Opened in November 1996, Main Street Station has quickly become one of the most popular casinos in the downtown area. Located two blocks away from Freemont Street, Main Street Station is worth the slight detour. Built on the site of an abandoned hotel, the casino is designed in the style of turn of the century San Francisco. Although this motif has been done to death, Main Street Station manages to pull it off by doing it correctly. There are stained glass windows, gas lamps, replica antique chandeliers and pretty wrought iron railings that make the casino feel like an old railway station. There are nice and unexpected touches all over the place. For example, the cashier's cages look like bank teller cages from the Old West. All this leads to a nice, airy casino floor that is quite pretty.

Besides the nice facilities, Main Street Station is known for good food and drink. Beer enthusiasts will love visiting  the casino's own micro-brewery, the 777 (Triple Seven) Microbrew Pub and Grill. The beer is good and the setting will make you forget you're in a casino. If you get hungry, the Main Street Station Garden Court buffet is the best buffet downtown with the possible exception of the Golden Nuget's Sunday brunch. There are numerous food stations where the food is individually prepared by friendly staff members. The food is all well-prepared and the deserts are especially good. You can't do better for the money.

The rooms might be the biggest in downtown Las Vegas. They are not as ornately designed as the casino, but they are all clean and tastefully done. In the rooms you can rent a Nintendo game system or watch free movies. If you're a light sleeper try to get a room on the south side of the building. The north side faces the freeway and railroad tracks and tends to get a bit  noisy.