Keeping Kosher at re:Invent 2018

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So we are a little more than a month away from the yearly ascent to all things AWS - re:Invent 2018.

Last year one of my most useful posts was the Kosher perspective on the event Keeping Kosher at re:Invent 2017.

So this year - nothing much has changed - there is still no kosher food.. #boo

No Kosher Food #boo

(This is not last years graphic but taken from the current site)

So again - no Kosher food throughout the day.

Last year, I went on Sunday to one of the Kosher supermarkets, and did some shopping. Every morning I made myself lunch for every day. Better than standing in lines or going out looking for food.

Hot and cold drinks throughout the day are available at the various venues, sometimes there are fresh fruit - and some snacks here and there that have a Kosher certification (OU, OK, Star-K, and many more - depending on what are comfortable with eating)

The Supermarkets were great and they had a wonderful selection of Kosher food

There is The Jewish Visitor’s Guide to Las Vegas guide (downloadable here) which has accurate information as of June 2018.

Here is a list of the Kosher restaurants as of today (please check the sites for up to date information before you go)

  • Ace of Steaks (5825 W Sahara Ave Unit M. - +1 702-899-4223). Open till 23.00 Sun.-Thurs.
    It is about a 17 minute drive from the Venetian

  • Anise Tapas and Grill (3100 S Durango Dr. - +1 702-586-4088). Open till 22.00 Sun-.Thurs.
    It is about a 20 minute drive from the Venetian

    Last year a group of us sat down for a late dinner - the restaurant was empty - but the food was good

  • King Solomon’s Table (4561 W Flamingo Rd. - +1 725-244-4034). Open till 22.00 Sun.-Thurs.
    It is about a 10 minute drive from the Venetian

  • Haifa Restaurant (900 E Karen Ave # H102 - +1 702-940-8000). Open till 21.00 Sun.-Thurs.
    It is about a 11 minute drive from the Venetian

    Place is in the middle of nowhere - was practically empty - and the food was nothing special

  • Jerusalem Grill & Bar (4825 W Flamingo Rd. Suite 10 - +1 702-341-5555).
    Open till 22.30 Sun.-Thurs. It is about a 11 minute drive from the Venetian.

    I had dinner there (twice) - and the food was really good!

  • Sababa Grille & Restaurant (3220 South Durango Dr. - +1 702-547-5556).
    It is about a 20 minute drive from the Venetian

  • Shawarma Vegas (2521 S Fort Apache Rd. - +1 702-703-7700). Open till 21.00 Sun.-Thurs.
    It is about a 25 minute drive from the Venetian

    Shawarma Place - Fast food - was great for a quick meal

  • Simon & Joe’s (3720 W Tropicana Ave. - +1 702-759-0333). Open till 21.30 Sun.-Thurs.
    It is about a 10 minute drive from the Venetian.

If you are looking for a list of Kosher products - the list from the Ahavas Torah Center has a substantial amount of information.

Shabbat

The conference ends on Friday at around 12:00 which means for most of us that are visiting from outside of the States - that you either leave early - to get back home on time, or fly to family / friends somewhere else in America, or you stay in Vegas for Shabbat.

The Strip is of course not a Shabbat-friendly atmosphere - and there are a number of Jewish Orthodox (I am sure there are other denominations as well - I will only list the ones that I would go to) communities in the area.

If you so wish - many of them have some option of Shabbat hospitality as well

(I have personally spent a Shabbat in at the Young Israel community a good number of years ago) There is a hotel that is quite Shabbat friendly - literally 200 meters from the shul La Quinta Inn - not the best of hotels - but OK for Shabbat, and the community was very nice to invite me for meals.

Last but not least - there is also an Eiruv - https://www.lasvegaskollel.org/las-vegas-west-side-eruv

As we did last year - we have a WhatsApp group with those who are interested in meeting up for meals after a long day, or perhaps organizing a Minyan for Mincha - or just even to say hello.

 Kosher_re:Invent

https://chat.whatsapp.com/IR8hAlhj9vKKG3pWN2SWJQ

Currently there are about 20 people (mostly Israelis - open to all!)

Looking forward to see some old faces and new ones as well next month!