Frommer's Las Vegas 2004

OTHER BARS 263
tower, where your wish for wine sends comely lasses flying up four stories, courtesy
of Peter Pan–style harnesses, to fetch your desired bottle. At Red Square,
keep your drink nicely chilled all night long on the ice bar, created by water
that’s freshly poured and frozen daily. Or hang out and feel the blues at the small
bottle-cap-bedecked bar in the corner of the House of Blues restaurant, which
gets quite lively with off-duty locals after midnight.
You might also check out the incredible nighttime view at the bar atop the
Stratosphere Casino Hotel & Tower—nothing beats it.
There’s also the Viva Las Vegas Lounge at the Hard Rock Hotel, which every
rock-connected person in Vegas will eventually pass through.
And the Petrossian Bar in Bellagio offers class along with its cocktails (to say
nothing of caviar and other delicacies)—but come for the cocktails, as those in
the know claim it’s not only the best bar in Vegas for such matters, but maybe
the best bar in the West.
Caramel It’s small, but worlds away from the Bellagio-business-as-usual just
outside its doors. How happy the 20-somethings are that there is this hip-hop
spinning, glowing, caramel-and-chocolate-coated drink glasses, glowing bar, nonthreatening
(and non-Euro-stodgy), scene-intensive hangout in the middle of Bellagio.
How much does this prove Bellagio is trying to lure the Ghost Bar crowd
away from the Palms? Not that this will do it, but if you are here and young, it’s
where you should be. 3600 Las Vegas Blvd. S. (in the Bellagio Hotel). & 702/693-7111.
Champagnes Cafe Wonder where old Vegas went? It ossified right here. Redand
gold-flocked wallpaper and other such trappings of “glamour” never die—in
fact, with this ultralow lighting, they will never even fade. A seedy old bar with
seedy old scary men leering away. They even serve ice-cream shakes spiked with
booze—two indulgences wrapped into one frothy package, and quite a double
addiction delight. Some might run screaming from the place, while others will
think they’ve died and gone to heaven. Just remember—this is the kind of place
director Quentin Tarantino, or this year’s alt-cult hit movie, will make famous. It
can’t be long. And then it will be overrun with hipsters. Beat the rush, go there
now, and brag that you knew about it back before it was so cool it became passé.
Again. 3557 S. Maryland Pkwy. (between Twain Ave. and Desert Inn Rd.). & 702/737-1699.
Coyote Ugly You’ve seen the movie, now go have some of that prepackaged fun
for yourself. Oh, come on—you don’t think those bartender girls really dance on
the bar and hose down the crowd just because they are so full of spontaneous
rowdy high sprits, now do you? Not when the original locale built a reputation
(and inspired a bad movie) on just such behavior, creating a success strong enough
to start a whole chain of such frat-boy fun places? By the way, sarcastic and cynical
as we are, can we say, totally fun place? In New York–New York, 3790 Las Vegas Blvd. S.
(at Tropicana Ave.). & 702/740-6969. Cover varies, usually $10 and up on weekends.
The Dispensary Stuck in a ’70s time warp (the waterwheel and the ferns are
the tip-off, though the Muzak songs confirm it), this is a fine place for a nice, long,
quiet drink. One that lasts decades, perhaps. It’s very quiet, low-key, and often on
the empty side. Things pick up on weekends, but it still isn’t the sort of place that
attracts raucous drunks. (Of course, if it were on the Strip instead of being tucked
away, it probably would.) “We leave you alone if you don’t want to be bothered,”
says the proprietor. (We still worry about what happens if you sit here long
enough.) If you are a hepcat, but one on the mild side, you’ll love it. 2451 E. Tropicana
Ave. (at Eastern Ave.). & 702/458-6343.