The Caravan Cafe is located in Slot World, which is across from the 7-11 on the corner of 50 East and Fairview Drive. The diner's hidden off in a corner of the casino, and I never even knew it was there. Turns out I was actually missing something good. In the tradition of casino diners, this place will be known as "The Slot World Diner," regardless of what the name over the door says. I'd give you the link to the Slot World diner's webpage, but the Slot World website inexplicably asks me to log in when I click "dining" at the bottom of the homepage. Go ahead, try it. I can tell you right now the username "eggs" and password "benedict" doesn't work. But hey, maybe you'll figure it out!
The Slot World diner is in the "greasy spoon" tradition of diners. It's different from The Grille at Gold Dust West or the Nugget Diner. At those places, you place your order and your waitress disappears somewhere into "the back" of the restaurant where your food is cooked. Your food then magically emerges from "the back" minutes, or if you're unfortunate, an hour, later.
The Slot World Diner's different. There's a counter, and right behind the counter is a big window between the dining and kitchen areas. There's also an open doorway between them. You get a good view of the cooks frying up breakfasts (and other stuff too, I guess, but let's stick with what matters). It feels like a diner, while at the other casinos it feels more like a restaurant. If you don't get that, don't worry. I got carried away; it's not important.
What is important is the food. And the food was very good. I had Eggs Benedict, which can be a questionable choice given the propensity of cooks to drown them in Hollandaise sauce. It's probably this reason that makes Eggs Benedict is a useful metric for determining a breakfast place's ability to make something a little more complicated than just some fried eggs.
Though I had heard good things about the Slot World Diner, I wasn't expecting their Eggs Benedict to dethrone the Grille's. But that's just what they did. (If you imagine that with dramatic music, it's much more exciting. Oh, speaking of dramatic music - go rent "The Trial" if you want to see* and hear dramatic music hilariously overused. Oh, and that box office take should be your first clue about what kind of movie you just rented: $8,957 on opening weekend, and a gross of... wait for it... $19,246! I know, I know, the opening was only on one screen. But still, it's a lousy movie. You should really check it out.)
*Seeing music not guaranteed without the use of hallucinogens.
Unlike the music in "The Trial," the Slot World Diner's Eggs Benedict hits all the right notes. (rimshot). Seriously, it's good. Not too much Hollandaise, and it's not too heavy either. The right kind of English muffin, and thinly-sliced ham. No complaints. Hash browns were similarly complaint-free. They were super crispy on the outside and no part of them was undercooked.
As a sidenote, Slot World's gravy is like their Hollandaise sauce. It's not heavy, unlike the stuff at the Nugget Diner.
The food even looks good. Disregard that limp lettuce. You're not going to eat it anyway:
Prices at the Slot World diner are maybe slightly higher than other places. I think coffee was $1.60, which is all of 10¢ more than the Nugget Diner, but not out of line compared to other places. To tell the truth, I lost my receipt so I don't really know what this breakfast cost. I'll just say it's "about average" and that'll have to do.
Our server was friendly and helpful, describing things on the menu and making suggestions. She also offered to put the gravy for the Skillet or Scrambler (I can't remember which. I told you I lost the receipt, OK?) on the side. Somehow I had never, ever thought of this and it struck me as utterly brilliant. Our food was out quickly, too.
Overall, recommended. Highly. It feels like a real diner, service is fast and friendly, and the food is at the top of the Carson breakfast heap. A heap that you don't want to be anywhere near the bottom of, trust me.
Finally, when I looked again at the name of this post, all I could think of was this P-Funk song. Only 1/3 of it's posted here, but it should get you started.
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