Guy Fieri isn’t a native of Las Vegas (and no, he doesn’t play one on TV). He grew up in Ferndale, in Northern California, but considers the three years he spent at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, in the late ’80s as among the most important in his life.
“People say, ‘Is Vegas your hometown?’ ” Fieri said in a recent phone interview. “Las Vegas is one of my hometowns. When you were in Vegas before The Mirage was built, you’re a local; you’ve got some tenure.”
And now he’ll have a Las Vegas restaurant as well. Fieri and Caesars Entertainment Corp. have announced that Fieri’s Strip-side restaurant will open late this year at The Quad, the former Imperial Palace. The restaurant, which is in the early stages of development, has yet to be named.
While today’s UNLV hospitality-management students may dream of someday having a restaurant on the Strip, that wasn’t among Fieri’s college fantasies. In those days, he said, dining-out choices generally meant whether to go to a low-end buffet or a high-end buffet.
