Taste

A tale of two Public Houses

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Public House at Luxor is set to open Labor Day Weekend.
Photo: Brock Radke

Public House is a restaurant and bar with several locations on the East Coast, and it’s coming to Las Vegas, primed for a soft opening on the Strip on Labor Day Weekend. It’ll be taking over the space formerly known as Company, right next door to nightclub LAX inside Luxor. “It will be very warm and welcoming, with a fun and energetic atmosphere,” according to manager Carly Nascimbeni.

Sounds familiar, right? At the Venetian’s restaurant row, in the space formerly occupied by a David Burke restaurant, local company Block 16 Hospitality opened a gastropub called Public House late last year. Though its somewhat hidden location has been an obstacle, this Public House has garnered a positive reputation for its creative menu of upscale bar grub and a brilliant beer selection.

Nascimbeni, who comes to Vegas from her company’s Washington, D.C. area location, says her Public House has been working on installing a Las Vegas store for five years. She doesn’t think having two similar restaurant concepts with the same name on the same famous street in Vegas will be an issue. “We opted not to change the name because this is who we are. We brand ourselves differently.”

Luxor’s Public House will have a stronger sports bar feel, including a wall of 12 TV screens behind the main bar. It will also have a brunch menu featuring a build-your-own Bloody Mar bar and bottomless mimosas on Sunday. Wednesdays will offer a health-conscious ladies’ night menu. So that’s a little different.

Neither company appears to be interested in exclusive rights to the Public House name in Las Vegas, though Luxor’s Public House claims legal rights to the name. Neither company has plans to change the name, nor compel the other to change. Block 16 messaged that it has had no communication with the other Public House, other than getting followed on Twitter. So, looks like we get two different Public Houses.

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Brock Radke

Brock Radke is an award-winning writer and columnist who currently occupies the role of managing editor at Las Vegas Weekly ...

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