19 Best Nightlife in Las Vegas, Nevada

This Downtown bar is the oldest freestanding bar in Las Vegas (dating back to 1952) and owns the first liquor license in the state (literally, No. 00001). It takes its name from the custom of patrons in the 1950s, who would buy drinks, head to the roof, and watch atomic blasts in the desert in the distance. The Rat Pack and Barbra Streisand drank here. Fast-forward to now, and it's become the place to hang out, with 20 microbrews on tap and an inventive menu that specializes in fancy beer cocktails. There's even a restaurant next door. The bar is open until 2 am nightly.

All hail Victor Drai, classiest of Vegas nightlife sultans. The wild scene inside this after-hours titan is closer to a dance club or a rave than to a lounge, even though its four rooms with two music formats are as gorgeous as any lounge in town. The vibe of decadence can reach an extraordinary pitch, but this, of course, is exactly how an after-hours club should be, right? Besides, you'll be hard-pressed to find a more beautiful insider crowd anywhere within the city limits.

An egalitarian mix of men and women congregates at this 24-hour bar with a taco menu, a dance floor, pool tables, video-poker machines, and karaoke (on Monday). The live drag shows are more raucous than the tame ones on the Strip.

You’ll need to access a hidden door in the back of the Block 16 food hall at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas ( Look for the small donkey on the otherwise plain door), but employees will help you find it if you get stuck. Once inside, you’ll find yourself in a tiny space with a gigantic collection of mezcal and tequila. The food menu’s limited to nachos, but they’re quite creative, with choices like black truffles with white cheddar, and mole chicken with cheddar and red cabbage.

Perched atop the Palms, this apex of ultralounges was one of the first in Las Vegas to put a public area on top of a hotel tower to offer a glassed-in view of the city. Step outside and you'll find that the outdoor "Ghostdeck" is cantilevered over the side of the building, with a Plexiglas platform that allows revelers to look down 450 feet. For the views of the Strip skyline from the 55th floor alone, it's worth the effort. GhostBar opens as early as 7 pm, allowing older patrons equal opportunity before the younger club crowd keeps it hopping until 3 am.

The 80,000-square-foot Vegas haunt is one of the iterations of the nightclub brand that started in London. The space is one part nightclub, one part modern Cantonese restaurant—five floors in all, with three dedicated to nightlife. To fill this space, the venue has booked some of the biggest DJs in the world, including Lil Jon, Calvin Harris, Steve Aoki, and Tiësto. For a more casual experience, head to the third-level Ling Ling Club.

This nightclub–concert hall hybrid at Mandalay Bay was the seventh entry in this chain of successful, intimate music clubs. As if the electric roster of performers taking the stage almost nightly wasn't enough (past acts include Carlos Santana, Billy Idol, Social Distortion, Joe Walsh, Slash, Dropkick Murphys, and Seal), the decor is lusciously imaginative. (Our favorite decoration isn't inside, though—it's the Voodoo Mama statue greeting you outside.) The Gospel Brunch on Sunday has great live music and is worth a visit. Also, buy music, books, hot sauce, and T-shirts at the souvenir shop, where an expansive, remarkable collection of colorful folk art decorates the walls.

Tucked alongside The Smith Center’s big concert hall is a cozy, 240-seat cabaret (bearing the name of Smith Center president Myron Martin) that creates an upscale vibe and a close communication with performers that’s unduplicated in the casino venues. Patrons sip wine at tables-for-four while hometown favorites such as Frankie Moreno and Earl Turner work around visiting headliners that have included trumpet legend Herb Alpert, pianist George Winston, and jazz singer Jane Monheit. Shows are held mostly on weekends but also on occasional weeknights.

Should you happen to be Downtown, head over to Downtown Container Park and sit inside a shipping container to sip barrel-aged cocktails and whiskeys galore. Although tiny—it's sometimes tough to nab a spot at the bar—this little railroad car of a drinking spot packs a punch with a well-crafted menu of drinks. Can't decide on a whiskey? Order a flight. Want to try something truly special? Order a taste of one of the bar's barrel-aged bourbons.

As the name suggests, the nightclub at Park MGM is all about sound. The brainchild of L.A.'s Houston brothers brings in live DJs and offers three hidden karaoke rooms, as well as a hidden vinyl bar in the middle of the club. Perhaps the coolest detail is the hallway lined with cassette tapes. Don't miss the double-decker bus in the open-air courtyard either; it's like nothing at any other club in town. On the Record is open Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday nights.

The Palms' comfortable midsize concert venue has an inventive layout to create great sightlines, and the host property has easy access and parking. Small wonder locals have rooted for its effort to stay in the game as more and more venues open on the Strip. When the hotel relaunched under new ownership, the Pearl was off to a promising relaunch as well, with shows roughly once a month including Kenny Loggins, Counting Crows, and Iggy Pop.

