‘At least 100 cancellations every night’: Beloved restaurant impacted by F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix road work

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - Not everyone is thrilled with F1 making Las Vegas a stop on its annual race schedule for the next 10 years.

Randy Markin is the owner of Battista’s Hole in the Wall and doubles as General Manager of Stage Door Casino on Linq Lane, near E. Flamingo. Since construction and road work started earlier this year, Markin says it has been a nightmare for both establishments.

At the restaurant, “We have at least 100 cancellations every night. It’s always the same line, people call up and say, ‘I’m really sorry, I can’t get there. Cabs won’t take us and car services won’t take us,’” he said.

Road closures and detours have created long traffic jams. At Stage Door Casino next door, he says that the regulars have stopped coming.

“At Stage Door, we’re down a million and a half dollars in sales and that has really hurt my employees,” said Markin.

In the meantime, he’s had to close one of the bars and lay off some employees at the casino. At the restaurant, employees are taking home about 30% less than they normally would. Markin is surprised F1 hasn’t reached out to the businesses affected by the race.

“They are hurting a lot of businesses and all we get is their CFO saying they’ll try and do better,” he said.

Markin doesn’t expect anything to change immediately after the race weekend, as he said it’s going to take weeks to get back to normal in the area. As for whether he expects to make up the lost revenue, his answer is no.

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