Vegas Bound!

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

jd3

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 19, 2011
Messages
439
Reaction score
10
In 14 days we are headed to the Vegas for a wedding(in Boulder City). What are the must do's in Vegas/Boulder City.

We are looking for a good steak joint for the bachelor party. Good place to grab quality booze to bring back to our rooms, as well(that isn't roomservice).

How much time should we alot to Freemont street? We are in Vegas on Tues/wed nights stayin at the luxor. Thurs/fri/sat we are staying at the grand ol' hacienda near BC.

Any amazing beer bars close to the strip? ANy amazing off sale places close?
 
I just spent a week in Vegas in April and searched out the breweries around town. I went to Boulder dam brewing in boulder city and that was an absolute disappointment. It's mediocre at best. There goal there is to appeal to budweiser drinkers. I also went to tenaya creek brewing which is a little bit better, but overall not that great. If your looking for a great home brew, Vegas is not the best choice. However a place called Freakin frogs has a list of over 1000 beers. A great list, but not the best place for food. This is the place to go if you want a variety of good beer. That was my experience. Hopefully this will give you an idea. Have a great trip.
 
If you don't mind off strip/fremont Chicago Brewery at 2201 Fort Apache Avenue is great and they are at all the homebrew festivals out here too - awesome guys. There is also one in the Fremont (I believe) but it's very small cafe that is IMO disappointing and not worth it.
 
Freakin Frog is the best hit I've found there, they also have a lot of whisky if you're into that.

I wouldn't spend much time downtown. For first time visitors it's sort of required but it's sort of old and dumpy compared to the nice part of the strip (from Mandalay Bay to Wynn/Encore). If you do go, go at night.

There is a place called Burger Bar at Mandalay Bay that has a nice selection of craft/imported beer and decent burgers. Not cheap but not too bad.

There are a ton of nice steak joints. I've done Delmonico, CUT, Carnevino, SW Steakhouse and a few others. SW was my favorite 'food-wise' but they want a collared shirt and the atmosphere is a bit stuffy for a steakhouse imo. CUT and Carnevino were really good too. Delmonico wasn't bad but not up to par with the others. Some other alleged good ones are Prime, N9NE, Stripsteak, and Craftsteak. EDIT: Forgot Lawry's Prime Rib. Yes, Lawry's the seasoned salt people. Really good imo but it's off-strip, free-standing building. All the others are inside casino/hotels.

I hit Fatburger everytime I'm there, across the strip from Monte Carlo. Not beer related but worth mentioning imo. Fatburger, skinny fries, and a chocolate shake and I'm good for most of the day (but~$13 poorer, worth it tho).

One of my favorite restaurants there (and there are a TON of kick-ass restaurants there, I've only tried a small percentage) is Bouchon in Venetian. It's a bit hard to find in Venetian but it's really good French bistro type restaurant. They don't have an extensive selection of beer but what they do have is good. Maybe not the best bachelor party restaurant but I had to shamelessly plug it.
 
Oh yea, the World Series of Poker will be going on at the Rio if you're into checking that out. I've been going every year since 2004 so that's why I know a thing or two about LV. They won't be playing the $10,000 buy-in Main Event yet. The WSOP is over 50 events total, spread out over a month and a half. I'm not a big fan of the Rio and the restaurants aren't that great. Pretty, scantily clad cocktail waitresses tho!

If you decide to see a show, check Tix4tonight the day of the show. Often about 1/2 price.
 
If you are going to Fremont there is http://www.mainstreetcasino.com/

Off strip is

http://www.ellisislandcasino.com/

http://www.gordonbiersch.com/brewery/

These guys are in a few casinos

http://www.sincitybeer.com/lasvegasmicrobrewery.html

another off strip

http://www.bigdogsbrews.com/

over by the Hard Rock Casino, this is a replica of a German beer house

http://www.hofbrauhauslasvegas.com/

This is a nano brewery in Henderson, on the way boulder city

http://www.foxbrews.com/

and lastly this is a page for vegas beer lovers, has links to other pubs and good beer spots.

http://www.meetup.com/Vegas-Beer-Lovers/

not going to say one is awesome and the others suck, most fun is checking them out for yourself!!

VB

*edit* forgot the M resort, kinda far out of the way but the dinner buffet includes all you can drink beer, wine and hard cider and they have a bar with 95 beers on tap!!

http://www.meetup.com/Vegas-Beer-Lovers/
 
I was there for a bachelor party last spring and we went to Del Frisco's Steakhouse. It's way off the strip, but it was awesome. (And, on the way there and back, we learned that a limo is the same price as a couple of cabs so we traveled in style.)
 
There are so many good steakhouses in Vegas. You should probably just call around to some of the ones that other posters have suggested and find one that will take a reservation for whatever size party you'll have. And don't be turned off about going off the strip. Places like Del Friscos and Ruth's Chris are only about 1 mile off the strip.

For beer/booze in your room check out Lee's Discount Liquor or Total Wine and More. Lee's has more locations around town, but Total Wine has slightly better prices and IMO a better beer selection. You'll have to look up locations when you get to town to find ones close to your hotels. And neither of them is going to be within walking distance, so if you won't have transportation, you'll need a cab.

