Las Vegas Mixtape v28: Anyma’s Sphere Takeover, $10 Rock & Roll Haircuts, and More

Track #2: Norms Restaurant @West Charleston Ave

The other night I dreamed I was eating at Norms Restaurant in LA on La Cienega Blvd. It turns out the dream was real—well, kind of. While I was definitely at Norms, it wasn’t in SoCal but instead at their new Vegas branch at Charleston and Decatur.

It’s the longtime (since 1949) brand’s first location outside of SoCal and yet another example of the ever-expanding Cali presence in Vegas. It’s open 24/7 and serves beer, wine, and specialty cocktails. It’s, in fact, the first Norms with a full bar (take that, Cali).

For dinner, I enjoyed their new menu item, “Cali-Cado Benny”—an updated eggs Benedict offering, with avocado and bacon—and we all split the chocolate fudge cake from Cheesecake Factory, with a scoop of Thrifty ice cream (restaurant collabs are cool). “Norms Classics”—like their “ultimate meatloaf,” with garlic mushrooms, bacon and brown gravy, and country fried steak—are all on the menu (no worries, you can start eating healthy tomorrow).

The architecture is not as mid-century Googie-wondrous as the truly iconic La Cienega Blvd location (which opened in 1957). Still, there are enough neo-mid-century touches to keep folks visually engaged, like the bold orange color used throughout and the geometrically patterned visuals. As someone who lived in Los Angeles for some 40 years, it’s both exciting and heartwarming to see Norms’ self-described neon “iconic sawtooth pennant sign” glowing while cruising down Charleston.