Finalists chosen for Las Vegas coffee shop contest

Six diner ideas will move on to the cooking phase of a contest to open a brand-new, custom-built restaurant in downtown Las Vegas, contest organizers announced Tuesday.

Las Vegas real estate agency Dapper Cos. created the challenge, dubbed “The Great Las Vegas Coffee Shop Giveaway,” to award a chef or restaurateur with a 3,000-square-foot custom-designed restaurant in the Huntridge Shopping Center at Charleston Boulevard and Maryland Parkway, near the historic Huntridge Theater. Partnering sponsors will give winning idea’s concept life through furniture, fixtures, signs, branding and a marketing plan, among other support.

J Dapper, owner of Dapper Cos., created the contest because he missed the diner scene of vintage Las Vegas and wanted a way to support the hospitality industry after it was hard-hit by the pandemic, he said.

“Over the years, every coffee shop in Las Vegas seems like it’s closed down,” Dapper said. “You go to a casino and ask for a coffee shop and they point you in the direction of a Starbucks, which kind of rips out my heart.”

More than 80 pitch decks were submitted to the contest, including some from out-of-state applicants, he said. The company first intended to pick three to five finalists, but that was expanded to six because of the number of quality ideas. Finalists were chosen based on their concepts, menus and each team’s background.

Stacey Dougan, the chef behind Simple Diner, said she and her team wanted to bring a plant-based neighborhood deli to the area. The team has a history of downtown revitalization — Dougan previously ran Simply Pure in the Downtown Container Park and her business partner, Jenn Tramaglino, helped develop 7th & Carson Restaurant.

“I’ve been in Vegas on and off for like 31 years,” Dougan said. “I remember partying as a teenager at the Huntridge, so just to be a part of that revitalization brings back a lot of nostalgia for me.”

Other contestants wanted to highlight the history of the area, as well. Mal Gott, an experiential designer, and Aaron Lee, a sous chef at Esther’s Kitchen in the Arts District, pitched Winnie and Ethel’s Downtown Diner as both an homage to the 1940’s roots of the Huntridge neighborhood — where the couple lives — and their grandmothers’ homey cooking.

“(We’re going for) that warmth and that welcoming feeling of just walking in and knowing this is a place I belong, this is my community,” Gott said. “If you think about what Vegas was in 1944, it was really small. So to steal from ‘Cheers,’ everybody probably did know everybody’s name. They got to go into a place and know they were home.”

Each finalist team will cook for the public and for judges for about a week at the Vegas Test Kitchen, choosing three to five selections that represent their concept. Judges include Dapper; Cory Harwell of Carson Kitchen and Butcher & Thief; John Simmons of Firefly, Tacos & Beer and Graze; and Marc Marrone of Nice Hospitality.

The winning concept will work with partners to build the restaurant. Partners include YESCO, AAA Bar and Restaurant Supply, The Humblewood Company, RADstudio and Hydro Studios, among others. Dapper Cos. estimates the project would support about $950,000 of goods and services.

View the finalists’ concepts online:

— Random Act Diner: Cooking for the public April 1-2 and for judges on April 5

— Savage Fine Diner & Tavern: Cooking for the public April 8-9 and for judges on April 12

— The Tipsy Buffalo: Cooking for the public April 15-16 and for judges on April 19

— Dinette: Cooking for the public April 22-23 and for judges on April 26

— Simple Diner: Cooking for the public April 29-30 and for judges on May 3

— Winnie & Ethel’s Downtown Diner: Cooking for the public May 6-7 and for judges on May 10

Dapper Cos. expects to announce the winner in mid-May. The restaurant is expected to open in the first quarter of 2023.

McKenna Ross is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Contact her at mross@reviewjournal.com. Follow @mckenna_ross_ on Twitter.