Steak Special at Ellis Island

Part of the fun of Las Vegas is finding those small, out of the way locals casinos. They tend to be very, very friend, offer very good meal deals while being on the rather smallish side. We discovered Ellis Island Casino & Brewery several years ago shortly after making our first trip to Las Vegas. This was by sheer word of mouth! Ellis Island is off of the strip behind Planet Hollywood on Koval Lane one block south of Flamingo Rd. Seriously it is so small you could easily pass it by but that would be a real shame. It's definitely a locals casino!

Micro Brew

Ellis Island has a micro brewery which is part of it's charm. The brewery is visible from the casino and snack bar. They put out a lovely micro brew as well. If you order the prime rib a glass of micro brew comes with the meal. You do have to order the micro brew if ordering other meals. Trust me on this one even if you have to pay, do order the micro brew. The amber (ales) is smooth and silky with a lovely flavour that compliments beef nicely. They also server a Hefe Weiss (ale), a dark (lager) and a light (lager). For those not wishing to drink alcohol they have a love old-fashioned root beer made on site. All of their beer and root beer is made with 100% natural ingredients.

Tossed Salad

The steak special is an Ellis Island special served 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The only way to find out about this special is word of mouth. It is not advertised anywhere and I think we found out about it by following a Las Vegas newsgroup years ago. This is a you must ask for special. It is not on their sign or menu. There is nothing anywhere to indicate that there is a steak special.

Once your are seated and depending on the time of day this may take upwards of a half hour the friendly waiter will come by with menus. Simply ask for the steak special. Trust me you will not be able to eat everything!

The steak special comes with either soup or salad. I chose salad with thousand island dressing. This is a large salad with just a bit too much dressing for my liking but otherwise is rather in line with other plain tossed salads. The best bet is to eat about a third of the salad then set it aside just in case you are hungry after the main course. It's doubtful but it could happen. Buns also come with the dinner.

The Steak

The bun basket included a variety of yeast buns, melba toast and bread sticks. Butter pats were included. It was a rather standard bun basket served by many restaurants.

The 10 oz New York strip steak comes with a large baked potato and vegetables of the day. Sour cream is served in small squeeze triangular packages but steak sauce and butter is on the table. The steak is quite large, cooked to your specifications. I ordered mine medium rare while my husband ordered his rare. They did a lovely job of cooking the steak. The potatoes were fluffy but not over cooked. The green beans were almost al dente.

Ok, so by now you are likely curious as to price? Folks this lovely meal will set you back $4.95. That's it. You must ask for the steak special and it is a good idea if you are hungry. This is one of the very few meals we pay for in Las Vegas. It has become tradition for us to make a stop at Ellis Island simply for the steak. Sometimes we play a bit at the smallish casino and sometimes we don't but the steak is always worth the trip!