content: This was not my goal. I had heard good reviews over the years of the Bootlegger Bistro but our visit on a Wednesday evening at 10:00 pm was not good for several reasons. \n\n1. First, the (very) good part. The history of the Bootlegger is alive and well on the walls and the decor. We sat in the old booths where apparently many of the early Las Vegas icons may have sat - fun to chat about. But better yet, one (or more) of the video monitors plays continuous clips of Las Vegas in the 60s and 70s - again, fun and entertaining.\n\n2. Now, unfortunately, the food was simply bland. No Italian bistro should have bland food at any point, it's a fundamental flaw or here, 'the kiss of death.' When an Italian place serves a generic tasting sauce, it's time for one of those TV shows to enter the picture and accomplish some major changes.\n\n3. We ordered Eggplant Parmigiana and a chicken dish, Pollo All Angelo. Each of ours dishes had no taste to it other than a series of generic ingredients, of the canned type, placed together and heated. The pasta was a bit undercooked but okay.\n\n4. At one point the two servers both disappeared for about 5 minutes after another group came in. The bartender was 'quietly' yelling, i.e. arms up in frustration, looking all about, making the gestures along with some additional bar guests seated nearby.\n\n5. Unexplainable part. I had ordered a Coke, it was normal. Then middle of the dinner, I ordered another one, refill, it was strangely different, much more syrup-like.\n\n6. In sum, the food was ~ I sincerely dislike saying this ~ bland at every point, the service was fast-food like, meaning adequate but intermittent definitely, but the atmosphere was pleasant. Unfortunately, that is not nearly enough to return. I would rather eat great food at a dive or 'hole in the wall.'\n\n7. As for some of the other reviews I see here - I highly suspect one or two as possibly being 'affiliated' with the place. The words just seem too simplistic in one case, too broad in another. Now, if I hear there was new management and an improved menu at some point, we may re-visit, but no time soon. \n\nStrange thought here - knowing that so many famous people had eaten at the Bootlegger in the prior locale, and hearing about this place for, well, decades, I was looking forward to a good dinner with my wife. It simply failed. The irony is that I had just shared with my wife that Olive Garden doesn't essentially cook anything, no grills, but uses microwaves to re-heat all the pre-packaged items sent to each store.