Pining for a genuine taste of retro Las Vegas? This kitschy and shagadelic lounge that dates to 1972 remains one of the town's truly essential nightspots. Just north of Encore, this evergreen romantic getaway serves food, but what you're really here for is the firepit—a sunken area with a raised pond with flames shooting out of the center—and signature cocktails such as the Bubble Bath and the lethal, 64-ounce Scorpion. Happy hour's from 3 to 6 pm daily.

Leave your designer handbags on the bar; this is a place to see and be seen. Sophisticated clientele frequent this piano lounge, where a different expert each day (check the website and pick your favorite) tickles the ivories of a one-of-a-kind, art deco–style Steinway grand while patrons sup on trendy offerings like the Poof!—a pairing that reflects Las Vegas bars' current fascination with all things smoky, with a cocktail of Bulleit rye, apple brandy, and sweet vermouth, placed under a smoky dome alongside duck confit croquettes. Caviar is, of course, a given, featured in tacos and the Bellagio Martini, served with an Ossetra cigar.

At the Rhino, as everyone calls it, you can expect a veritable onslaught of gorgeous half-clad women and an international name brand trusted by both dancers and customers alike. The place got a late start in Vegas, but it grew fast, expanding its original space to more than 20,000 square feet in 2019. There's an adjoining shop for lingerie, sex toys, and various other implements of physical naughtiness. The Rhino is open 24 hours, and while that's not an exclusive claim, it's the only topless club in the industrial corridor that's known for having daytime/lunch traffic, and—especially if you call ahead to inquire—a chance of seeing a dancer onstage before dark.

Nowhere else in Vegas furnishes you with the four Ds—dining, drinking, dancing, and drooling—in quite as alluring a mix as this multilevel (and multimillion-dollar) playground. The ground floor and mezzanine levels are exquisite enough (you almost tumble into the women in rose-petal baths before you're in the door), but once you get off the elevator at the top floor, where an army of dramatically lighted stone deities greets you, the party truly begins. Chinese antiques, crimson chandeliers, and a so-called Opium Room set the mood. It's still one of the best dance clubs in Vegas. In spring and summer, Tao Beach opens with daytime pool parties.

True to its name, this swanky lounge sits under a chandelier with 2 million crystals, which makes it the largest chandelier in town (and, perhaps, the world). The bar is separated into three levels, and each has a different theme and menu. Level 1—dubbed Bottom of The Chandelier, for those of you scoring at home—is a high-energy space, with offerings like the Wheel of Fortune, with rum, mezcal, smoked strawberry, and hibiscus aperitivo. Level 1.5 is dedicated to hand-crafted cocktails for the "true experience seeker," like the Cigar Lover's Manhattan, which comes with a cognac-infused chocolate cigar and the admonition to "take your sweet time." On Level 2 you can get a Champagne Socialist, which also contains spiced pear, vanilla liqueur, citrus, and coco chai syrup. If you're particularly adventuresome (and you can get a seat on the first floor), try the off-menu Verbena cocktail with a "Szechuan button." This desiccated flower from Africa numbs your mouth to make flavors more potent; it also prompts you to down your cocktail in mere seconds. All three levels offer excellent people-watching opportunities. Level 1 is open 24/7; the others have more limited hours.

This classic mid-century tiki bar might remind you of Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic's. It's part of a crazy-busy strip mall in Chinatown, with a cocktail menu spilling over with nostalgic classics. Cautiously sip a Dole Soft Serve Float or jump into the deep end with a Blue Lagoon or Painkiller. Hop a rideshare back to your hotel after a Navy Grog with three rums. The roomy decor is full of surprises if you look around, including such treasures as an animatronic skeleton of the mythical privateer and legend behind The Golden Tiki, William Tobias Faulkner. A tiny stage and dance floor host occasional DJs and live bands. There's an appetizer menu and now a Captain's Brunch with waffles and burritos on weekends.

There's nothing better than a feel-good story in Las Vegas. Sisters Pamela and Christina Dylag saved and scrimped to open this great, velvet-lined cocktail lounge dotted with furniture they found at vintage shops and equipped with beer taps that look like hands. Two different new-ish immersive patio experiences create a true "Alice in Wonderland" vibe. A great cocktail list with a vintage feel and punches are just some of the treasures behind the bar. Regular Wednesday specials mean a number of wines are available for $5 per glass.

This club backs up onto a pool that converts into one of the most spacious open-air dance floors in town. The resort's signature attention to detail shines through with motifs throughout evoking "the sexy curves of the human body," such as walls imprinted with golden naked body casts (the waitresses reportedly modeled for them). At the pool are cabanas, another bar, and outdoor gaming, where the sexiest croupiers in town ply their trade. Excess is a pretty good word for all of this.