Hogs & Heifers Outpost quietly reopened Wednesday night inside the Plaza Hotel-Casino, bringing the biker-friendly saloon’s rowdy rituals back to life while its permanent Main Street home goes up across the street. Owner Michelle Dell and COO Michelle Sandler are back at the helm with a crew that includes more than half of the bar’s original staff, who have been brushing up on the taunts, dances and bar-top theatrics that turned the tavern into a downtown legend. The limited engagement is expected to run about six months, though the owners admit it could last longer as construction continues on Main Street. The pop-up is cash-only and even hauled over a vintage jukebox and a neon Hunter S. Thompson sign from the old spot.
Columnist John Katsilometes at the Las Vegas Review-Journal first detailed the outpost’s opening and quick return, noting that the original Third Street location closed July 5, 2025, after roughly two decades in business and that Dell bought parcels on Main Street to build the new saloon. The piece lays out the brisk municipal timeline, with zoning entitlements hitting the planning commission on Nov. 18 and the City Council on Dec. 17, and credits Sandler’s dense paperwork workload for helping keep the comeback on schedule.
Plaza Hosts the Outpost
The Plaza’s website lists Hogs & Heifers Outpost as opening January 14, 2026, inside the casino at 1 Main Street, framing the pop-up as a temporary way to keep the brand alive while the new Main Street build moves ahead. The hotel says the outpost “carries the same attitude” as the original, and the property’s events page is already posting appearance dates and hiring notices for the run, according to Plaza Hotel & Casino.
Staffing and Auditions
COO Michelle Sandler told the Las Vegas Review-Journal she has been “running hard, working every day since Dec. 26,” with workdays stretching to “16 hours” as managers and staff prepared to relaunch. The team auditioned more than 30 prospective bartenders from roughly 100 applicants, hired about a dozen to join the returning employees and leaned on seven managers who stayed on through the downtime to keep the brand’s operations intact, the article reports.
What’s Next on Main Street
Dell bought the parcels at 307 and 319 S. Main St. and says the goal is to move the outpost into that new build once it is ready, a move intended to keep Hogs & Heifers planted in downtown for the long haul. The bar’s own website and hiring pages are promoting the Plaza outpost, event dates and job openings tied to the temporary run, signaling that Hogs & Heifers will lean on pop-up programming and special appearances through the spring and into rodeo season, according to Hogs & Heifers…