The Awful Awful

Baldini's Casino · 865 S. Rock Blvd, Sparks · baldinis.com‍ ‍Or · Carson City Nugget · 507 N. Carson St, Carson City · carsonnugget.com

Some dishes define a city. The Awful Awful — "awful big and awful good" — has been defining Reno since Dick Graves put it on the menu at The Little Nugget in 1954. Two quarter-pound patties, secret sauce, and a mountain of fries so large they bury the burger beneath them. For nearly 70 years it was a 24-hour institution on North Virginia Street — and the move was to take it out back to the alley behind the Nugget at 2 a.m, Thousand Island dripping down your hands, not thinking twice about it. That was Reno. When the Little Nugget closed in 2020 it felt like losing something irreplaceable.

Then in 2025 it came back at Baldini's Casino in Sparks, recipe intact, but in (slightly) less gritty surroundings. It's also available at the Carson Nugget in Carson City — keeping the legend alive on both ends of the valley. Some things are too good to stay gone.