In LA favorites, Summerlin food hall finds its missing pieces

They were born of hard times.

One started in a parking lot. The other began as a way to keep the lights on during COVID lockdowns.

Now, the Los Angeles favorites Tacos 1986 and For the Win are sharing a counter nearly 300 miles away as the final pieces of The Neighborhood Food Hall at The Resort at Summerlin.

“We really wanted something out of L.A.,” says Michelle McHugh, the property’s vice president and general manager. “We have so many residents in the Summerlin area that have moved from California that we wanted something that was familiar and comfortable for them.”

Something was missing

Plans for The Neighborhood began about a year and a half ago as part of the resort’s $75 million renovation and rebrand.

“For a long time, we debated, ‘Should we have a food court?’ ” McHugh says, noting the casino’s lack of quick-serve options. “And that just kind of felt so 10 years ago.”

The Resort worked with Colicchio Consulting, which has become a sort of food hall whisperer. McHugh and others flew around the country, meeting with chefs, visiting restaurants and sampling plenty of food.

“We wanted to understand what was different from what was offered within our 5-mile radius,” she says. “And what would be those draws that people would come for.”

Up first was the West Coast debut of Nom Wah, New York’s 105-year-old dim sum restaurant. It offers a fast alternative, with expanded hours, to the nearby Jade Asian Kitchen & Noodles.

Ai Pazzi Pizza was a natural fit, as it’s a counter-service offshoot attached to chef Fabio Viviani’s ai Pazzi Italian restaurant. Pearls Oyster & Crudo Bar, also from Viviani, filled a void at the resort.

“Our customers, for like 10 years, have been requesting an oyster bar,” McHugh says. “You almost have to have one as an off-Strip casino.”

But three quick-serve offerings does not a food hall make. The last two spots were the toughest to fill.

Opportunity bites

Tacos 1986 began in 2018 as a cart in a Hollywood parking lot on the corner of Highland and Lexington Avenues.

“It was, like, ‘Oh, how are we going to do this when there are 3,000 taquerias opening in L.A.?’ ” co-founder Jorge “Joy” Alvarez recalls. “(We) believed that one bite could really create opportunities.”

Alvarez was born in Tijuana. Founder and CEO Victor Delgado moved there when he was 5 years old. Tacos 1986 is their way of bringing the food they grew up on to the masses.

“It starts with a handmade corn tortilla,” Delgado says. “If the tortilla is not a handmade corn tortilla made to order fresh, to us, it just changes everything. … If the meats are not grilled over fire, which is something we do, I think it’s very distinguishable.”

The concept was a hit and spawned locations throughout the city, as well as pop-ups in Nicaragua and Saudi Arabia. The traditional Tijuana-style tacos, though, aren’t necessarily what customers have come to expect.

“A lot of people in the U.S., (when) they think taco, they think crispy. They think ground beef,” Delgado says. “So when they come to us and they see our food for the first time, there’s a bit of skepticism. Then they take the bite, and they’re like, ‘Oh. Got it.’ ”

Tacos 1986 serves tacos ($4.49), quesadillas ($4.95), bowls ($10.95) and burritos ($13.95) with a choice of carne asada, adobada, pollo asado and hongo, mushrooms that offer a vegan option. There’s also el perron ($6.49), a homemade flour tortilla with your choice of meat, melted cheese, onion, cilantro, guacamole, mild salsa and pinto beans.

The quesadillas may lead to some initial confusion, as well, as Delgado says they aren’t the typical large flour tortilla with melted cheese inside that’s cut into triangles. To them, a quesadilla is simply a taco with melted cheese, the same way a hamburger becomes a cheeseburger.

Alvarez says his go-to order is the adobada quesadilla and the carne asada taco con todo, aka with everything: onion, cilantro, guacamole and mild salsa.

If you still have room, Delgado recommends the carne asada perron.

“Any of those three are a great representation,” he says, “and will change people’s lives, for sure.”

An eventual smash

Santos Uy had been experimenting with smashburgers at Papilles Bistro, a Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant. Then COVID hit.

The bistro was shut down on a Sunday, and Uy immediately pivoted to serving those burgers to keep people employed. When it was safe to reopen, he made smashburgers at lunch and the prix fixe French menu at night. The third time Papilles was shut down, Uy looked at the numbers. The burgers were bringing in more revenue than the bistro, and For the Win was born.

“It was pretty popular from day one,” Uy says. It could have been much bigger, much faster.

“I’m really bad at admin,” he acknowledges, “so I missed all these emails.”

Adam Daneshgar, owner of Grand Central Market, ate a For the Win burger at an event and set out trying to bring the concept into the historic food hall.

“It was, like, a year later. This guy’s been trying to contact me,” Uy says, laughing. “I was like, ‘Oh, hey. Sorry.’ ”

Grand Central Market started promoting the burgers, something Uy had never done. Things really took off in 2023 and 2024 during the rise of the influencers.

“I had, like, Logan Paul coming into the Hollywood location,” he says. “All these big-name influencers coming in. And then we just exploded in early 2024.”

The Summerlin outpost, which he says the Tacos 1986 guys recommended him for, is his 13th location. The burgers there are served as a single ($9), double ($12) or triple ($15), with each size cheeseburger costing a dollar more.

So what is it that differentiates For the Win from other smashburger spots?

“You have to have Martin’s (potato rolls),” Uy explains. “The texture of that bun is just really soft and squishy, a little bit sweet.”

Then there’s the sauce, which took him about nine months of applying his fine dining background to perfect.

“There’s some sweetness to it. It’s tangy,” Uy says. “But it has this really nice kind of depth to it. It hits all parts of your palate.”

Contact Christopher Lawrence at clawrence@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4567.