Tuesday, January 06, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Where's the beef? Still on locals' plates

Local restaurants say mad cow scare doesn't deter diners

Roadhouse Steakhouse cook Bernardo Badillo grills hamburgers Monday. Local restaurateurs say the recent mad cow scare may be more hype than alarm, and unfazed patrons are ordering as much beef, including burgers, as they had been previously. Photo by Gary Thompson.

Mad cow scare? What mad cow scare?

Several Las Vegas area restaurants report customers are continuing to order meat and beef products from menus as they usually would. Likewise, their suppliers are continuing with "business as usual."

Reports of infected cows from Washington state prompted state and federal agencies to recall several thousand pounds of meat that passed through a Washington state slaughterhouse before Christmas. However, those same agencies insist the country's meat and beef supply is safe.

On Monday, top U.S. agriculture officials announced that 450 calves will be slaughtered in a Washington state herd that includes an offspring of the cow diagnosed with mad cow disease.

But local restaurateurs say the scare may be more hype than alarm.

"There's no anxiety here, and I've been here most of my life," Kevin Landino, assistant general manager of Buffalo Wild Wings Grill and Bar said. Buffalo's has three valley locations, including Landino's at 190 W. Craig Road.

"For me, it is a nonissue," Landino added.

Robert Wagner, general manager for the Roadhouse Grill at Tropicana Avenue and Decatur Boulevard, agreed.

"It's been business as usual at our restaurant," Wagner said.

Seafood restaurants that serve beef products are not altering their menus, either. At McCormick & Schmick's on East Flamingo Road, general manager John Hinchliffe said not one customer has expressed any concern about mad cow disease.

"Even though we're known for seafood, we're selling as much beef products today as we were last week," Hinchliffe said.

Heather Manning, assistant manager for the Tenaya Creek Restaurant & Brewery, 3101 N. Tenaya Way, said that while there were a handful of raised eyebrows from customers on the day the story broke last month, patrons at her mostly seafood restaurant are not frightened.

"As far as I know, there are no widespread concerns," Manning said.

The Outback Steakhouse restaurant chain, with seven valley locations, released a Christmas Eve statement saying they are "taking all prudent steps to protect the health of our customers and ensuring the high quality and safety of our food."

"Outback Steakhouse has its own quality assurance personnel who regularly visit and inspect our suppliers' facilities," the statement said.

At Applebee's restaurant on North Rainbow Boulevard, general manager Peter Kuluz said he continues to receive daily corporate e-mails saying the company is continuing to check with that chain's suppliers and distributors about meat products, with no reports of abnormalities.

"We're talking to our guests on a regular basis and so far, this has been quite uneventful," Kuluz said. "And I expected this to be uneventful."

Lina Carroll, manager of the Buckingham Smokehouse Barbeque restaurant, 2341 N. Rainbow Boulevard, said she thought initially there would be more of a concern among the general public but added her business has not dropped off because of the scare.

"No one has said anything to me, and we're doing great," Carroll said.