Rob Kachelreiss has assembled a list of Vegas Bars to Visit At Least Once in a Lifetime for online lifestyle Web site Thrillist.
I have written in the past about how list articles are flawed. This article could be criticized in the same way (arbitrary, subjective) but I appreciate that this is not a “best of” type list but a sampling of places you should experience for different reasons. That’s reasonable. So let’s look at the list, noting which ones the degen social club has visited as a group, which ones individual members have visited, and some notes.
| BDSC and the Thrillist Vegas Bars to Visit At Least Once in a Lifetime | ||
|---|---|---|
| Bar | BDSC Visit |
Individual Visit |
| The Laundry Room | No | Dollar Bill |
| Rosina | No | No |
| Atomic Liquors | Yes | – |
| Herbs & Rye | No | No |
| Delmonico | No | No |
| The Golden Tiki | Yes | – |
| Able-Baker Brewing | No | No |
| Oak & Ivy | No | No |
| Sand Dollar Lounge | Yes* | – |
| Garagiste Wine Bar | Yes | – |
| Pioneer Saloon | No | No |
| Velveteen Rabbit | No | No |
| Ghostbar | No | Sleepy |
| Downtown Cocktail Room | Yes | – |
| SkyBar | No | Dollar Bill |
So at least one member of the club has been to half of the bars listed. Now some notes.
The Laundry Room Speakeasy inside Commonwealth downtown on Fremont street. Bill visited with a couple people and said there was not room for much more. Bar was good and it felt cool to know how to get in.
Rosina Cocktail lounge inside Venetian. Looks tony. There are a fair number of tony bars on the Strip now (for example, Bound in the Cromwell, which the degens have been to).
Atomic Liquors Dive-y bar further along Fremont East with a long history. Not anything we actively try to repeat but it was fun to do. Next door Kitchen at Atomic is quite good but we would probably stop at 7th and Carson or Carson Kitchen before getting there from downtown hotels.
Herbs & Rye Highly well regarded bar that we probably should visit sometime (and maybe pair with a meal at sister restaurant Cleaver).
The Golden Tiki Chinatown Tiki room that delivers a great atmosphere and well made tiki drinks along with tasty food. This has higher production values than Frankie’s Tiki room, but as a result feels a lot more contrived. Either could make this list, both are worth a visit.
Able-Baker Brewing Brewpub in the Arts District. The degens have been to the Silver Stamp nearby and would probably repeat that again.
Sand Dollar Lounge Putting an asterisk on this because the article lists the original Chinatown location, not the Sand Dollar Downtown at the Plaza that the degens visited. But the article does reference the downtown location and even uses artwork from that locale. Would easily repeat we had a blast catching live music here.
Garagiste Wine Bar Downtown right across the street from Esther’s kitchen. When Esther’s moves and James Trees opens a French restaurant in its place we will absolutely return here for the double.
Pioneer Saloon Half hour out of town on the way to Cali. Looks great. This will be one for the degens to cross off the list sometime.
Velveteen Rabbit Bar in the Arts District. Does not seem especially compelling, but maybe if in the area?
Ghostbar Storied rooftop bar at the Palms. Absolutely worth doing once, but aren’t there lots of good elevated bars now in town (Circa, Resorts World, Delano)?
SkyBar Elegant lounge at the top of the Waldorf Astoria (formerly the Mandarin Oriental) on the Strip. Bill loves this place. We should all go with partners as he has, and do the group outings elsewhere.
Kachelreiss has delivered a list of good bars of various kinds worth visiting. If the topic is “worth visiting once in a lifetime” one would think that it would tilt more to the off the beaten path places that a Vegas tourist would not typically visit (such as Pioneer Saloon and Herbs & Rye). On the whole though, the bars are not on the Strip or inside the big hotels.
I can quibble about individual selections. Certainly there are omissions. Fireside Lounge inside the Peppermill definitely seems to qualify. Chandelier or Vesper at the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas are definitely not off the beaten path, but if you have not been to them, you should visit.
Overall, not bad. And it would seem the degens are hitting the right kind of spots when in Las Vegas.
