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The Arts District’s first sports bar already seems to have a following. Two weeks after The Stadium opened between Able Baker Brewing and Horse Trailer Hideout, UFC fans packed the space in anticipation of a world middleweight championship bout between Dricus Du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev.
The five-round contest saw the undefeated upstart Chimaev deal more than 500 hits on the defending champion en route to claiming his first UFC title. As the fight unfolded, The Stadium co-owners Marissa and Dane Pretkus and Tim Burke served a far greater number of rounds as the new bar celebrated its most successful night yet—a true win-win.
Marissa Pretkus, who also owns the adjacent Horse Trailer Hideout with her husband, says they joined forces with Burke in a shared desire to cater to a “niche” they thought was missing in the area. The lively atmosphere for that August 16 fight indicates their intuitions were correct, and they expect to see much more of that energy throughout the fall with the return of NFL football.
“We just want to push the fact that we are trying to fill a void,” she says. “As much as people believe that this is just a transient town, we are a strong local community with a growing sports culture. With The Stadium, we really wanted to focus on bringing new aspects to our Arts District.”
The UFC match drew several onlookers from Main Street, who stopped to catch the action through the open garage door near the front entrance. Meanwhile, a few stepped inside to take a crack at the UFC punch arcade machine or dabble in the NHL-branded dome hockey console. In between hoots and hollers, patrons sampled entrees from an extensive cocktail list and nibbled on Tetris-shaped tater tots.
Menu items like the horseradish-laced Black and Blue flatbread pizza ($16) and the loaded mac and cheese ($13) with honey sriracha barbecue sauce and braised short ribs provided just the right amount of fuel to keep the evening alive as Chimaev handed Du Plessis the third loss of his career.
Follow up with a Pineapple Painkiller ($17)—a tantalizing blend of rum, pineapple juice, coconut liqueur and nutmeg topped with a dehydrated pineapple garnish—and the tequila-fueled Watermelon Heatwave ($16), which tastes a bit like a watermelon Jolly Rancher.
Going forward, the owners assure that the menu and atmosphere will only continue to evolve. This month, they’ll start opening at 9 a.m. for early kickoffs and unveil corresponding breakfast entries. They’ll also work on transforming the walkway out front into an all-ages, family-friendly patio meant to complement the existing 21-and-older space that connects with the Horse Trailer Hideout patio out back.
“It’s really two completely different concepts, and that’s kind of the beauty of it. You can honestly feel like you’re in a completely different environment just from walking a few steps away,” Pretkus says. “At the core, though, we’re just trying to focus on Las Vegas-based sports teams and offer our community something that has the feel of your average Cheers bar.”
From an early Saturday spent cheering on your favorite college players to watching the Cowboys melt down in another Sunday Night Football appearance, Pretkus and her team look to offer a little slice of the classic neighborhood sports viewing experience for years to come.
The Stadium 1508 S. Main St., 702-605-3007, thestadiumlvnv.com. Monday-Friday, noon-midnight; Saturday, 9 a.m.-midnight; Sunday, 9 a.m.-11 p.m.
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