The Iconic Las Vegas Casino That Once Served 50 Cent Shrimp Cocktail

If the old school glitz and glamour of Las Vegas and classic shrimp cocktail just feel intrinsically linked, there's evidence to back that up. After all, there's enough data on shrimp orders and sales to suggest Las Vegas might go through 30 tons of shrimp every day. Sin City effectively put shrimp cocktail on the map, and one of the stars of its history with the dish is the Golden Gate Hotel & Casino, where it was once served up for just $0.50. If you've ever wondered why shrimp cocktail is indeed so popular in Vegas, look no further than this casino and hotel.

The prologue to the story arguably starts in 19th-century California, back when cocktail sauce was a pairing for oysters. It's believed miners in the San Francisco area during the gold rush shot oysters with whiskey, horseradish, Tabasco sauce, vinegar, and ketchup. Over the decades, overconsumption of these mollusks led to oyster shortages, and people looked for other seafood options. By the mid-20th century, shrimp had become popular. In the 1950s, a group of Bay Area investors took over a Las Vegas hotel and casino and named it Golden Gate. And one of those business partners, Italo Ghelfi, set out to make shrimp cocktail a main attraction. It's thought Ghelfi missed the dish from his time in California, and presumably also recognized its crowd-pleasing appeal. He priced the Golden Gate's at just $0.50 in 1959, and the crowds sure did show up to gamble and feast on shrimp cocktail.

Thanks to the eye-poppingly low price of Ghelfi's shrimp cocktail at the Golden Gate, the dish became a major draw in Vegas. In today's money, that 1959 price of $0.50 would be about $5.46. That's still an unbelievable deal. These days, the dish can cost as much as $48 for a three-shrimp serving ($16 apiece) at some restaurants, according to an analysis by The Infatuation. The median price was about $22 for four shrimp. In Vegas, the Bellagio's Petrossian Bar has been known to serve shrimp cocktails for $28.

Shrimp cocktail's reign carried on for decades, with true enthusiasts flocking to Sin City for the best examples at the lowest prices. In addition to being able to find succulent shellfish Vegas, the city's extravagance may have made it the perfect place to snack on something from an elegant cocktail glass. The Golden Gate sold up to 2,000 shrimp cocktails in a day and made its 25 millionth sale in 1991. That year the price also jumped to $0.99.

The Golden Gate served its shrimp cocktail from its own deli until 2010, when it replaced that deli with a 24-hour diner but kept serving the dish there. Sadly, that diner closed seven years later, leaving the hotel without the dish it made famous. Today, you might still find shrimp cocktail as cheap as $2 or $3 in Vegas in some casinos, but don't expect anything fancier than a plastic cup.