Ahern Rentals is one of the most familiar equipment companies in Las Vegas, essentially born in 1953 when John Ahern purchased a gas station at the site where the Strat hotel and casino now stands.

Don Ahern was also born in Las Vegas that year. After joining his father’s company in the 1970s, he helped grow Ahern Rentals into the largest independently owned equipment rental company in the country.

Last year, the Ahern name was applied to a slightly more famous Las Vegas industry for the first time, when Don Ahern purchased the shuttered Lucky Dragon hotel and casino for $36 million out of bankruptcy—just around the corner from that same Strat site—and started making plans to convert its casino into convention and meeting space.

Room reservations went public in February at the Ahern Hotel, and a July Fourth grand opening event was in the works when the COVID-19 crisis struck. It’s going to take a little while longer for the complete vision of this unique property to be realized, but the public can get a taste of what’s in store right now.

Ahern has been working with longtime local chef and restaurateur Marc Sgrizzi of Chef Marc’s Trattoria in Lakeside Village on a full portfolio of dining options at the hotel. Until a proper opening, Ahern Hotel and Sgrizzi are offering curbside pickup and dine-in options including specialty meals in exclusive spaces that have been converted from private gaming salons.

“If somebody wants to go out to eat but wants to be extra careful, we’ve got options,” Sgrizzi says. “You can eat in a completely private dining room at your own table with no one else around, or you can go to another room with others where it’s spaced perfectly and you have a beautiful view of the Strip.”

Sgrizzi has operated several Italian restaurants in Las Vegas during the past 20 years, including Marc’s World Cuisine, Mezzo, Parma and Novecento Pizzeria. He made a fan of Ahern at Marc’s Trattoria, on the corner of Sahara and Durango, and began making plans to lead food and beverage operations at the hotel last year.

Sgrizzi doesn’t currently have plans to reopen that off-Strip restaurant since he’s focusing on the Ahern property, set to eventually include a new version of the trattoria, an Italian steakhouse, an interactive weekend brunch experience with an expo kitchen, a coffee shop featuring regional Italian pastries and desserts and other concepts.

“For me, this is a really exciting part of my career here,” Sgrizzi says. “I’ve known Don for a long time, but when he approached me for this and we started making moves—and then COVID made it happen a little quicker—I put all my energy and effort into this property. I’m really proud of this team, which is really supportive and working together as one big family.”

Working out of the hotel’s multiple spacious kitchen facilities, that team has been feeding first responders with discounted meals during the economic shutdown while offering takeout options and menu favorites from Marc’s Trattoria. The property is also adding a multimedia studio of sorts to its amenities, and the chef has been producing food-focused digital content and sharing it on his What’s Cooking With Chef Marc YouTube channel.

Ahern Hotel is a 2.5-acre property with 204 hotel rooms in a nine-story tower located on West Sahara Avenue just steps away from Las Vegas Boulevard. Room reservations can be made at ahernhotel.com, and restaurant reservations can be made via Yelp or by calling 725-214-4950.

Food is the focus right now, Ahern says, but serving locals is the overall objective, and that will continue once the hotel is able to complete its renovations and book more meetings and special events. Ahern says he’s planning to spend $8 million to $10 million on updates and upgrades he hopes will be finished in October.

“I think it will be a fun destination for locals,” Ahern says. “We [also] think we’re building something for exhibitors at a convention and [business people] [who] may want to do a complete buyout of the entire hotel and have an expanded exhibit area for a really big [event] for all their customers. But we will always be here for locals, particularly from a food point of view.”