Fad diets have been around since at least the ‘70s. But, sometime in the ‘90s, we all went really diet crazy. Fast-forward 20 years and restaurants are now forced to cater to paleo, vegetarian, gluten-free, soy-less, raw, keto, caveman, fruitarian, cheese-only, Breatharian — the list goes on. We miss the days of our youth when health advice was simple: When it was OK to play in the streets, The Flintstones assured us that smoking was fine, and a “balanced breakfast” consisted of a glass of SunnyD and a football-sized mound of Count Chocula drowning in full-fat milk. Now, one Vegas restaurant is doing its part to rekindle the latter with the mix-and-match breakfast cereal menu of our childhood dreams.
More than 130 cereal varieties form the cornerstone of The Cereal Killerz Kitchen. The niche breakfast bar opened this summer in a mall food court in Henderson, Nevada, 20 minutes from the Vegas strip. There are plenty of (boring) breakfast table mainstays like Cheerios, Rice Krispies, and Corn Flakes. But, the restaurant encourages customers to think bigger, to “recreate [their] favorite childhood memories one bowl at a time.” For kids with cool parents, those memories hopefully include real cereal like Cocoa Pebbles, Nutter Butter, and Sugar Cookie Toast Crunch — all kid-tested, and most definitely not mother-approved.
Owner Chris Burns notes that only 30% of his orders are cereal-centric. His restaurant’s menu covers a range of other sugar-shock-inducing treats like milkshakes, waffles, ice cream, candy, and more. Everything on the menu can be combined however the customer likes. The Peanut Butter Lover, for example, blends seven peanut buttery cereals with Reese’s Pieces and tops it with Reese’s whipped cream and a peanut butter cup. The list of Franken-milkshakes includes options like the Pop-Tart Shake with scoops of any ice cream blended with Pop-Tart cereal and a whole Pop-Tart, all topped with strawberries and another whole Pop-Tart. Insulin not included.
The cereal bar concept is nothing new, of course. There are at least a dozen in the U.S. alone, including L.A.’s Gizmo Cereal Bar and Denver’s Cereal Box, which claims more than 120 flavors. But, who cares about being first when you can be the biggest, boldest, and best instead?
Pricing for the mix-and-match cereal menu is simple: $5 for a three-item bowl, $6 for four items, or $7 for a five-cereal bowl. Toppings and flavored or non-dairy milks are available for an upcharge. For those who’d rather stay in their footie pajamas watching Saturday morning Looney Tunes reruns, The Cereal Killerz Kitchen also delivers. Although, like sushi and ice cream, we can’t imagine already-prepared breakfast cereal travels particularly well.
