Disco fries are just the beginning at Spiegelworld restaurant Diner Ross

Legend asserts that “disco fries” originated at a Trenton, New Jersey diner called the Tick Tock. The plate, a longtime menu staple, exploded in popularity when the bridge-and-tunnel crowds of the 1970s, returning from late nights at New York disco palaces like The Loft and Paradise Garage, came to the Tick Tock with a boogie fever that could only be cured with a heaping plate of French fries smothered in brown gravy and mozzarella cheese. Whatever that poutine variant was called before Studio 54, it was disco fries ever after. Amen.

Whether or not that origin story is the gospel truth (there’s some variations to the disco fries creation myth), there’s no denying that disco burns a lot of calories. And Spiegelworld’s Diner Ross—food-and-bev counterpart to the company’s newest Vegas production, DiscoShow, at the Linq Hotel—provides dancefloor fuel that could earn its own legend.

Steak frites

Cheekily named for Spiegelworld’s “impresario extraordinaire” Ross Mollison—and for “Upside Down” singer Diana Ross, who’s represented as the goddess she is in a giant oil painting by Sara Jean Odam that’s the focal point of the space—Diner Ross’ impressive food and beverage menu was created by executive culinary director Anna Altieri and executive beverage director Niko Novick, the team delivering the “Italian-American psychedelic” menu of Superfrico at the Cosmopolitan. In that vein, Diner Ross’ menu could be described as “comfort funkadelic”—American diner classics, turned upside-down and inside-out.

Some of the tweaks are subtle. The Green Goddess wedge salad ($16) is presented as three neat chunks of crisp romaine, each done up with a perfect ratio of bacon, buttermilk,dill, herbs, radish and Boursin. The popovers ($12), light and airy, come with cultured butter and jam ($6)—or, for a bit extra, with foie gras paté ($12). And their heaping plate of disco fries ($22) is kicked up with the addition of caramelized onions, which contributes a wonderful piquancy to the gravy.

The mains are stellar. The intensely flavorful and correctly named fancy meatloaf ($35) is made with Wagyu beef, as is the patty melt ($29). If you’d like to step beyond the classics, try the panko-breaded Buffalo chicken schnitzel ($36), the roasted wild mushroom risotto ($28) or the caper, white wine, lemon and almond-kissed Steelhead trout ($32)—this being one of the few, if only, diners in the country where ordering ambitious-sounding plates pays off handsomely. Or you can indulge in the juicy bliss of the Delancey deluxe burger ($36), a short rib patty topped with sour cherry aioli, watercress, cornichon, Muenster and pickles, with a side of the kitchen’s top-shelf gravy “for dippin’.”

If you’re pressed for time—ants in your pants, and you gots to dance—get yourself some disco fries and a few of Novick’s cocktails, priced $18-$22. The spicy, herbaceous And It Goes Like This—Las Vecinos mezcal, Miles gin, Aperol, pineapple and agave—will put hair and medallions on your chest, while the Smokey and the Bandit (not a disco movie, but we’ll let that slide) will turbocharge your moves with its medley of sesame-infused Jim Beam, Smith & Cross rum, honey, cinnamon, Cocchi di Torino vermouth and Amontillado sherry.

And the vibe is right. While the best way to take in Diner Ross is before or after DiscoShow—they are, after all, linked by tradition and the George Washington Bridge—there’s something about this cool, subdued space, appointed with bits of Me Decade bric-a-brac, that’s been sorely lacking on the Strip before now. Las Vegas is a city that’s practically made of discotheques, and it’s waited far too long for a good plate of disco fries.

DINER ROSS The Linq, 702-534-3419, spiegelworld.com. Wednesday-Sunday, 5 p.m.-late.

For photos and more details visit LasVegasWeekly.com