Trying their luck

      The gentleman who sat at a table in Ferraro's Italian restaurant didn't look like a troublemaker. Maybe he was some kind of culinary spy -- a chef keeping up with the competition or the owner of a rival restaurant. Maybe he was just a really hungry guy.
      Whatever the reason, by the time he ordered enough appetizers and entrees to feed 20 people, a nervous waiter decided to get some sage advice.
      "What should I do?" he asked the owner, Gino Ferraro.
      Nothing, Ferraro replied.
      The voracious eater turned out to be Lyle Berman, chairman of Grand Casinos Inc. By the end of the night he was asking Ferraro to open up a restaurant in his new casino. Ferraro agreed.
      That was about 2 1/2 years ago. Today, a 220-seat Ferraro's restaurant sits on the ground floor of what is now one of Las Vegas' most notable landmarks, the Stratosphere. The restaurant consists of four separate rooms that were once shops in the Stratosphere's precursor, Vegas World. Each room is decorated with a mural depicting an Italian city, white tablecloths and blond-wood chairs.
      Ferraro's is not the only local restaurant that has made its way into a casino. Chin's, located in the Fashion Show mall, partnered with Arizona Charlie's two years ago to create Charlie Chin's, a casual 65-seat restaurant offering single-portion meals at prices much lower than the elegant Fashion Show location.
      Hamada of Japan has also broken into the casino market and has been quite successful at it. Owners June and Jay Hamada now have six Strip outlets: a sit-down Japanese restaurant in the Flamingo Hilton called the Japanese Steak House and Sushi Bar; three food-court eateries called Hamada Orient Express, two at the MGM Grand Hotel and one at O'Shea's; a sushi bar at the Polo Towers; and even an Italian fast-food restaurant called Jay's Pizza.
      It wasn't always so easy, however. Before opening the Flamingo Hilton restaurant, the Hamadas had to convince the casino's executives that they could make the business work. "We lobbied very hard for a long time," said Howard Hamada, vice president of Hamada Group of Restaurants, and the Hamadas' son.
      The Hamadas, who also own a tour business, knew there was a large segment of Japanese tourists who stayed at the Flamingo Hilton and would frequent a Japanese-style restaurant. They were right.
      The hotel finally gave them a small, 40-seat space on the casino's basement floor in 1990. Business was so strong the Japanese Steak House and Sushi Bar expanded to 160 seats in 1995. Today, about 80 percent of the clientele consists of Japanese tourists, Howard Hamada said.
      Casinos, however, offer more than a large pool of tourists. They also provide a chance to reach more locals.
      Arizona Charlie's gives Chin's the opportunity to reach Las Vegans who would normally avoid the Fashion Show mall restaurant because they don't want to tangle with Strip traffic or pay for entrees ranging from $10 to $28, said owner Tola Chin.
      Charlie Chin's offers meals for less than $9. They are single-size entrees, not the larger portions that serve three to four people. But, they still include quality ingredients, just as the original Chin's, Tola said.
      The prices were not always this low. Tola said they were cut by one-third to one-half on April 1 and in just a few weeks, business has nearly tripled. The average daily head count of 50 has grown to 140, he said.
      "I'm happy because there's so many people out there I have not touched, especially in a town that's growing ... and it thrills me when I have happy faces," Tola said.
      For Ferraro, however, expansion has also brought frustration. While starting out as a high-end gourmet restaurant, such as the original Ferraro's at 5900 W. Flamingo Road, the Stratosphere eatery has had to adjust by lowering prices and significantly changing the menu.
      In the beginning, the plan was to create fine dining for casino high rollers but this has not panned out, Ferraro said. The hotel's tourists are not the sophisticated eaters he expected and he believes the Stratosphere's financial troubles have only discouraged locals from venturing into the property. Sales are about 65 percent of what Ferraro had anticipated.
      The restaurant itself cost Ferraro and his investors $1.6 million to design. It includes marble tables, solid wood moldings, stone serving tables, porcelain tiles, even a room purposely painted to look like it has water stains and rusted metal vents like an old Italian building.
      "We tried to go all out because we anticipated an unbelievable amount of business here," he said.
      The detailed murals alone were commissioned for more than $100,000. One of them graces the Calabria Room, named after the southern Italian region where Ferraro was born. It shows the town square where he played as a child and the church where his parents were baptized and married. To the right, the Ionian Sea laps the same beach he used to walk.
      "I would love to stay here because this is something I did from my heart. It's a sentimental restaurant," he said, standing in front of the Calabria mural and waving his arms toward the painting.
      "I have a lot of faith that this hotel will be successful because it is an attraction in this town. There's a beautiful tower here. ... I am very optimistic about being here for a long time."