Born and Raised bar owner fighting to hang onto last one

The other afternoon, Scott Godino Jr. takes a seat at Born and Raised, the bar (legally, a tavern) that he owns on Kevin Way in Centennial Hills. Two diners, the only customers, finish their burgers. The bartender polishes glasses. Sports play silently on screens in the lounge. The day is overcast, the light soft and smudged, at least by Las Vegas standards, adding to the lazy feel on this Monday.

But Godino is far from relaxed.

At the beginning of 2024, he owned four Born and Raised bars across the city. In less than two years, he has had to sell or close three of them, and two of those in the past two months. Significant challenges face the remaining location in Centennial Hills, Godino acknowledged during a candid discussion.

The bar is out of some ingredients because of cash flow problems, he said. Some suppliers are still extending credit; others are requiring cash on delivery. Food and operating costs are rising and dining habits are changing among younger customers — something true for restaurants everywhere.

And the Born and Raised brand — a celebration of Vegas sports teams, elevated bar food, and community spirit in a town often defined by transience and the Strip — has been scarred by the suddenness of the sale and closings.

But perhaps the most significant challenges confronting the final Born and Raised are the challenges confronting Godino himself. Three months ago, he returned to managing the bar — without assistance. “It’s just me. I’m doing everything. I’m now responsible for everything.” Before that return, he had been spending time with his wife and four children since emerging from rehab last December.

“I’ve been sober since,” Godino said. “I’m an alcoholic that owns a bar. I have a demon on my shoulder telling me to drink all day. My wife and my kids are everything to me — that’s why I’m sober.”

In the face of all these difficulties, Godino could have closed the Centennial Hills location and moved on. But he said he was determined to see the bar through tough times and, maybe, to redemption for himself along the way.

“I have to continue to put one foot in front of the other. I can’t just give up. I can’t quit. I want to let the community know I screwed up — the community, the patrons, everyone we made a commitment to. We want to be there for the community as a place they know they can count on.

“I’m being candid so I can explain what happened.”

Expansion and its discontents

Godino hails from a family with Vegas roots that date to the 1950s. The bar takes its name from the fact he was born and raised here.

The first Born and Raised opened in October 2010 on South Cimarron Road in the southwest, followed by a location on South Eastern Avenue in Henderson in August 2015 and a store on East Craig Road in North Las Vegas in December 2022. The Centennial Hills location launched in January 2024.

Over the years, Born and Raised became a conveniently located locals favorite, a popularity that saw the bar through the Great Recession and the pandemic. “We were riding high,” Godino said. Or so he thought. Economic conditions were changing by early 2024, and the rapid expansion from two stores to four in a little more than a year wasn’t penciling out.

But Godino doesn’t blame the economy. He blames himself.

“I was overleveraged. I took on too much ” he said. “It was the allure — I thought I could do it better than anyone. I thought I could handle everything, and now I’m here, with one bar.”

Anger, shame, embarrassment

The North Las Vegas store went first, closing in March 2024 after losing about $250,000 the first year. That was on top of what Godino said was almost $2 million spent to open the place.

The landlord in North Las Vegas sued for the balance of the lease. On June 25, a notice of judgment from District Court for about $4.5 million, plus 2.5 percent interest compounded every 30 days, was filed with the Clark County Recorder. The judgment was entered against Godino personally and three of his corporate entities.

Born and Raised in Henderson shut in September after the expiration of its 10-year lease, which Godino said did not have an automatic renewal. This month, a deal closed that sold the original Born and Raised on South Cimarron.

“It was sickening. It was devastating,” Godino said of selling the flagship. At one point leading up to the sale, Godino said he couldn’t pay the employees for three weeks.

As the Born and Raised family shrunk, location by location, Godino said he felt “every emotion from anger to shame to embarrassment to hiding to not feeling worthy, because I didn’t do what I should have done. I didn’t look out for my wife and my kids personally and financially.”

Leaning into sobriety

Despite past turmoil and present challenges, bright spots remain at the sole surviving Born and Raised.

There is the building itself, an industrial-chic space with a black-and-white exterior, exposed brick, a roomy bar with dining, a stylish lounge, and golden skulls arranged in rows on a wall across from entrance. The bar opens through a roll-up window to a roomy terrace with bar, table and banquette seats.

The menu, slimmed down from previous years, still features standouts like a Black & Bleu burger (pepper-crusted Angus patties, jabs of bleu cream cheese, a snarl of caramelized onions) and a Dragon Bowl Z (sriracha-glazed chicken, white rice, cabbage, carrots, scallions, unagi sauce, sriracha aïoli, and tangy gently-sweet Yum Yum Sauce.

Most important, Godino seems to be in the right state of mind.

“I want to focus on getting back to basics and rebuilding the brand,” he said. “The good news is, I have my wife, we’ve been married for 12 years, we have our four children — and I’m sober.”

Contact Johnathan L. Wright at jwright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @JLWTaste on Instagram.