Las Vegas Mixtape v29: Rocking Burlesque, Doughnut Pleasures, and Boho Surprises

Track #4: Ole Red Las Vegas

I didn’t know that the “Blackberry Crispy Chicken Sliders” on brioche buns I ordered at Ole Red Las Vegas on the Strip was the treat my palate needed. The buttermilk fried chicken sliders are served with blackberry compote, jalapeño whipped goat cheese, and Napa cabbage—a creative and tasty combination. Might I add that the accompanying tater tots were the biggest ones I’ve ever seen?

The massive four-level restaurant and free live music venue is “inspired by the boss man himself—Blake Shelton” and occupies prime real estate at the southeast corner of Las Vegas Blvd and Flamingo. Praise be the 4,500-square-foot rooftop bar with balcony seating overlooking the Bellagio’s fountains. On a chilly Saturday night, while a DJ spun country hits, it was packed with undaunted revelers—although some like me were huddled next to heat lamps—mesmerized by what might arguably be the best views on the Strip.

Holding court downstairs was the soulful and forthright Mississippi country trio Chapel Hart. They unfurled their heavenly harmonies that grace songs like “You Can Have Him Jolene,” their riff on Dolly Parton’s “Jolene,” and “Perfect For Me,” a tribute to hard-working, blue-collar men who are probably tired of hearing about toxic masculinity in our culture.

If you go, don’t forget to point your eyes to the ceiling, onto which an upside-down 4500-pound tractor is impossibly mounted. It leads me to think that Ole Red has, uh, plenty of insurance.