The Oyster Bar at the Palace Station Casino in Las Vegas is a tiny establishment, seating about 18, on the edge of the casino floor. It serves raw oysters and clams, steamed clams and mussels, and various types of seafood pan roasts and gumbos. It has four beers on tap, including Anchor Steam and Newcastle Brown Ale.

It is open 24 hours a day, with special dishes, like Oysters Rockefeller, on offer between 5pm and 10pm, and drastically reduced prices between midnight and 5am.  Palace Station is a locals’ casino, downscale, so the clientele at the Oyster Bar is far from hoity-toity, which adds to its appeal.

It’s the sort of place you would expect to find in any civilized city — the sort of place that defines a civilized city.  The fact that there is nothing like it in Los Angles or New York speaks for itself.

Try ordering raw oysters and beer in Los Angeles at 2:15 am, or raw oysters and beer in New York at 4:15 am, and you will realize immediately that you are in the provinces.