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๐Ÿ“ฏ Guest List: Ginger Bruner, artist and musician ๐Ÿ“ฏ

June 16, 2023

In Guest List, we invite a noteworthy Las Vegan to share a personal list of their favorite things about living in Southern Nevada. This Guest List is by artist and musician Ginger Bruner.

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Hi. I’m Ginger Bruner, artist, musician, Las Vegas native, late of the public radio game. I’ve seen a lot of change in Las Vegas, some bad, some good. Here are some things on my list that definitely make Las Vegas a whole lot better.

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Osaka Japanese Bistro: My current favorite spot to nosh on comfort food is the venerable Osaka Restaurant on Sahara Avenue. It’s got a killer lunch special, a great izakaya-style, late-night menu, and tastes proper. It should, as it’s the first Japanese restaurant in Las Vegas, and still owned by the same family. There are tatami rooms, regular tables, and an intimate sushi bar. Plus, Osaka is said to be Nicolas Cage’s favorite sushi joint! There’s also a sister property in Henderson.

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Jazz clubs: We’ve seen a big uptick in cool new jazz clubs opening, including Maxan Jazz, Gatsby’s Supper Club in the Gambit Henderson, and Vic’s Las Vegas, all featuring food to go along with the tunes. Post-pandemic, the venerable Dispensary Lounge has brought back live music to go along with their epic hamburgers.

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Cool nonsmoking bars: Sure, Las Vegas is the last bastion for bars where you can smoke your lungs away, but I’m enjoying the newer places that eschew tobacco, like Red Dwarf and The Silver Stamp. These spots are also highly curated in the beer department, and have interesting, idiosyncratic food: Red Dwarf is already renowned for its Detroit-style pizza, and The Silver Stamp offers good hot dogs with chips, as well as … pickled eggs? Try them! Don’t miss Red Dwarf’s regular roster of local and touring bands playing rock, indie, country, surf โ€” you name it. The Silver Stamp hosts special events as well, including visiting brewers showcasing their latest beers.

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The Library District:ย Our library system isn’t just a warehouse for books, it’s a home of culture, with art, theater, music performances, activity spaces, and more. Better yet, just about all library events are free, and you can even rent spaces for private events at reasonable rates.ย 

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The Pinball Hall of Fame is a go-to for fans of pinball and other arcade games, and a great place for all-ages fun. It’s especially gratifying to know that it all started from a love of a game. The Pinball Hall of Fame has grown from garage to storefront to warehouse to its own purpose-built space on the south strip, one quarter at a time. Classic fun!

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Commercial Center, recently in the news, has had its ups and downs over the years, and now the historic shopping center is back on an upswing. Over the years, I’ve played billiards, eaten, drunk, seen and shown art, gotten pedicures, and performed in various spaces and venues in the complex. On the south end, New Orleans Square is particularly vibrant right now, and in the center portion are several good international restaurants like La Vecindad and Thai classic Komol. New things are coming to the area, too, including, Arty’s, a new arts-forward steakhouse in the old Cue Club space.

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The Beverly Theater and The Writer’s Block are two neighboring entities on 6th Street that are the chocolate and peanut butter (two great tastes, etc.) of Downtown. The Beverly has a regular roster of independent and international films, performances, and poetry readings, plus a snazzy upstairs lounge area with a great view. I only wish I could get to more films there. ( I missed Time Bandits! Damn you, work!)

The Writer’s Block has books, coffee, workshops and classes, and an artificial bird sanctuary. It’s my favorite place to shop for gifts, by a large margin. In their long list of book clubs is Please Send Noodles, an “eating-cooking-reading-eating-eating-together cookbook book club” โ€” genius.

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McMullan’s Irish Pub: Full disclosure: I perform on the regular at McMullan’s Irish Pub. But I also go there when I’m not performing, as I’m fond of the food, staff, and McMullan Family. There’s an item on the menu you can’t get anywhere else in Las Vegas and, frankly, most places in America: a proper Irish Coffee. It’s not the Irish coffee you’re probably thinking of (unless you’re in Dublin). Before having one, I did not like coffee or whiskey. (Let’s just say, um, that’s a bit different now.)

The food there is also excellent (unlike the food I had while in Ireland), and every Guinness is perfectly poured. Fans of football โ€” the kind they play all over the world โ€” can catch live games there, and followers of rugby are known to show up in full kit as early as 6 a.m. for televised games.

Now I want an Irish coffee โ€” so see you there!