Downtown restaurant project puts entry at alley

A $2 million conversion of a former casino laundry building into a Mexican restaurant will go beyond the dining room and into a sketchy-looking downtown Las Vegas alley.

That is according to restaurant owner Jenna Morton, who appeared Wednesday before the City Council.

Morton, wife of N9 Group founder Michael Morton, detailed plans for La Comida at 106 S. Sixth St., which qualified for a $50,000 Quick Start grant from the city to help the owners offset the cost of code compliance.

The restaurant, which could open by late April, is in a former laundry building for the El Cortez, a historic casino at Sixth and Fremont Streets, Morton said.

"Building a new building might have been easier, but this is a building with a really lovely history and, as they say, great bones," Morton said.

Not only does the renovation include demolishing and rebuilding the entire interior, it will result in the entrance to the restaurant facing the alley to the south rather than the street to the east.

The idea of inviting patrons through the alley connecting Las Vegas Boulevard and Sixth Street, currently cluttered with trash bins, grime and other urban detritus, prompted questions from Councilman Ricki Barlow, whose ward includes the alley.

"My concern is the alley going west with the Dumpsters that are placed and the aesthetics of the alley," Barlow said.

Morton said the plan is to work with neighboring businesses such as Le Thai restaurant, to clean and beautify the alley so it can be presentable to potential customers.

"This is going to be fine dining, fun but fine dining," Morton said. "It is important to us the area is conducive to that kind of visitorship."

In addition to the Mortons, a list of investors in the project includes Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh and several others associated with the Downtown Project, a $350 million urban revival project financed largely by Hsieh.

Contact reporter Benjamin Spillman at bspillman@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0285 .