Crews began tearing into the former Milo's Cellar building on Nevada Way a week ago, kicking off a renovation that will turn the beloved but shuttered Boulder City wine bar into Nora's Lakeside restaurant and a boutique hotel called Villa Nora. Marcello Mauro, who co-owns Nora's Italian Cuisine with his wife Morgan, said the demolition phase is expected to run three to four months, with the full project taking roughly a year to complete.
The couple purchased the 538 Nevada Way property earlier this year, roughly 15 months after Milo's closed following founder Milo Hurst's death, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The building already includes a small bed and breakfast, which the Mauros plan to reopen as Villa Nora, a boutique hotel, before the restaurant itself is finished. Once demolition wraps and remodel plans are approved, Marcello said he'll finalize designs for the restaurant and bar.
The project calls for expanding the usable building by 900 square feet, space the Mauros say is needed to install a kitchen capable of handling Nora's full menu. Nora's Lakeside, as the Boulder City location will be known, is set to serve a classic Italian American menu drawing on the Mauro family's decades of experience running one of Las Vegas's best-known Italian restaurants.
A Personal Connection to the Site
For Marcello Mauro, the Boulder City location isn't just a business expansion. He met Milo Hurst in high school, and he and Morgan had one of their first dates at Milo's Cellar years before buying the property. The couple had reportedly had Boulder City on their radar for quite some time before the opportunity to acquire the site materialized.
Hurst, who owned and operated Milo's for nearly three decades, died on November 22, 2024, at age 71 from catastrophic liver injuries. His estate later filed a wrongful death lawsuit alleging that toxic hydrazine in recalled Real Water bottled water caused his death, according to Newsweek. Milo's closed its doors shortly after Hurst's passing. The Real Water contamination crisis produced sweeping legal fallout across Southern Nevada, including Nevada jury verdicts of $3 billion in June 2024 and $5 billion that October before the company filed for bankruptcy, as detailed by Old School Hits Vegas.
Hurst's death left a deep mark on the community he helped build. In September 2024, Boulder City Mayor Joe Hardy and the City Council proclaimed September 17 as Milo Hurst Day, honoring his 30-year role in helping revitalize downtown Boulder City's historic business corridor.
A Las Vegas Institution Moves In
Nora's Italian Cuisine traces its roots to 1992, when it was founded by Nora Mauro, Gino Mauro, Marcello Mauro and his brothers as a small family operation that built its reputation on white, sauceless pizza in the Las Vegas valley, per KNPR. The restaurant has served the Las Vegas community for over three decades, growing into one of Southern Nevada's most recognized Italian dining institutions. In September 2016, Nora's relocated into a custom-built, family-owned 166-seat standalone building on West Flamingo Road complete with a bocce court, outdoor patio and a charcoal-burning Josper grill, the Review-Journal reported at the time.
Public reaction to the Mauros' move into Boulder City has been overwhelmingly positive and welcoming, according to Marcello. That warmth may owe something to the town's distinct commercial character. Boulder City is one of only two incorporated municipalities in Nevada where gambling is prohibited under its city charter, a restriction dating to the town's 1931 origin as a federal company town for Hoover Dam workers.
Fitting Into Boulder City's Growth Rules
The town also enforces a 1979 controlled-growth ordinance that caps hotel properties at 35 rooms and limits new residential permits to roughly 120 per year, policies designed to preserve Boulder City's small-town character. Villa Nora's planned run as a boutique hotel fits squarely within that framework, distinguishing the project from the sprawling casino-resort model found elsewhere in Clark County.
The renovation also lands amid broader public investment along the same stretch of downtown. Boulder City recently secured $850,000 in federal grant funding backed by Rep. Dina Titus to advance Phase II of the Nevada Way corridor reconstruction project, work unfolding on the very street where the former Milo's building now sits mid-demolition.
For now, the timeline hinges on permitting and construction milestones still ahead. Marcello Mauro has estimated the overall project could take about a year, with the boutique hotel expected to open before the restaurant itself welcomes its first diners.
