When developer J Dapper acquired the Huntridge Center shopping plaza in 2016, its sit-down dining options were few. There was a drugstore lunch counter, soon to be closed, and a defunct Farm Basket location on its east edge, soon to be leveled. Chatting with the Weekly shortly after the purchase, Dapper made a promise: Someday, he said, Huntridge Center would have a diner that served around the clock.
Dapper was as good as his word, sponsoring “The Great Las Vegas Coffee Shop Giveaway,” whose grand prize was a fully built-out, 3,000-square-foot space in Huntridge Center along with furniture, fixtures, signage and more, totaling nearly $1 million in goods and services. The winning concept from chef/co-owner Aaron Lee and CEO/co-owner Mallory Gott, Winnie & Ethel’s Downtown Diner, opened late last year with abbreviated hours; it’ll move to 24-hour operation soon. Promise made; promise kept.
Winnie & Ethel’s—named for Lee’s grandmother and Gott’s great-grandmother—opened with the feel of an old soul. Appointed in warm, lived-in 1940s deco flourishes, W&E’s lacy curtains, mismatched coffee cups and polished brass sign announcing, “Bottomless Coffee, 25 cents” (a genuine house offer, redeemable with the purchase of an $8 entrée) feel like they belong to a place that’s always been a part of Downtown Vegas. It’s now on us to fill in that history—the family brunches, the late-night bites. It should be easy to do, because the food is great.
Breakfast options include a 4-ounce skirt steak and eggs, served with a scratch-made biscuit and hash browns ($18); “Nutter Butter” French toast, stuffed with caramelized banana, peanut butter and crumbled bits of its namesake cookie ($14); malted pancakes ($8-$13, depending on the size of the stack), which can be enjoyed with maple butter, chocolate chips or, for an additional $2, stewed strawberries or blueberries; and a variety of diner breakfast staples, from benedicts, to steel cut oats, to biscuits and gravy. And the two-eggs-and-hash browns house breakfast special ($15) doesn’t make you choose between bacon, ham or sausage, supplying all three.
Lunch and dinner also bow to tradition. Want a meatloaf sandwich? Here it comes, piled high on sourdough with mash-pos, brown gravy and lingonberry jam ($15). The French dip ($16) is made with tender pot roast, horseradish mayo and caramelized onions, which you can dunk cavalierly in housemade au jus. The chicken cordon bleu ($18), swaddled in ham and gruyere, comes smothered in a cheesy white sauce with peas and carrots. And you’d better believe that the breaded pork chop ($19) comes not only with the pea-carrot medley and your choice of potato, but also a dollop of applesauce.
The sandwiches come with shoestring fries or “smashed” potato salad, while other sides include shells and cheese ($5), a sweet potato with pecan butter ($4). Those with smaller appetites or lower budgets can enjoy a variety of starters and shareables: a basket of biscuits with brown gravy or cowboy butter ($12); a “petite salad” of smoked tomatoes, red onion, bacon jam, and chive ranch served over chopped iceberg lettuce ($9).
Finally, we come to the Hangover Special, a disco fries variation, with bacon jam, house gravy and American cheese atop crisp, salty taters. This is the foundational stuff upon which diner visits are built—a rib-sticking treat, best enjoyed after a long night out. It’s good to know that it’s there.
WINNIE & ETHEL’S DOWNTOWN DINER 1130 E. Charleston Blvd. #140, 725-205-1831, winnieandethels.com. Wednesday-Saturday, 8 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sunday & Monday, 8 a.m.-2 p.m.
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