Scorsese Fans’ Favorites in Vegas, Part I.

This is a compilation for true movie fans: take a tour around Las Vegas and check out where famous actors, like Robert De Niro performed in the movie Casino.

First screened in 1995, Casino is a Martin Scorsese film starring Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone and Joe Pesci. It is a crime drama based on Nicolas Pileggi’s book. Set in 1973, the movie’s main character, Sam Rothstein aka. “Ace,” arrives to Las Vegas on mission: to run the Tangiers Casino. He doubles the profit, which is then skimmed by the Mob before tax authorities even suspect there was some foul play. Business is booming, and Ace’s friend Nicky Santoro is brought in to provide protection. However, since he has a temper, he is soon banned from all the casinos, and he starts extorting people on his own agenda.

• Three cars were blown up for one scene
• The old cocktail bar survived many things
• Stealth and violence on the streets of Vegas

Since online gambling in the US was not a thing back then, the violent action played mostly in the vicinity of casinos on the streets of Vegas. Ace falls for a call-girl, Ginger McKenna, who he later marries, making an enemy of her pimp slash boyfriend. Ace’s name is soon getting linked with Nicky in the newspapers, which is bad for business. They fight a lot with Ginger, who, as a result, starts drinking. She turns to Nicky for advice, and when Ace find out, he suspects that there is more to it than Nicky being just a shoulder to cry on. With tension rising, the FBI gets wind of the situation and soon everything falls apart. Basically, your typical, hardcore, Scorsese mafia movie. Perfect.

Pietro’s Italian Cuisine

In the spirit of the mob, Scorcese chose the place, which used to be called The Leaning Tower to shoot some dinner scenes. This place is special because the restaurant that operated here beforehand, the Upper Crust Pizzeria, had a conjoint bar owned by Frank Cullotta. He was a known associate of Tony Spilotro, who was a mob enforcer and member of the Chicago Outfit. The pizzeria was an incredible success, and because of this, Culotta made a remark about going legal with his accounting. He was joking, of course. The bar right next to the restaurant served as a place where the mobsters socialized. Currently, the restaurant is –fittingly, might I add – called Piero’s Italian Cuisine.

Oscar’s Steakhouse

This is the scene where Ginger and Ace have a dinner while fighting over how much money Ginger is spending. The restaurant was in the Plaza Hotel on South Main Street, and it now functions as Oscar’s Steakhouse. So, when you’re done with your mobile betting sites, take a cab downtown and try out one of these delicious steaks. It’ll especially be a great experience for the gentlemen: the waitresses and hostesses at Oscar’s are famous for being drop-dead gorgeous. But since we’re talking about a mafia movie, let’s hope that no one really does drop dead.

Main Street Station

This is the place where the first scene of the movie was shot. Well, it is definitely not a place for poker winners to be walking around at night, but the place does have an ideal vibe for a scene like this. More specifically, this is the scene where Robert De Niro aka. Ace’s car is blown up just as he sparks the ignition. It was shot in the parking lot, with the beautiful background of the California Hotel & Casino. Fun fact, the film crew had to blow up three cars till they got the scene right. Also, in the real life Rosenthal (on whom Ace’s character is based) was also blown up and survived it.

Atomic Liquors

This place could easily be named a historical monument: it opened in 1945, as a restaurant at first. Then, they renamed it to correlate more to cocktails, because, get this, people came searching for cocktails after watching the nuclear blasts at the Atomic Test Site. The sign they use is still the original one. This sounds as exciting as spending time in some underground UK poker room. Coming back to the movie, this is the scene where the troubled and aggressive Nicky stabs someone in the neck…with a pen. This part of the movie came to life thanks to a prison fight that Frank Cullotta took part in while he was in prison.