Top 10 Best Bars on the Las Vegas Strip
The one thing that Las Vegas has no shortage of is laid-back places to get your drink on. No matter your price point, music preference, ethnic background, nationality or age, someone on The Strip is ready and willing to meet you at your idea of fun and hand you a stiff drink, in exchange for your dignity and your hard-earned moolah. Most of the time, that drink also comes with a warm smile, a welcoming ear, and witty chatter that may eventually lead to a memorable Sin City story. All up and down the Las Vegas Boulevard stretch, various bars offer up libations of the common and obscure variety to entertain the strip’s 42 million annual visitors. We’re not talking dayclubs or hip hop nightclubs, concert venues, or even fancy lounges. No sir or ma’am, we’re getting straight down to business here: you’re sober and thirsty, and Vegas has got your cure. Steel your heart and your liver, here are Discotech’s Top 10 best bars on the Las Vegas Strip.
1. Tilted Kilt @ the LINQ Promenade – $ – Center Strip
Repeat after me: Tilted Kilt Las Vegas is THE BEST sports bar on the Las Vegas Strip. There is zero hyperbole in this claim, as TKLV checks all the boxes off any list a customer could wish for from both a local sports bar back home and a fun-loving pub while on a hard-earned vacation. Great location? Check. (Stumbling distance from any Strip resort.) Theme party with sexy Vegas kitsch? Check. (Bawdy Scottish pub meets naughty schoolgirl fantasy.) Reasonably priced drinks? Check. (Some of the cheapest on the Strip, surprisingly.) Attentive, very easy-on-the-eyes service staff? Check. (See above pics… C’mon man, it’s Vegas!!!) Sports on every TV? Check. (Forty large plasma TVs and two extra-large projectors always tuned to live action, plus the Holy Grail: friendly floor managers that move quickly to fulfill any channel change requests.) Mouth-watering bar food? Check. (World-class buffalo wings, “Big Arse” Burgers, flatbread pizzas, loaded tater tots… the list goes on.) Turnt up parties on big occasions like St Patrick’s Day, Halloween, and NFL Playoffs / Super Bowl? Check.
Now a regional chain with franchises across Southern California, “The Kilt” as Vegas locals affectionally call it originally launched at the Rio Hotel & Casino in 2003 before moving to its current 9,000 square-foot two-story location at the LINQ Promenade in 2014. Everything about the venue screams “Touristy!” and yes, they purposely cater to the thousands of out-of-towners they see daily. However, you’d also be shocked at just how many locals are seated at Tilted Kilt’s bar on any given night, many of whom are hard-working salt-of-the-earth service industry professionals coming from or headed to another work shift on the Strip. This is what makes TKLV a truly special place: out of all the aforementioned boxes it already checks, it also checks the “friendly neighborhood bar” box where visitors and locals mingle, interact, root on their teams, and share light-hearted banter and stories over cold suds and strong spirits. Yes, Vegas has a handful of these all-around superstar bars spread out around town, just not any right on the Strip like this one. Born and raised in Sin City, The Kilt is a very much a Wolf of a local bar dressed in tourist Sheep’s clothing… and as their company tagline goes, “A cold beer never looked so good.”
Closest nightclub afterparty to Tilted Kilt: Drai’s / Drai’s After Hours (@ Cromwell resort next door)
2. The Chandelier @ Cosmopolitan – $$$$ – Center Strip
A popular hotel choice and rendezvous point for the beautiful twentysomethings and thirtysomethings of the world since the day it opened, The Cosmopolitan continues to stand out from all other high-end resorts on the Strip by maintaining its modern style and sophistication while consistently adding new attractions. A hotel popular with well-traveled and well-heeled young foreigners as well as in-the-know locals, Cosmo has always attracted the cool kids crowd with its long list of buzzy restaurant/lounge scenes and its cadre of Instagram-worthy sights. Fitting right in with this ethos in the center of Cosmo’s first – and second! – floor is the glistening Chandelier Bar, arguably the crown jewel in the resort’s seemingly endless treasure chest of luxurious entertainment options.
