LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — The Pub at Lake Las Vegas is celebrating its 20th anniversary this St. Patrick’s Day, marking two decades of operation through economic downturns, a temporary closure and the pandemic.
From boom to bust
General manager and managing partner Joseph Serrano has been with the pub since it opened in 2006.
“In 2006 here in the Village in Lake Las Vegas, it was like Disneyland,” Serrano said. “Everything was brand new, it was pristine. Golf courses were booming. You had the casino, you had the Ritz Carlton.”
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That era ended after the 2008 financial crash. Serrano said the Lake Las Vegas corporate entity filed for bankruptcy around 2010 or 2011, triggering a series of closures.
“All golf courses that they owned closed. Then you had the Ritz-Carlton follow suit, which was a huge, huge loss. And then you had the casino closed shortly after,” Serrano said. “So it was just a domino effect.”
Closures and reinvention
The pub remained open through those years but shut for four months in the summer of 2017 before reopening. It later navigated the COVID-19 pandemic.
Serrano credited the pub’s longevity to its community and its willingness to evolve.
“We have some of the Irish spirit still from the original pub, but we have changed through the years,” Serrano said. “It’s not the old Dubliner anymore, it is just a pub, it’s a gastro pub.”
The venue now hosts events including wedding receptions, Serrano said.
Looking ahead
Serrano, who was 26 when he started at the pub and is now 45 and a grandfather, said the business has benefited from support from its landlord and loyal customers.
“I think what makes the pub successful and withstanding now 20 years is number one is the community,” he said.
He pointed to new housing developments in and around Lake Las Vegas as a source of optimism.
“I think we’re on a very great turn right here in Lake Las Vegas with the housing development boom, with surrounding areas — as far as Cadence development is growing and growing,” Serrano said. “We meet people every week saying, ‘Oh, we just moved here. We heard about the pub.’”
Weekend celebrations
The Village at Lake Las Vegas will hold a pre-St. Patrick’s Day party Saturday, featuring a golf cart parade at 5 p.m. and bagpipers strolling through the village. The pub’s main anniversary celebration will take place on St. Patrick’s Day.
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