Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria Parker was far more excited about being presented with a prestigious award for her outstanding entrepreneurial success than talking about the fact that her hit ABC series has been renewed for three more years.

“This is a big deal. It’s a heady accomplishment. It was time,” she told me at the party in her Beso restaurant and Eve the Nightclub on Saturday night. She was celebrating Eva Longoria Parker Day, as well, with her proud parents Ella and Enrique Longoria.

It was the 35th installation by the Latin Chamber of Commerce, and Eva was presented with the Distinguished Gold Award acknowledging her “outstanding entrepreneurial success.” Chairman of the Clark County Commission Rory Reid and Las Vegas Councilman Ricki Barlow each presented Eva with a proclamation on the red carpet to declare the day in her honor.

Eva ran down the accomplishments for me: “It’s the first time the award has been given, it’s the first time to a woman and the first time to the sole woman restaurant and nightclub owner on the Las Vegas Strip. It’s also the first time it’s awarded to a woman who now spends half her time here in Las Vegas and half her time in Hollywood. Now I’m a resident!

“It’s an amazing feeling to be recognized like this. It’s nice to be welcomed into the community this way as a businesswoman, recognized by my own community that I give back to so much and really proudly represent. When they told me I was the first female Latino on the Strip, I said that’s impossible. It must have been done before, but they said no, I was the first. I thought many other people had come before me, but to be recognized as the only Latin restaurateur in Las Vegas on the Strip is a heady accomplishment. It was time.”

With hair swept up in a tight back bun, Eva looked simply stunning in a gray leather Badgley Mischka dress and black YSL heels as she walked the red carpet outside her restaurant and nightclub in MGM CityCenter’s Crystals. Also attending were Nevada first lady Dawn Gibbons, U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Chairman David Lizarraga, Nevada Sen. Steven Horsford, Congresswoman Shelley Berkley, Clark County Commissioner Lawrence Weekly, Assemblyman William Horne, Latin Chamber of Commerce Chairman Luis Valera, LCC President and CEO Otto Merida and Aria President and COO William McBeath.

Photographer Denise Truscello captured the ceremony for our photo gallery as Eva was presented with the prestigious Premio de Oro — Distinguished Business Leadership Award honoring her commitment to expand opportunities for women- and minority-owned businesses. Eva told the group that it was an honor to receive the award and that she was proud to make a difference in the Las Vegas and Latin community, attributing much of her success to the female role models in her life — her mother, grandmother, aunts and three older sisters.

After the ceremony, Eva dined with her parents at her Beso steakhouse. Afterward, he returned upstairs to Eve, where she topped off the night with dancing, a surprise visit from showman Jeff Beacher’s Oompa Loompas and a cake and champagne toast in celebration of Eva Longoria Parker Day. Contributing photographer Erik Kabik was on duty for that portion of the evening, and celebrity blogger Perez Hilton dropped by to congratulate Eva on her achievements.

I asked Eva, who opened her restaurant and nightclub in December, to give me an assessment of her first 90 days. She told me: “Our first quarter looks like it will be an amazing year. Things are going great. I see the balance sheet every night via email. I look hard at those P&L statements. I am hands on — sometimes very controlling. So far I’ve been very pleased at how we are doing in CityCenter. I’m getting my feet really wet now in Las Vegas.

“I see, I sense that Las Vegas is coming out of its darkest economic problems. I really feel that especially here in the restaurant. I don’t know if it’s because we are recognizable as a brand, but we have had a steady, sure growth since we opened. Nothing has declined. We’re not in trouble in any way, so I’m really pleased with its performance.”

I said her parents must be particularly proud. “I think they’re here more to drink and gamble,” she joked. “They’re really proud of me, but they came to play.”

Eva told me that she has only four episodes left to film for Season 6 of Desperate Housewives.

“We’ve been picked up now through year nine, so we have three more years guaranteed. It’s great to have a steady job. I’m actually not thinking about next season because I don’t even have the script yet for what we’re shooting next week! But, you know, everything always goes wrong on Wisteria Lane, and that will keep happening with a healthy dose of sex and insanity. So next year, anybody, everybody could die. You can bet there will be more drama, more agony and more upheavals.”

She summed up her success as a businesswoman — and actress — for me: “If you are willing to take the risk, anything is possible.”