Really though, nothing says Las Vegas like a multi-floor bar housed within a two-million piece crystal chandelier. Each level of the The Chandelier has its own vibe, but the second level is where first-timers belong: here the mixologists – some of the most knowledgable and highly skilled in the world – whip up otherworldly libations from a long list of foams, tinctures, purees, garnishes, and hard-to-find spirits. (The Verbana is our favorite – a must-try on your next visit.) The cocktails here are definitely not cheap, but they are artistic masterpieces that you’ll talk about with friends back home for months after your Vegas vacation. The upscale ambiance here makes it perfect for an after-conference business meeting, a first date rendezvous, or nightclub pregame people-watching and friends-making. So press and steam your best suit or cocktail dress – although the vibe is always relaxed, upscale cocktail attire is strongly encouraged inside the Chandelier – and brace yourself for an unforgettable bar night in Vegas.
Closest nightclub afterparty to The Chandelier: Marquee Nightclub (in resort on second floor)
3. Beerhaus @ The Park Vegas / T-Mobile Arena – $$ – North Strip
Home to the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights, semi-annual UFC megafights, and the biggest music acts of any genre swinging through Sin City – Metallica, Bruno Mars, Elton John, George Strait, J-Lo, and Ariana Grande are some of the megastars that have graced its stage – the 20,000-seat capacity T-Mobile Arena, built in 2016, is an ultra-modern gathering place. To complement the hundreds of entertainment dates scheduled at the arena annually – and also to draw tourists to the area on the few nights the arena is dark – the stadium grounds are bordered by The Park Vegas, an open-air cobblestone footpath lined with casual restaurants and bars that are perfect for T-Mobile pre-partying… and post-partying, since Vegas never sleeps duh.
The best of the bars in the bunch is Beerhaus, an uber-fresh take on the German beer hall concept that features craft beer and made-to-order high-end bar grub favorites – burgers, ribs, hot dogs, brats, soft pretzels, wings, tater tots etc. – using hormone-free meat and locally sourced produce. On any sports nights at the stadium, the place is packed more than two hours in advance and one hour after; even if you don’t have tickets to T-Mobile, Beerhaus is perfect for getting together with friends and watching your teams on one of the pristine flatscreens while taking periodic breaks to talk smack over a game of ping pong, Connect Four, or cornhole under the patio misters.
Upcoming events at T-Mobile Arena
Closest nightclub afterparty to Beerhaus: On The Record (in Park MGM resort next door)
4. Gilley’s Saloon @ Treasure Island – $ – North Strip
It’s all country music all the time at Gilley’s Saloon, but that singular focus doesn’t stop this wild watering hole from being one of the best live music venues in Las Vegas of any musical genre. The Gilley’s recipe for fun is tried and true: take the spirited saloons of the Old West frontier days, add a dash of the sexy and fast-paced excitement of Las Vegas Strip, bring to a steady boil with non-stop country music heat, and pour on gallons of whiskey, moonshine, and Bud Light for a steady, long-lasting party.
Boots, buckles, and denim are common décor among visitors – especially on Vegas Locals Night Mondays where $2 drinks are served up – but the friendly barkeeps extend warm hospitality to the regular dressed folks as well. In fact, this place is the perfect spot for the country-curious, meaning those city slicker friends of yours who like that Blake Shelton, Dan & Shay, or Old Dominion song on the radio but are open to line dancing lessons (they offer them several nights a week), munching on Texas BBQ (they have quick-serve countertops), and being served cheap drinks by cute cowgirls while going deeper down the country music rabbit hole. Up-and-coming country bands perform live at Gilley’s 3-4 nights a week, and every so often a country music superstar in Vegas for a quick turn pops in unannounced for an intimate set.
Closest nightclub afterparty to Gilley’s: EBC At Night / XS (@ Wynn / Encore across street)
5. Brooklyn Bowl @ the LINQ Promenade – $$ – Center Strip
Located on the LINQ Promenade just steps away from the High Roller Ferris wheel, Brooklyn Bowl is an ultra-hip upscale bowling alley, a well-loved restaurant by Vegas locals (their Blue Ribbon fried chicken is some of the best in the city), and a concert venue showcasing heavyweight names in reggae, alt-rock, and other lightweight music genres that have rabid followings. But its expansive bar area at the front of the spacious venue also shines as one of the best and most underrated drink stops in Vegas.
The craft beer selection showcases the best of East Coast and West Coast microbrews and rotates frequently, and perhaps even better than the beer is their bar food menu which offers high-end creative takes on the classics. Insiders tip: if you’ve got concert tickets, we highly recommend you come for Happy Hour (Mon-Fri, 5-7pm) and then stay for the concert afterward to avoid long waits in line. Except on the 1-2 times a month a major artist drops in for a more intimate show, Brooklyn Bowl is one of the more affordable ways to drink, eat, and catch live music on the Strip and thus always draws a crowd.
