The history of Bob Taylor’s Original Ranch House is the history of Las Vegas rendered in wood and smoke, thick chops and char, and the primal pleasure of cooking over live fire.
Bob Taylor’s is widely considered the oldest operating steakhouse in the city, and when it opened as Ranch House Supper Club in 1955, the same year as the Dunes (later imploded to make way for Bellagio), the Strip was young, and the restaurant could only be reached by dirt road. The eponymous founder cut and cooked his steaks over mesquite coals until he sold the restaurant in 1980.
Today, Bob Taylor’s nudges the 215 Beltway and a nearby subdivision, but you still pass beneath a ranch gate as you approach the restaurant, and the interior still offers a historic hodgepodge of Western and cowboy memorabilia. In short, Bob Taylor’s is a Vegas classic.
And now, it’s an American classic
‘Timeless appeal’
On Wednesday, the James Beard Foundation, named for the father of American gastronomy, announced the six recipients of its America’s Classics Award. The award recognizes “locally owned restaurants with timeless appeal that serve quality food and are beloved by their communities,” the announcement said.
America’s Classics is a category in the foundation’s annual Restaurant and Chef Awards, which in January saw a record 14 from Vegas named as semifinalists.
For America’s Classics, six of the 12 awards regions are included within each annual awards cycle, rotating the following cycle so that each region is represented every other year. America’s Classics restaurants must be open for at least a decade to be eligible. In 2024, the Peppermill Restaurant and Fireside Lounge on the Strip received an America’s Classics Award.
Bob Taylor’s, 6250 Rio Vista St., is owned today by Jeff Special. Visit bobtaylorsranchhouse.com.
Contact Johnathan L. Wright at [email protected]. Follow @JLWTaste on Instagram.