LOST VEGAS: The Holy Cow Casino - From Historic First to Forgotten Strip Landmark
The Holy Cow Casino and Brewery made Las Vegas history as both a civil rights pioneer and Nevada's first legal brewery. Located at Sahara and the Strip, the property initially opened in 1955 as Foxy's Deli, becoming the Strip's first restaurant to openly serve Black people, five years before official desegregation.
Owner Abe Fox, an early NAACP donor, provided food service to Black entertainers like Louis Armstrong and Nat King Cole, who performed at the Sands but couldn't access its facilities. In 1975, Fox sold to mob-connected casino operator Moe Dalitz, who renamed it Foxy's Firehouse.
Former NFL linebacker Tom "Big Dog" Wiesner transformed the property into the Holy Cow Casino in 1992. The venue featured a 14-foot Holstein statue named Alphie wearing sunglasses and wrapped in neon. In 1993, it became Nevada's first legal brewery after Wiesner helped change state liquor laws.
Rainbow "Holy Cow" brewery sign
Vintage Foxy's Deli storefront, Las Vegas
Post-9/11 tourism decline forced the Holy Cow's closure in March 2002. Wiesner passed away three months later. The brewery relocated and rebranded as Big Dog's Draft House. The property changed hands multiple times, briefly serving as a sales office for an unrealized condo project.
Black Ivana Vegas casino sign
In 2012, the building was demolished for a Walgreens. Alphie, the iconic cow statue, was purchased for $2,200 by Jim Marsh and now stands at his Longstreet Inn and Casino in Amargosa Valley, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
Giant cow sculpture beside desert windmill