After 13 Years, La Salsa Cantina OUT at Showcase Mall

For 13 years, La Salsa Cantina offered guests a "mini-vacation in Mexico," plus take-away, novelty yard-long margaritas from their Strip-facing, Showcase Mall home. Now, the company has shuttered their casual Mexican restaurant and is preparing for La Salsa Daiquiri Bar to take its place.

Built in 2003, alongside the adjacent upstairs food court, La Salsa created a franchise that at one time featured branches in Southern California, Arizona and New Jersey. They are left with their remaining cantina concept at the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood, close to the V Theater, and the less casual dining concept, La Salsa Fresh Mexican Grill at the Forum Shops.

Construction permits for the bar have allocated an estimated $350,000 budget for the 1,050-square-foot space. Word on what will happen to the remainder of the footprint has yet to be revealed.

The Showcase Mall is also prepping for a series of major structural changes to the northern building and parking garage, including changing vehicle access from Las Vegas Boulevard and adding 10,977 square feet of retail space for a new tenant and creating additional room for the Ross Dress for Less discount store.

The biggest surprise, is the planned shuttering of the United Artists Showcase Theatre 8, on site since 1997 and the only movie theater on the Strip.

No timetable for the upgrades, movie theater closure, or new daiquiri bar have been announced.