Closest nightclub afterparty to Brooklyn Bowl: Drai’s / Drai’s After Hours (@ Cromwell resort next door)
6. Mandarin Bar @ Mandarin Oriental – $$$$ – Center Strip
Vegas locals affectionately call this spot the “Corner Bar” for its location tucked away on the 23rd floor of the Mandarin Oriental, but moreso as a clever tongue-in-cheek nickname evoking a shoddy dive when it’s actually one of the fanciest and prettiest environments for a cocktail in all of Vegas. The richly decorated space is always quiet enough for one-on-one conversations, whether you’re celebrating a romantic milestone occasion with your significant other or a local looking to entertain an important out-of-town business client in a memorable way. It’s not about any crowd at Mandarin Bar, it’s really all about the views: through floor-to-ceiling glass, stunning skyline scenery in all directions enchants visitors and entices them to indulge in the high life.
And the high life you shall have, with complex cocktails showcasing innovative takes on classics punctuated with unconventional and hard-to-find ingredients such as smoked mandarin orange tea syrup. For example, their Mandarin Martini muddles oranges with fresh pineapple and lime juices, Hendricks gin, Aperol and simple syrup. Additionally, they carry a slew of original craft cocktails to ensure that your sensory experience of taste is on par with the delicious views your eyes are taking in at the top. Our favorites: Southern Punch, which is toasted pecan-infused whiskey, white rum, mandarin, lime, passion fruit and basil syrup, and Golden Knights, an ode to the home team playing a few doors down in the form of Toki Suntory whiskey, Sip Smith gin, Yellow Chartreuse and ginger syrup. Bottom’s up, from the top of Vegas!
Closest nightclub afterparty to Mandarin Bar: Jewel (@ Aria next door)
7. PBR Rock Bar @ Planet Hollywood – $$ – Center Strip
Deep in the heart of Tex… – ahem, Vegas – is another rodeo-themed gem of a drinking post. Located on the highly trafficked Strip side of Planet Hollywood’s famed Miracle Mile Shops, PBR Rock Bar & Grill is a Professional Bull Riders affiliated mega-venue that truly epitomizes the phrase “a little bit country, a little bit rock ‘n’ roll.” Rock Bar is a sprawling, modern, 16,800 square-foot backyard barbecue featuring two DJ booths, hundreds of big screen TVs lining the bar, and a massive hydraulic mechanical bull at its center, mounted and ridden in constant rotation by buxom staff and ballsy tourists.
The kitchen staff at PBR puts in big work with big plates and big flavors that truly capture the taste of the American Heartland: Chicken & Waffles, Smoked Brisket, BBQ Pork Ribs, and even secret recipes such as the famed Dorito Mac & Cheese. But as good as the food is here, it decidedly takes a backseat to the dranks. Rock Bar’s most memorable feature is its expansive outdoor drinking patio – cooling mist in the summer, heat lamps in the winter – that spills out onto the most coveted and most highly traversed real estate on Las Vegas Boulevard. The patio is packed nearly all times of the year and at all times of the day, the steady reservations traffic endlessly bolstered by walk-ups seeking to take advantage of PBR’s awesome drink specials to quench their thirst at its specialty frozen drink bar or its three other full-service bars. Locals normally shy away from Rock Bar as this is a true tourist trap, but that doesn’t make it any less fun a time for the visitors who dismount from their saddles and mosey on in. Cowboy Up!
Closest nightclub afterparty to PBR Rock Bar: Marquee Nightclub (@ Cosmopolitan across street)
8. Beer Park @ Paris – $$ – Center Strip
So much for creative naming. Beer Park is designed with the goal of giving tourists a no-frills slice of Americana, but with all the frills of Vegas, baby, Vegas. The open-air entertainment venue, of which American mega-brand Anheuser-Busch is a strategic investor, puts forth a nostalgia-inducing atmosphere that mixes the feel of a classic baseball stadium with the communal charm of a suburbia park with all of the glorious food and drink favorites each has to offer. Similar to the Vegas Strip itself, this brand-new space was designed to bring people from all over the world together.
