Put down the runny scrambled eggs and step away from the breakfast buffet.

Yes, some Las Vegas buffets are quite good, but none can hold a candle to the "twisted farm food" served at Hash House a Go Go, a funky/chic restaurant that would fit well in just about any Strip casino but is actually located miles away.

Can you get a brown sugar banana pancake the size of a large pizza at a buffet? I think not.

The brainchild of escapees from Indiana, Hash House takes classic American farm fresh food and puts a wild, almost delightfully bizarre, spin on things. The signature breakfast hashes come in the standard corned beef variety, but you can also get them with more esoteric items such as roasted chicken and garlic with asparagus and rosemary; salmon with cream cheese and scallions; chorizo with jalapenos; or even meatloaf with spinach and mozzarella. "Farm Scrambles" are like those skillets at other breakfast places, jacked up a couple thousand notches with options such as bacon, avocado and Swiss cheese; ham, spinach and cheddar; or smoked salmon and brie.

Even the flapjacks and waffles are something "more." Options for flapjacks include blueberry pecan, Snickers, apple cinnamon and mango coconut, among others. Waffles come in vanilla, granola and bacon varieties.

That's right, a bacon waffle: It comes with strips of bacon baked right into the thing! That's a stroke of genius that just can't be ignored.

The above is just a small sampling of breakfast items, which also include everything from fried chicken with maple reduction sauce, eggs, bacon mashed potatoes and a biscuit; to a pork tenderloin roughly the size of the table topped with scrambled eggs; with stops at things such as sausage gravy pot pie, fried "mush," quesadillas and cold cereals.

It even offers something called "O'Hare of the Dog," a 24-ounce Budweiser served in a paper bag with a side of bacon. How can you not love that?

Breakfast is just the beginning. A full lunch menu includes salads of just about every variety (Caesar, spinach, salmon, Cobb and fried chicken); sandwiches such as grilled rosemary chicken with brie, roast beef Sloppy Joes, and a BBBLT (because the chefs believe that bacon rules); stuffed burgers featuring two big patties with mushroom and Swiss, bacon and mashed potatoes, or crumbled blue cheese in between, and much more.

Dinner adds more salads like the RibsLT (pork ribs on a Caesar salad); sandwiches such as the "griddled" cheese with cheddar, tomato, and prosciutto; pastas including a bed of linguine topped with meatloaf; and entrees from braised slow-cooked pork ribs to chicken pot pie to grilled halibut to chili crusted duck breasts and beyond.

But breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and since that's what Hash House is most well-known for, that's when I timed a recent visit.

My party was warned by the server that portions are large and designed to be shared, my dining companion and I are of hearty Iowa stock and we laughed off their big portions and said, "Bring it on."

Did I mention that the pancake is the size of a large pizza? And did I mention that I'm not exaggerating at all?

I sampled the brown sugar banana flapjacks (a robust flavored, eye-popping delight) as part of the Tractor Driver Combo, which includes two eggs with bacon, sausage or potatoes. I also had to try the bacon waffle and was not at all disappointed with the moist vanilla waffle mixing perfectly with the sweet maple syrup and tangy apple-smoked bacon. We also tried the corned beef hash (served with red onions and Swiss cheese) and although it wasn't exactly to my liking, I'm not a corned beef fan anyway, so I'm not worried about it.

Those three items came on platters that took up just about every last square inch of the table and were too much food for four people, let alone two. It was all so delicious that I ate beyond the point of rationality.

Don't miss the specialty juices (we sampled the tangy tangerine), made by a California distributor that the Hash House folks lured to Vegas who now supplies for Steve Wynn's exacting tastes. That's right, the juice you're drinking at the Wynn buffet? Hash House had it first.

Prices are high at first blush, until you remember that these meals are meant for sharing. Full breakfasts run from $9 to $14, with smaller items and sides from $2 to $9. There is a $2.50 sharing charge, but that is waved if you order a side of something so I recommend the Tractor Driver Combo with one of the signature giant flapjacks for $11 and a side of sausage or bacon for $3 -- now you've done breakfast for two people for $7 apiece.

Lunch items range from $6 to $14 (most items under $10) and dinner is going to set you back anywhere from $7 (for things like salads) up to $24 for the dinner entrees (although most dinner items are $10 to $20).

Considering the fact that the Wynn Las Vegas buffet, for instance, charges $15 for breakfast, $23 for weekend brunch and $27 for dinner, Hash House is a bargain.

Service was excellent from start to finish and the room itself, done as a 21st-century dairy barn gone mad, is a visual delight.

Getting to Hash House a Go Go is not as easy as riding the elevator down to the casino floor, however. It is located on Sahara Avenue, about 5 miles west of the Sahara hotel, so you'll need a cab or a car to get there, but it is absolutely worth the trip.

Hash House a Go Go
6800 W. Sahara Ave.
Las Vegas, NV 89146
702-804-4646
Open:

Mon.-Sat., 7:30 a.m. to 2:30pm and 5 to 10 p.m.

Sun. 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

The Full Story

• 'Price Is Right' Less Of A Gamble Than Casinos
• Hash House Offers Twisted Farm Breakfast
• Curtain To Fall On Clint Holmes

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