Fremont buffet 2 for 1 is also included and that buffet is pretty good as well--we always try to use it for breakfast there, but all meals are decent. Last time we were threre we used it for their weekend champagne brunch, which was excellent. I think it is not allowed only on the Fri seafood buffet--but I'm not sure. I think you will like DT quite a bit---and I never think about security as long as you stay on the main drags.

[dewey089]

Re: Fremont Street Questions/Concerns

The reason that some folks are uncomfortable downtown is they feel uncomfortable around the lower economic class which is attracted to the better deals in hotels, the better low rolling gambles, and the inexpensive food. If you want a more frugal trip, downtown is for you. If you want limos and upscale nightclubs, and world famous chef's and Cirque shows, then you might be more comfortable on the strip.

The casino that attracts the most bluecollar folks is the El Cortez. It also has some of the best craps with sometimes a minimum of $3 with 10X odds and blackjack, including the only single deck 3/2 BJ in Vegas that I know of. it advertises loose slots, but no longer has much good VP.
It used to be that the walk from Fremont through East Fremont to the El Cortez made some folks uncomfortable. I think it was for no real reason except that the street might include lower class folks with a few looking for handouts.
Now that area is developing and most everyone feels very safe. I have always walked it solo even at two am. There are cameras and some police oversight now and many of the empty places are becoming unique and interesting. There is a new coffee house that offers wifi, healthy food, and plays vinyl records. Called Thebeat it is just before the El Cortez. A bar and arcade is coming soon and promises a unique experience. Mamacita's Mexican/Cuban is good for food. it is directly across from the El Cortez. I like the El Cortez cafe and for some the Flame steakhouse gets good points. It is not my favorite, but that may be because I am very frugal and don't like having to tip more than I usually pay for the meal and tip combined.
Some evenings there will be a live piano player at the El Cortez bar and getting a drink there will make you think you are in old Vegas again.
Their live poker game is unique. And in the afternoon you can play with Jackie Gaughn who sits at the table with the rocks and regulars.

The casino that is more like the strip casinos in attracting affluent players is the Golden Nugget. Generally, folks recommend those rooms. The buffet gets high marks as does the buffet at Main Street Station. ACG has a good live poker coupon there, but I see that is not your game.

Main Street Station is also more upscale and very popular for video poker players. I see that is also not in your list of games. It has its own beer. My favorite is Black Chip Porter. You can get it comped at the Boars Head bar, but I think the price now is just a dollar and seventy five cents, recently up a quarter.
The buffet is in a delightful area that I just love. I also look forward to my special recipe at MSS:
A plate of collard greens from the soul section mixed with kalua pork from the Hawaiian section and toped with crispy noodles from the Chinese section and a bit of soy sauce.
Iced cream usually includes good toppings, like butterfinger bits.
They have a good chef making eggs in the morning, and sticky buns.

Is anyone playing machines? You can get a free buffet on the first day of your visit by running 1K through any machine. Check with the Player's Club. A supper buffet may require a bit more play, but it will get you the dinner buffet any day, even those days when the price is raised for seafood or steak. I generally start there if I still have bankroll and play VP, counting until I have the $1000 wagered and then quitting.
While at Main Street Station check out the antiques. Stop at hotel check=in and they will direct you. And make certain to use the men's room near the buffet where you can pee in urinals mounted in an actual section of the Berlin Wall.

Four Queens is very generous with comps at table games. My buddy generally plays a while at blackjack or the table Texas Holdem game, and gets a comp for two at the cafe like restaurant, Magnolia's, which includes two of everything: appetizer, entre, dessert, drink. We can hardly finish that food. Without comp this place had many good deals on meals as well. They also have the best full pay 10/7 progressive Double Bonus next to Magnolia's on the back wall. I know it is not on your list, but if the royal is way up there and you can find a seat, it is a great gamble.
Four queens also has a half priced ticket place, but it is hard to find a really good show on downtown.

In the daytime downtown can be a bit dull unless you are gambling. At night, especially on weekends it livens up, often with free music and all the lights make it look like old Vegas. Walking under the light show, you can shop, or watch spray artists paint, or catch a bit of someone playing sax. Everything is so close. Compared to local's casinos, downtown is still a place for uninhibited tourists.
Keep your hand on your wallet in you front pocket in the crowds, however, I'd do that on the strip as well.
And those animal costumed people are often just pan handlers trying to get you pay for a photograph.

I'd say that downtown is a lot more of a party place than a station casino, that El Cortez and Terrible's are similar in feel but with less smoke now.

