A gambling hall and hotel have stood on the corner of Fremont and Main Sts since 1906, just one year after the whistlestop railway town of Las Vegas began. But it didn't turn into the Golden Gate casino hotel until 1955, when a troupe of Italian-Americans from San Francisco decamped and stayed on for four decades to manage what was at one time known as the 'Sal Sagev' (the city's name spelled backward).
The Golden Gate's hypnotic sign is almost as irresistible as its famous shrimp cocktails – famously just 99 cents, they now cost $2.99 plus tax. You can get one in the deli, which has sold millions of parfait glasses full of the cheapskates' crustacean delight. Other than that, there's nothing much to draw you into this bowdlerized City by the Bay other than its snug casino, with lively craps tables and double-deck blackjack being dealt to the herky-jerky sounds of old-fashioned piano music. Keep an eye out for antique one-armed bandits by the hotel's registration desk.
