NATIONAL DRIVE-THRU DAY: An affair with the auto

Las Vegas drivers can take care of variety of needs without leaving vehicle

Dale dombrowski/VIEWBrooklyn, a barista at Sexxpresso, 680 E. Flamingo Ave., greets a customer at the drive-up window. The independent coffee shop, located in a mug-shaped building, features an array of hot and cold beverages and lingerie-clad baristas. Paul Bieschke Jr./VIEWA couple ties the knot at the drive-through Tunnel of Love at the Little White Chapel, 1301 Las Vegas Blvd. South. Advertisement

National Drive-Thru Day is Thursday, but with summer heat blanketing the Las Vegas Valley, it's likely most drivers won't require a special day set aside just to take advantage of the convenience, instead opting to procure goods and services as much as possible from the air-conditioned comfort of their vehicles.

Regardless, if there's ever a Drive-Through Hall of fame, Las Vegas would be featured prominently. There are, of course, drive-through fast-food venues, banks and even pharmacies in nearly every corner of the country, but no other place seems to have embraced the drive-through concept as firmly as Sin City. Here's a few examples of some of the valley's more unusual drive-throughs.

GRAB A BAG OF ICE AT SONIC

As if getting a banana split at a drive-through wasn't enough, Sonic is unique among drive-through fast-food venues in that you also can purchase a bag of ice without stepping out of your vehicle. Presumably, the intention is to provide ice for late-night parties, as many of the valley's Sonic locations are open 24 hours. There are, of course, plenty of other reasons to grab ice at a drive-through, not the least of which is as a primitive cooling device for driving around in triple digit temperatures.

PICK UP COFFEE FROM A LINGERIE-CLAD BARISTA

Drive-through coffee isn't uncommon in town, but what makes Sexxpresso, 670 E. Flamingo Road, unique is both the building's unusual shape and its unusual service, which includes lingerie-wearing Bodacious Baristas. The idea actually was suggested to owner Dennis Morrison by his mother, who had seen a story about a similar business in Seattle.

"The girls at a coffee shop there asked the store's owner if they could wear bikinis during the summer because it was so hot in the store," Morrison said. "Of course, sales increased, and I thought a similar business was a no-brainer for Las Vegas."

The coffee cup-shaped building harkens back to the '50s, when unusually shaped buildings were built across the nation to attract motorists, although Sexxpresso's was built only a few years ago.

Of course, novelty and titillation will take a business only so far, so Morrison brought in Mossimo Cantonelli, whose family built several successful restaurants in Las Vegas and Miami. With Cantonelli's knowledge and love of coffee, a menu was crafted featuring coffees and cold drinks with sexy and humorous names. For a final bit of playfulness, the drinks are available in sizes such as A, B and DD.

Morrison currently is putting the finishing touches on a second location at Las Vegas Boulevard.

"As far as publicity and fame and everything, it's going great," he said. "We're just about breaking even, even as slow as it is in the summer, but we won't have to when our new location opens." The new location, however, will not have a drive-through.

Sexxpresso is open from 5:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday.

GET HITCHED WITHOUT GETTING OUT OF YOUR CAR

Charlotte Richards of the Little White Chapel, 1301 Las Vegas Blvd. South, said she invented the drive-through wedding chapel 15 years ago.

"I did it for the handicapped people," she said. "I would notice so many people having trouble getting out of their car with crutches or wheelchairs."

The drive-through chapel soon proved to be a popular service for others, as well.

"I thought it would just be nice for the handicapped people, but people who have children with them or pets can get married without leaving their car. Now, we have bikers' specials; the bikers love it. Fifteen or 20 bikers with their engines roaring, it really excites me." Richards also noted that people have come to the drive-through window on bicycles, roller skates and even a horse and buggy.

"When I told my son, Hap, that I wanted him to build the drive-through, he said it was crazy, and he wouldn't do it," Richards said. However, her son soon relented, and the rest is Las Vegas history. Now, the drive-through includes a 165-foot-long and 20-foot-wide tunnel leading to the window.

"It's like driving into the clouds. There's little cherubs up in the sky; there's stars," Richards said. "At the front, there's a moon, and it says 'Our marriage was made in heaven.' I tried to make it heavenly looking."

If tourists come to town without a car, Richards can provide one.

"We have an Elvis Cadillac, a big pink Cadillac with Elvis in it," said Richards, who has been in the wedding business for 49 years. "We have a wedding Hummer special. We can get up to 14 people in a Hummer and perform the wedding in there."

It doesn't bother Richards that so many other chapels now offer drive-through weddings, as well. "It means that I'm doing something right for other people to follow," she said. "I don't mind it one bit; I think it's wonderful."

Richards said the busiest time at the chapel is Sunday morning and that every Valentine's Day, hundreds of couples flock to it.

