What a big stinger you have, Daddy.
At the new Nacho Daddy in Zone 2 at Area15 near the Las Vegas Strip, an 8-foot scorpion fashioned from Mexican wrought iron lies suspended above the bar, its pincers extended forward, its curved tail ending in a bulbous stinger tipped in red. The name of this big bug? Big Daddy.
A scorpion has long been essential to the Nacho Daddy experience — recall the famed tequila shot with a submerged dead scorpion (crunch!), or Nina, the skull-faced mascot wearing a flower headdress, who eats scorpions on Nacho Daddy murals.
“It’s the first time we’ve had a scorpion,” said Fred Mossler, who founded Nacho Daddy with Keith Glynn and Paul Hymas in 2010. “It was a new idea. At Area15, you go big. Now, the other locations want one.”
Besides the Area15 store opening the first week of July at 3040 Rigel Ave., Suite 120, the Nacho Daddy group of Mexican restaurants with a twist encompasses three Las Vegas Valley locations (Henderson, downtown, the Strip), one in Salt Lake City and one in Nashville, Tennessee. A Miami shop is planned to open this year.
Even as Nacho Daddy expands to other states, the launching of another Vegas restaurant has special resonance, Mossler said.
“Las Vegas has been a great place to call home, and we’ve been supported by the locals. Las Vegas has given us a platform to grow nationally. We’re super proud to open our next location in the town that made Nacho Daddy what it is today.”
Art, aliens, movies
The new restaurant covers 5,000 or so square feet, about the same size as the Henderson store, with open-duct ceilings rising 21 feet, seating for 206 (including booths upholstered in ketchup red and mustard yellow), and metal screens partitioning the dining room from the bar (the first time for this separation at Nacho Daddy). A sliding garage door links the bar with the terrace.
Printed murals in the dining room and bar draw inspiration from Mexican folk art as they variously feature signature Nacho Daddy design elements: scorpions, lush florals, the nacho chip man, sugar skulls, crossed six shooters, and the I ♥ Nachos sign rendered in marquee lights.
The murals lining the back hallway are especially vibrant, a collage collision of nachos and Nacho Daddy branding, green-headed bug-eyed aliens (a nod to the Area15 backstory), and a host of vintage posters, especially those for 1950s and ’60s B sci-fi movies.
One mural section features Rosie the Riveter, from the famous World War II poster, as an alien. “Invaders from Mars?” the image screams. “No, They’re From Nacho Daddy.” A mug shot pictures an alien in prison stripes offering up a plate of nachos. Another piece of the mural shows a body rising in a beam of light toward a flying saucer. “They Are Already Here — Area15 Nacho Daddy,” the image warns.
On the menu
The offerings at Area15 continue the Nacho Daddy tradition of piled-high, never-a-dry-chip nachos. Chicken tinga nachos, filet birria nachos, a brisket burnt ends version, vegan options — all the familiar favorites are here. Shrimp, chicken, filet or mix-and-match fajitas flambéed tableside make an appearance. All-day $5 house margaritas and Modelos? You’ll find those, too.
The menu also showcases some newer items to the Nacho Daddy family, like eight specialty margaritas chosen from cocktails submitted by bartenders from across the group, happy hour-size dishes to encourage grazing and a dedicated lunch menu with smaller portions, including personal pan nachos so diners don’t have to commit to whole heap.
Nacho Daddy, with its gleeful embrace of excess, seems like a fit for the Zone 2 expansion at Area15 (as it has always been a fit for Vegas writ large). As Mossler, the co-founder, put it: “We’re excited to be in the neighborhood.”
Contact Johnathan L. Wright at [email protected]. Follow @JLWTaste on Instagram.