I think there are still deep fried Oreos at Mermaid's casino. But most folks say not to gamble there. I know the Golden Gate still gets points for a great shrimp cocktail although it is now $2. Seeing the Golden Gate and all that beautiful wood is a treat in itself. There are girls dancing there on poles and many people like the craps because of the feeling of the place.

Downtown is a great place to do a coupon run from the ACG. You can walk from place to place. Plaza is under renovation. The sister property Las Vegas Club has great deals but not so great rooms. Recently they have promoted themselves as having loosened their slots.
If the Rat Pack is still performing at the Plaza, and even with the renovations I think it is, that in my opinion is the best show downtown.

Don't wander off the main drag, and don't go South of the El Cortez. Skip the Western. You'll be fine I think.

Well, there is lots more to say, but perhaps it would be easier if you asked specific questions. I'd direct my play in casinos that have hotel rooms, but maybe living in Henderson that is not an issue for you. Room offers come with much less play downtown.

Oh, parking. There are some fees some places. El Cortez is still free but a long way away from the action. MSS requires validation in the casino.

[jj & cindy]

Re: Fremont Street Questions/Concerns

As far as the statement that some folks are uncomfortable downtown because “they feel uncomfortable around the lower economic class” - sadly, that goes both ways. But folks can experience the strip without limos and upscale nightclubs and world famous chef's and Cirque shows, which we do. We just enjoy the grandeur of the Strip for what it is and enjoy the Video Poker they have to offer along the way. But Downtown and the Fremont Street Experience is something everyone that visits Las Vegas should see. Also, as far as feeling “safe” in LV. . .of course you should be aware of where you are at all times, no matter what city you are in.

The Strip puts money back into their properties for the public’s enjoyment - don’t let it intimidate you from experiencing it.

[dmoore268]

Re: Fremont Street Questions/Concerns

Wow, you guys have given me a lot of suggestions. Yeah we should be fine. My wife doesn't even take a purse to Vegas for the very fact that whether you're on the strip, downtown, or in other cities in Nevada, there's always that slight chance for crime at a casino.

I keep my wallet in my front pocket even on the strip, so I'm feeling pretty at ease now.

Fremont Street has a lot of fun stuff. The Main Street Station Buffet might be where we end up eating. Especially so I can check out the Berlin Wall Urinals lol. It does seem pretty neat though.

I visited VegasExperience.com and I don't see a place where I can get a 2 for 1 buffet for Main Street Station like ddechenne had mentioned. ddechenne can you assist?

Thanks again for all your help. I'm loving the suggestions for Fremont Street. I appreciate that tip on the 9/6 Video Poker at Main Street Station as well. My games are craps, blackjack, baccarat and video poker.

[dmoore268]

Re: Fremont Street Questions/Concerns

I figured out the Vegasexperience coupon thing. Do they update these coupons every quarter? It seems they expire every 3 months. I should probably wait until just before I go to print them.

The free picture with the million dollars seems like a nice coupon too. I heard you can't take it yourself and I really didn't want to pay for a picture.

[dmoore268]

Re: Fremont Street Questions/Concerns

One more question (geez 3 posts) I'll stop for a while lol.

It appears that if we take the free shuttle from Sam's Town to California Hotel, that we can go into California and take the bridge across to Main Street Station?

Then we could take the bridge back to California and walk through the casino and get onto Ogden Ave which is where the Fremont Street experience is?

[ddechenne]

Re: Fremont Street Questions/Concerns

The Vegasexperience coupons do renew every three months---and they are notoriously slow in keeping up the date at each quarter's end. It will be a week sometimes before they get caught up!!! It is an issue if you are leaving the first week of a quarter. Note that you have to take the coupon to the players' club and get a voucher, you can't just take the coupon directly to the cashier.

I walk the street from MSStation to Fremont often and have no problem, most especially during the day, though some others do feel uncomfortable from time to time. But if you cross the overwalk to the Cal, go out their Main Street exit (South west) and cross the street--obey the light!--and enter the back door of Las Vegas Club---then you just walk through LV Club to the front door and you are on Fremont Street. That leaves you on the street only while crossing the street---and you can stand inside of the Cal and watch the street light and leave the casino when the walking light turns green.

[SteveBourieOLD]

Re: Fremont Street Questions/Concerns

That's very good advice about how to get to Fremont Street. I do the exact same thing, but only when it's cold. Otherwise I usually just use the sidewalk.

By the way, when you walk through the California casino be sure to take a look at the crowd of people that are gambling there.

It's very interesting because they market mainly to Hawaiians and as you walk through the casino I would say that about 75% of the people you see will be Hawaiian. It's almost like getting a free trip to Honolulu!