"Last year on 07-07-07, we had two lines at the drive-through, with people performing services on both sides of the drive-through," she said. "All told, we performed 670 weddings that day."

Richards anticipates a similar crowd this year on Aug. 8. "We'll probably have 12 or 15 ministers on duty," she said, adding that she's created a special T-shirt for that day, which features the infinity symbol. "It looks like an eight on its side, because they're getting married for ever and ever. That's what it means," Richards said. "God's given me a creative mind, and I use it for his glory, not mine."

The drive-through at the Little White Chapel is open from 8 a.m. until midnight seven days a week.

There currently are at least two other drive-through wedding chapels located downtown. First Wedding Chapel in Vegas, 1431 Las Vegas Blvd. South, is open daily from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., and minister Charles Gordon boasts that the chapel has the only drive-through that can accommodate a recreational vehicle or a semi-truck.

A Special Memory Wedding Chapel, 800 S. Fourth St., is open 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and closes at midnight Friday and Saturday.

PURCHASE TOBACCO PRODUCTS

Many valley residents may be unaware that there is a Paiute Indian Reservation in Las Vegas, let alone that it features a drive-through smoke shop downtown. The drive-though is owned and operated by the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe and actually has been there for nearly a quarter century.

Cigarettes and other tobacco needs can be purchased at the window, which accounts for approximately 15 percent of the store's business, according to general manager Stuart Cowan.

"Customers are very positive about it," Cowan said. "They like that it's convenient, and that they don't have to get out of their vehicle."

One other unusual feature of the drive-through is an elevator, which leads directly from the drive-through to the second floor warehouse. "That way, it doesn't slow down the process when customers have big orders," Cowan said.

The Las Vegas Paiute Tribal Smoke Shop is at 1225 N. Main St. The drive-through is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

PAWN YOUR STUFF

Not only is Las Vegas home to embarrassingly large pawn shops, at least two of them have a drive-through. Two of the three EZ Pawn stores, a chain of pawn shops with 295 stores in 11 states, have drive-through windows, although the window of opportunity for using them is extremely narrow. The drive-throughs are open only from 10 to 11:30 p.m. The stores are at 1501 E. Charleston Blvd. and 821 N. Rancho Drive.

BET ON CAR RACING FROM YOUR OWN CAR

At the Fiesta Rancho, 2400 N. Rancho Drive, placing a sports bet is as easy as rolling down your car window.

"As far as I know, it's the only drive-through sports book in Nevada," said Fiesta Rancho race and sports book manager Vinny Sanzare. "I like being unique; it's something we can hang our hat on."

The drive-through race and sports book has been part of the casino since the property opened. It not only sets the Fiesta Rancho apart from other casinos in the state, but it also provides revenue for the location that it might not otherwise receive.

"I'm sure there are people who wouldn't game here if we didn't have it," Sanzare said. "During football season, we probably do a good 10 or 15 percent of our business through the drive-through. The rest of the time, it's 8 to 10 percent. We have customers who will only bet through the window."

The system works much like the drive-through window at a bank, with money and ID exchanged via a pneumatic tube. There is two-way audio communication, but only one-way video.

The video monitor allows the staff of the casino to ensure that the person in the vehicle matches the ID sent through the tube. It also allows the ticket writers to see whether the person in the car is speaking on a cell phone. Just like the race and sports books inside other casinos, it's against gaming regulations to use any two-way communication devices at the drive-through sports book.

Although the drive-through can be intimidating for novice gamers, the sports book's staff is always ready to talk customers through it.

"We have people all the time who say, 'I haven't done this before, can you explain how it works?' and we explain it to them," Sanzare said. "We want the folks to understand what it is they're betting, and know what needs to happen for them to win. Not only is knowledge power, but knowledge is fun. If they have no idea what they're betting on, how they've won or lost, they're not likely to get as much enjoyment out of it."

The drive-through is open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, from 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. on Friday, from 7 a.m. to 1 a.m. on Saturday and from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Sunday.

PAY YOUR BILLs

For the convenience of customers, Nevada Power Co. has a drive-up window at its main office at 6226 W. Sahara Ave. The window is open from 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.

For the past 12 years, the city of Henderson has made paying a water bill more convenient by providing a drive-up window for just that purpose. "I don't remember exactly how we came up with the idea," said Steve Hanson, who has been the city's financial director for the past 23 years. "It was just a brainstorming session when we were designing the new City Hall."

According to Hanson, the city was trying to come up with features for the new building that would help the public. "Originally, we were considering a pneumatic tube system that would go all over," he said, "but we had to scratch that when it proved to be too expensive."

Henderson's drive-up window is at 240 Water St., near the entrance to the parking garage. Residents also can pay pet license fees and ambulance bills there, which has proved immensely popular, Hanson said.

The window is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.