Inside Beer Park there is a 10,000-square-foot upscale “living room” foyer with parlor-style furniture seating arranged in circles to encourage meeting new people; outside there are Oktoberfest-style communal picnic tables for communal drinking and a grassy lawn to challenge strangers in friendly classic bar games like giant Jenga, Skee-Ball, Pop-A-Shot, darts, and billiards. But on top of all of these perks, Beer Park totally understands – and focuses on – sports as the great global unifier: it is one of just a few spots in Las Vegas to offer onsite wagering outside of a sportsbook, and gargantuan towers on each side of the main bar display multiple high-definition televisions that are ideal for watching the biggest sports matches of the day whether you’re a longtime die-hard or a new “fan” holding a $20 wager in hand.
Upcoming events at Beer Park
Closest nightclub afterparty to Beer Park: Chateau (in resort on first floor)
9. Nine Fine Irishmen @ MGM Grand – $ – South Strip
One of the city’s best Irish pubs, Nine Fine Irishmen was designed and built by Ireland’s top craftsmen and shipped piece by piece to Las Vegas. 9Fine brings the charms of the Emerald Isle to Las Vegas in other ways as well: food, spirits, camaraderie, and of course music. Your favorite Irish dishes – the ones you wolf down only on St. Patrick’s Day – are on the lunch and dinner menu perennially; an impressive variety of Irish beers and drinks will allow you expand your horizons past Guinness and Jameson. Happy Hour runs from Monday-Friday from 2-5 pm; While the restaurant closes at 11pm, the bar stays open until 3am (which makes it the most convenient pre-game / rendezvous point for groups headed to nearby Hakkasan Nightclub).
Once the alcohol starts flowing at Nine Fine Irishmen, the live music entertainment takes the stage to keep the crowd’s toes tapping. In particular, the energy reaches crescendo levels in the evening around 9:30-10pm, when the house band bangs out a mix of traditional Irish music, wild electric jigs and reels, and classic sing-along songs. Granted, the atmosphere here can get a bit rowdy and dodgy, especially during big soccer matches when 9Fine takes on the feel and atomsphere of an edgy Euro-style sports pub. That being said, getting tipsy and creating your own live performances by singing amateur karaoke at the top of your lungs is strongly encouraged here. For that reason, it’s impossible to leave Nine Fine Irishmen off any list of great Vegas bars. Erin Go Bragh!
Closest nightclub afterparty to Nine Fine Irishmen: Hakkasan (in resort on first floor)
10. Parasol Up @ Encore Hotel – $$$$ – North Strip
With its ubiquitous red and gold interior decor – lucky colors particularly to the wealthy Asian clientele that often frequent its casino floor tables – the Wynn and Encore have always been one of the most luxurious properties on the Vegas strip. In recent years, they’ve traded in their elitist vibe – without sacrificing any of the luxury – for a more high-energy fashionista cool to target those aspirational Millennials of the aughts and teens that now have money to burn in 2020. The Parasol Up bar on the casino floor next to check-in is usually the first watering hole at the resort to greet these wide-eyed, ready-to-rock visitors; for that reason, its energy and vibe is always running high in the hours leading up to the start of the weekend.
At Parasol Up, Wynn/Encore literally and figuratively rolls out the red carpet to greet you with great service, expertly made cocktails, scenic views of the waterfall and blossom-filled atrium… and of course those colorful parasols suspended from the ceiling to remind you that it’s Vegas and you’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto. Their signature drinks will having you seeing red as well: the Boysenberry Delight, featuring a boysenberry vodka exclusive to the resort, and the popular berry-topped Sinatra Smash. Parasol Up is a ideal group meeting point and classy prelude to the resort’s big draw for the hipper, younger set: their day and night venues that continue to showcase the hottest musical talent in the world including The Chainsmokers, Drake, and Diplo.
Closest afterparty nightclub to Parasol Up: EBC At Night / XS (inside resort on first floor)
OK, so you’ve gotten your “barhopping in Vegas” itch scratched early, and for your next chapter in your storybook Vegas weekend you’re ready to let loose on a pulsating dance floor, amirite? What’s the next step??? Line up your party plans in advance and set aside the appropriate budgets for Las Vegas bottle service packages (or save some money and sign up for Vegas guest lists) using our Discotech app. Available in both the App Store and Google Play and featured on BBC Travel and highly reviewed on Yelp!, Discotech is here to make sure that rising bar buzz of yours carries over into high-energy late-night and next-day adventures. Cheers lads and lasses!
Also Read: Best Strip Clubs in Las Vegas
