Hash House a Go Go, Las Vegas NV

Huge portions and fabulous food await you at Hash House a Go Go on the Vegas strip. But get there early, or be prepared for a long wait. 

Last weekend I went to Vegas for a quick weekend whirlwind group trip. We had a group of 7, which is kind of a big group, but we had a great time.

What I hate is the time change. Saturday morning I woke up literally before the crack of dawn: it was 4:30AM when my eyes first opened. I forced myself back to sleep until about 6:15AM, and then watched an episode of Chrisley Knows Best. I never watch reality TV, but there was no channel guide in my room and I got sucked in when I came across the show.  I knew I wouldn’t fall back asleep, so I put on workout clothes and hit the Strip. Early morning is the best time to workout outside in Vegas. It’s not brutally hot yet, and the streets are nice and quiet except for all the other runners out there. It is 4.2 miles from one end of the strip to the other, and it is completely flat so it’s a great workout.

By the time I got back and showered, it was time to eat. The rest of the group was up and ready to go, and wanted to eat at Hash House A Go Go.  I had never heard of it, but Shauna raved about it and I was starving.  I went online later and found out that it’s been voted the best breakfast in Vegas. There are a couple of locations on the Strip, and also in San Diego, Orlando, Connecticut and Chicago.

We went to the Hash House location at The Linq, an open air shopping/dining district just a couple of blocks from The Venetian.  I was talking, as usual, and not paying much attention to where we were going. Hash House is on the second floor, accessible by an escalator. As we got to the top, I saw people.  Tons of people.  All waiting to be seated. Kacey and Shauna went to the host stand to find out how long the wait would be, because the guys wanted to leave immediately.  When they said 45 mintues, the guys went back to the casino, and the women toughed it out. The wait was made a little easier by the fact that you could order drinks while you wait.  I don’t do bloody mary’s but Lindsay got one

I’ve never seen that much food on top of a drink!  She liked it, but it was too spicy for her, and eventually switched it out for a margarita.  The margaritas are made with fresh lime juice, and their mimosas with freshly squeezed orange juice.  Fresh juice makes such a huge difference.

We ended up waiting about an hour to be seated.  The restaurant itself is really pretty big, and they make use of every available inch of space, primarily for guest seating, which is a combination of booths and tables. The food portions are also huge.  I was watching plates go by and was amazed. However, the prices are very reasonable, especially for Vegas.  Hash House is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and also close from 2:30-5:30. You don’t see that much anymore, especially in Vegas. Maybe that’s part of the allure.

Hash House sources much of their product locally, and I’m a huge fan of restaurants that do that. Each location has a different menu, so that they can offer what is local and most fresh. The Hash House menu is pretty substantial. Breakfast and brunch feature different types of hash, scrambles, Benedicts, salads, sandwiches, and one-pound burgers.  You can really get pretty much anything your heart desires.  I’m not sure who would eat a one-pound burger by themselves, but I guess that goes right along with the portion sizes of everything else.

After a few minutes, our server came to the table and asked if we were ready. We had never been there before, had just waited an hour to be seated, and were visiting while starting to peruse the menu. So we said no, we needed more time. She said fine, but it’s a 40-minute time limit to ticket.  I’ve never heard of a restaurant that tells you how fast you have to eat. I know they need to turn over tables, but that’s kind of rude.  Obviously it works though, because people don’t complain.  When she walked away we focused, so we would be ready when she returned.

Michele went standard, with eggs over-easy, potatoes and bacon.

Michele’s potatoes were so good, and had a beautiful caramel color. They were crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, exactly the way they should be.

Kacey got the french toast.

Kacey’s french toast was really good, and the pecan maple syrup was outstanding.  So thick and rich.

Lindsay got the waffles.

The waffle was huge and, just like the potatoes, crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside.  The flavor was delicious and the waffle itself was nice and light.

Shauna and I were both considering Andy’s Sage Fried Chicken.  The server said it was huge, so we decided to split it.  That’s when we saw on the menu that Adam Richman also tackled it on Man vs. Food.

This was the most massive thing I think I’ve ever seen. No chance either of us could have even pretended to eat it on our own.  However, between the 2 of us, we dominated

I was really surprised that the lower layers of food don’t get mushy. The kitchen must plate the dish immediately before it’s brought to the table, because if it sits for any length of time, the quality will suffer significantly.  The chicken skin wasn’t crispy, but had a really nice coating that had great flavor.  The chipotle cream sauce was creamy and had just a hint of heat. The sauce went really well with the chicken. The biscuit in the middle still had good texture.  It took us a little while to get to the eggs, but they still tasted really delicious. Again, not any more mushy than scrambled eggs are naturally. The mashed potatoes were good, but it was way too much. And by the time you get to the potatoes, you’re struggling to continue eating .

For some reason we thought we also needed biscuits and homemade gravy.

The biscuit and gravy was excellent, but we were so full that we could hardly eat any of it.

We ordered a round of poinsettias (champagne & cranberry) while we ate.  Shauna got a snazzy peach long island iced tea.  And it was fantastic.  The peach really toned down the hit of the LIT.  Our poinsettias were really good too,   very light and refreshing.  It took a long time to get them, so by the time we were done eating, we were only about half done with our drinks.  But we were in Vegas, so we got them in to-go sippy cups!

We waited over 30 minutes for our food to arrive, so I don’t know how they could possibly enforce the 40-minute time limit. I can see maybe during slow times–if there are any. But when the restaurant is packed and we’ve waited 90 minutes from getting there to our food being delivered, I would be really upset if I was told I had to eat faster. I’d be really interested to know if they would truly kick people out for taking too long.  I find that hard to believe, because they would lose business, and definitely lose their “best breakfast in Vegas” status.

Will I go back to Hash House? No question. The food was excellent and the atmosphere, while crazy chaos, was really good. We definitely have to go a lot earlier next time. I’d be willing to get there when it opens at 7:30AM, especially the first day since I’ll wake up super early anyway.