Dine Like a Made Man

Las Vegas isn’t close-lipped about its Mafia forefathers; after all, there’s an entire museum dedicated to them (and the lawmen that hunted them down). In this town, having some mob lore in your backroom is something to capitalize on, not hide. If you’re looking to dine like a made guy, reserve a table at Piero’s, which became the city’s unofficial underworld clubhouse when it opened in 1982. Founder Joe Pignatello was a driver for Chicago Outfit boss Sam Giancana. Later owner Freddie Glusman welcomed regulars like Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal. Chicago Outfit enforcer Anthony “The Ant” Spilotro, who oversaw Vegas operations, was a regular. (In fact, the character he inspired in Casino, played by Joe Pesci, threw Sharon Stone’s character down the stairs in a famous scene shot right in Piero’s.)  Spilotro is said to have favored veal marsala and hearty pastas, if you’re looking for a faithful re-creation. Politicians, casino bosses and celebrities all mingled there, too. Today deals are still made here among local powerbrokers between plates of linguine and glasses of Chianti.

If one restaurant embodies the Old Vegas mob mystique, it’s The Golden Steer Steakhouse, opened in 1958. Everyone who was anyone congregated here, from Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin to Sam Giancana (who preferred prime rib and kept his steak knife next to his pistol). Spilotro was a regular here, too, sometimes with his defense attorney, Oscar Goodman, later the Vegas’s three-term mayor. You can reserve booths dedicated to Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, Sammy Davis, Jr., and more, but you won’t find mob-designated booths in the main room. “Mobsters tended to dine in our private dining room, which had a secret entrance that could be accessed through the kitchen,” says Golden Steer’s Dir. Of Brand Marketing, Larissa Brizuela. You might consider The Mob Room for your next “family” dinner—it seats 16. 

For low-profile meetings of yesteryear, connected guys favored the intimate Chicago Joe’s downtown, located inside a small, converted house. Spilotro and his brother Michael were rumored to stop by for their own family meals. Just like it does today, it specialized in homey, familiar food like lasagna, eggplant parmesan, spaghetti and red sauce, and a giant side of discretion.