[dewey089]

Re: Fremont Street Questions/Concerns

dmoore268: Three posts is nothing. Most of us are sitting at a computer far from Vegas wanting a bit of touch with the place. Ask as many questions as you can think of. We enjoy the answers as well as the spark of debate in our different responses.

The California MSS bridge mentioned in this thread often acts as a safe walk for folks who are uncomfortable off the main part of the Fremont Experience because it delivers them to the MSS without that block or so of off-Experience travel.
That walk to the El Cortez is safer than your street smarts are signaling, but South of that you are right to think that you have crossed into the lowest economic neighborhood and more likely to encounter inner city like street activities. That being said I am going up to the Western next trip anyway. Probably in daylight and not with too much money in my pocket. They have one dollar craps with only double odds, but I expect your money could go a long way. I want to try my slow hedge system there. And if you might want to play BJ with a hooker who buys in for $20 and when it is lost goes back out on the street for the next $20, well......that might happen. Pitboss Shorly and her dealer sister Judy are very welcoming.

The Western is the opposite of grandeur. I like the word "grandeur" as it too distinguishes the strip from downtown. Downtown lacks it. And some of it is free on the strip, paid for by poorer gambling odds and a more affluent and upscale clientele.


Steve: Isn't there a Hawaiian store along or near that bridge? I know that there are Hawaiian choices in the California diner and the kalua pork at MSS tasted as good to me as when I had it Kaui. Once at MSS I waited in line for the buffet with contestants from the Mrs. Hawaii contest including the winner in crown.
The Plaza had a great Hawaiian store as well but I suppose it is closed now as they renovate.

It used to be possible to get the Fremont Experience coupons while you are there by going to the office. Not far South of Walgreen's is a building with an elevator that at least used to go to the Fremont Experience Promotion office and you could pick up a current coupon sheet there.

VP: One other decent game at times is the 8/5 Bonus at the Vue bar in the Fritz. It has three progressive parts of the paytable so when they are high, the game is better than the poor play of 8/5 Bonus. My favorite food, potato chips, are also very good there and with the American Casino Guide coupon you can get two large orders for the price of one. They make a meal. Beer is cheap too, and of course free while you try to hit the progressive and it is a comfortable little place with friendly serving people. Ask if there are any promotions. Sometimes the Fitz gives a free dinner for hitting a royal, but I don't know when that promo is on or if it applies to those machines. And while you are there sign up for the Player's Card and get a free shot glass with the American Casino Guide coupon. If you eat potato chips slowly an d play quickly, you might get room offers from the Fitz.

Full pay VP can be found at the Las Vegas Club as well, but I think the cashback and the room comps at the Four queens or with more play at Main Street Station gets you a better room for your next trip. The scratch off cards at MSS increase the EV of video poker. It may not seem like much to get an extra $2 or $5, but it adds up. Often it is my only cash profit after I quit to get a free buffet. Just remember to stop and call attention to all quads.

[dewey089]

Re: Fremont Street Questions/Concerns

Check out the Hawaiian named choices on the menu of the Market Square cafe at California

http://static.boydgaming.net/califor...04_2010_01.pdf

And here is a tip if the line is very long. Have one person check to see if the counter is open. It often is. We skipped a forty minute weight with six people one trip by telling the person seating folks that we would like the counter. They used to offer a prime rib with salad bar and cherry cobbler for dessert, but perhaps that is not their signature dish anymore. I guess the last time I ate there was 2006.

[jj & cindy]

Re: Fremont Street Questions/Concerns

Glad to hear all the interest in Hawai’i on the forum. We could use the tourism. Hawai’i is one of only two states that does not have any form of gambling. This state has tried many times, including the current legislative session, to legalize it. One of our Congressional Representatives (US Senate) has announced his retirement - one more to go and we will legalize gambling in Hawai’i. Just a note, when passing through the California Casino, you may not experience a trip to Honolulu but rather a trip to Asia. So, when we legalize gambling here, the people from Hawai’i that gamble downtown will probably drop off a little. Which means a lot of money will remain in Hawaii to help local programs.

[pumitania]

Re: Fremont Street Questions/Concerns

I LOVE downtown, I enjoy playing roulette (25 cent) @ El Cortez, also at ElCo I highly enjoy The Flame steakhouse and just the all-around classis feel... love walking from ElCo to The Plaza and just stopping at all the bars I enjoy like : Chicago Brewing (4 Queens), Triple 7 (Main Street Station), Gold diggers (Golden Nugget), Vue Bar (Firz), and I have added to my list: Downtown cocktail room, Hookah lounge (forgot the name), Griffin... you can also find $2 BJ and $5 craps, not bad!!!