May 2011: Many years ago, Rachael Ray featured the 24-7 Cafe on $40-a-Day. I think she only spent a few bucks, and had some garlic bread and wings. Since we were in the area, we decided to check it out. Immediately upon entering, we noticed something in The Palms Casino that wasn’t present in most of the other casinos we had visited that week. The place smelled strongly of cigarette smoke. Maybe everyplace else had a better ventilation system. Maybe The Palms sold cigarettes at a huge discount. I don’t know, but it was off-putting immediately. When we were seated, the smell was less strong, but you could still smell it, even though there was no smoking directly in the cafe.
I ordered a plate of the wings as featured on the show and a Kobe Meatloaf sandwich. Mel ordered some kind of Turkey & Pastrami Melt. The wings arrived, and they were pretty standard fare. They were coated heavily in sauce, which is fine by me. There wasn’t anything unique about them, but they were food. When the sandwiches arrived, I was excited as Kobe beef is something that’s hard to find. I took my first bite and was immediately disappointed. I’m not sure what seasonings they used in this meatloaf, but they weren’t good. They took a fine piece of beef, and absolutely destroyed the natural flavor with this confusing and overpowering series of spices. It was also pretty mushy for meatloaf. They didn’t have the mix right. It just wasn’t good. The fries were slightly coated, and were also not enjoyable. Although I was pretty hungry, I ended up not finishing either of the things on my plate.
Mel’s sandwich was OK. It wasn’t bad tasting or anything, but it wasn’t exactly full of flavor either. (At least her sandwich was good enough that she could finish it.) The service was pretty slow at this place, which was odd considering how empty it was. Now I know why it was empty. The food was mostly bad (except maybe the wings, which are hard to mess up). After waiting for the waitress to eventually bring our bill, we finally paid and left. I had to get right back to my hotel and shower to wash the stench of stale cigarette smoke off of me. That, and I needed to go find an good meal somewhere else.
Food: [usr 3]
Service: [usr 4]
Show: $40-a-Day — Episode: Las Vegas
Restaurant Info: 24-7 Cafe (The Palms) — 4321 W Flamingo Rd, Las Vegas, NV 89103 — (702) 953-7682