A&E

Filling up with Food Junky at Banger Brewing

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Food Junky’s Mexican Sloppy Jose will fill you up—fast.
Photo: Brock Radke

Banger Brewing is my favorite local tap room. The beer is amazing, the people are nice and, thanks to its prime location between the touristy Fremont Street Experience and the more local-minded Fremont East, Banger has all the Vegas vibes you can handle.

But those are obvious reasons to love hanging at Banger. Lesser known is the satisfying grub supplied by Food Junky, a catering company created by UNLV student and Bellagio line cook Maritza Purcell. I’ve been noshing on crispy golden potato tacos ($9) and piles of perfect fries decorated with barbacoa-style braised beef and cotija cheese ($12) for a while now, but I really developed an emotional attachment when a spaghetti sandwich popped up as a special in January—toasty garlic bread swaddling a mound of tender pasta plastered with mushroomy meat sauce and sprinklings of powdery parmesan. It’s like mom’s home cooking on a roll.

Current addictive snacks include popcorn popped in bacon grease ($5) and pita and veggies served with roasted garlic hummus ($8). The French fry options have expanded with soyriso-topped ($12) and Greek-themed ($10) versions. There’s no spaghetti sandwich right now, but the Mexican Sloppy Jose ($12) is a zesty gut-buster, a spicy mélange of chorizo and ground beef contrasted by cool and creamy avocado. The pizza grilled cheese ($9) incorporates pepperoni, of course, and the carnitas burrito ($12) packs in enough tender pork, green salsa and jalapeños to account for several meals. And it also happens to go great with Banger’s El Hefe jalapeño hefeweizen.

Food Junky At Banger Brewing, 450 Fremont St. #135, lvfoodjunky.com.

Tags: Dining, Food
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Brock Radke

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

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