As for the bar scene, Freakin Frog is a good recommendation. They do have an extensive beer list, but it's mostly bottles. They are about 2-3 miles east of the strip, on the other side of UNLVs campus. It's in an older part if town, not many other places around it to check out, and the crowd isn't always that great. IMO a better option would be the Yardhouse. They have ~150 beers on tap, and it's in a newer, high end shopping mall called Townsquare that's on Las Vegas Blvd about 4 miles south of Mandalay Bay. The crowd there will be much better than at at Feeakin Frog, and if you don't like Yardhouse there are numerous other bars in the same shopping center that get good crowds most nights of the week. Plus the food is good at Yardhouse.

I would recommend going to some of the "dayclubs" at the various pools. Tao Beach, Wet Republic, Morea, and Bare are all good options. If nightclub are you're thing check out Tao, Lavo, XS, Jet, The Bank, Pure, and LAX(inside Luxor) are all good. For any of the places mentioned in this paragraph be prepared to spend. Talk to a VIP host and try to arrange something. Honestly, you have to bargain with these people. Bottles are expensive, but you can easily find 2 for 1 or even 3 for 1 bottle service. Don't take the first deal they offer you.

To help save some cash pregame in the hotel room as much as possible.

As far as Boulder City is concerned, you might consider going to Lake Mead if you're into watersports. You could rent a boat or jetskis. There are also many good hiking trails in and around Lake Mead Natl Rec Area. Things will definitely be more laid back during your stay at the Hacienda than on the strip at the Luxor.

If you have any questions just PM me.
 
Also, the foxbrews website that another member posted is for a brewery called Joseph James Brewing Co. They are only a brewery, not a brewpub, so there's no beer sold onsite. If you want to try their beer Freakin Frog usually has some and the liquor stores I mentioned carry their stuff. I wouldn't recommend them though. As for the Boulder Dam Brewing Co., I would check it out. The beer is mediocre, but not terrible. The food is pretty much just a bar menu, nothing to write home about. I mostly recommend them because there's not much else to do in BC, and because the owner/brewer is a really cool guy. He works there as a bartender most nights. His name is Todd and he's is really open about talking brewing with customers that share an interest. The last time I was there he was switching from using an American yeast strain for his hefeweizen to a Bavarian strain. He had his last batch with the old strain on tap still and a green batch with the new strain that he wasn't serving yet. Once we got to talking about brewing he poured me a few ounces of the green batch and we did a side by side comparison and had a very detailed discussion about the differences and why he decided to make the switch.
 
And if you're just hanging out on the strip and feel like a pint of something good, try the old standby, Pour 24.

It's 24 taps of good craft beer, open 24 hours a day. It's in NYNY - if you walk over the bridge between the MGM Grand and NYNY, its the first stand-alone bar you see. Cheers!
 
True you can`t buy beer at foxbrew/joejames but they do offer tours one day a week, thursdays i think and you can buy their beer at total wine and more. they did a tasting a few weeks ago, was pretty good.

VB
 
Thanks a lot guys. We're pretty pumped. This will be our first vacation in 2.5 years, since our little guy was born.

I am not sure my liver is prepared for what is in store.
 
2.5 years - not bad. I was there in 2005 for my brother's bachelor party and our Dad came with us. Dad said it was the first time he'd been to Vegas since 1972 (which probably had something to do with the two of us).
 
I just spent a week in Vegas in April and searched out the breweries around town. I went to Boulder dam brewing in boulder city and that was an absolute disappointment. It's mediocre at best. There goal there is to appeal to budweiser drinkers. I also went to tenaya creek brewing which is a little bit better, but overall not that great. If your looking for a great home brew, Vegas is not the best choice. However a place called Freakin frogs has a list of over 1000 beers. A great list, but not the best place for food. This is the place to go if you want a variety of good beer. That was my experience. Hopefully this will give you an idea. Have a great trip.

I wouldn't say they appeal to bud drinkers. I had their Irish Espresso Stout, their Pilsner and one other one. Took a growler back to the hotel for the remaining week we were out there. Good brew, and nice people.

Get the beer battered fries and chicken. Mmmmmmm

Their lips are loose regarding recipes too. Todd, the Bru Guru as he dubs himself gave me the recipe for the Irish Espresso Stout :)
 
I wouldn't say they appeal to bud drinkers. I had their Irish Espresso Stout, their Pilsner and one other one. Took a growler back to the hotel for the remaining week we were out there. Good brew, and nice people.

Get the beer battered fries and chicken. Mmmmmmm

Their lips are loose regarding recipes too. Todd, the Bru Guru as he dubs himself gave me the recipe for the Irish Espresso Stout :)

Like I said earlier, I would totally recommend them. And you're right, Todd is a good guy that freely discusses brewing with people in the know(or just anyone showing interest). I got a growler of their Cream Stout from them this week and it was really good. A great digestif.
 
Sin city had a killer stout when we were there in feb....other selections were only better than the new castle you get on the floors
 
Back
Top