Sisters get city help in launching downtown Las Vegas tavern

The two-year pre-opening journey of starting a small tavern on Main Street is almost over, two sisters behind the project told the Las Vegas City Council on Wednesday.

Pam and Christina Dylag are planning to open their Velveteen Rabbit tavern downtown at 1218 S. Main St. in March after spending about two years and $273,000.

The two women, who grew up in Las Vegas, confronted construction challenges, local government fees and restrictive state gambling regulations on their path to their dream business, a cute tavern for locals that serves cocktails made with fresh ingredients.

They were in front of the council to apply for $34,625 in grant money through the city's Quick Start program, which aims to help businesses offset the cost of complying with code requirements while renovating old buildings. The council, acting as the city's redevelopment agency, approved the grant by a 6-0 vote. Mayor Carolyn Goodman was absent. It received final approval with another 6-0 vote during the council meeting.

"We've been working on this project for about two years now," Pamela Dylag said. "As you can see, the building has been needing a lot of work; it has been a labor of love."

Councilman Bob Coffin highlighted some of the issues the tavern faced before it opened. They included thousands of dollars in sewer hookup fees, which Coffin said were "extraordinarily high" for small businesses.

Initially, the women planned to install five slot machines as allowed under city code for certain small bars.

But 2011 changes in state gambling regulations, made at the behest of large casinos, added a requirement that anyone offering five or more slot machines also needed to include a minimum amount of square feet for food service.

Adding a kitchen and food space would have been cost prohibitive, so the owners had to limit themselves to four machines, which reduces potential revenue.

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