82 Best Bars 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Who knew you could have an alibi almost all night long in Las Vegas? This cocktail lounge offers just that—it's open until 3 am nightly—along with bottle service and DJ entertainment Friday through Monday, as well as a creative cocktail list. Alibi is perhaps best suited to those who want a VIP-style experience without waiting in a long line or shelling out extravagant prices.

This out-of-the-way "secret" lounge is a sort of upscale version of the Peppermill. The vibe is relatively chill even on weekends, so it can serve as a tonic to the usual Vegas lunacy. The interior is filled with gilt-framed paintings (and sometimes frames without the paintings), which are even on the ceiling. Ordinarily, a crazy ceiling stunt like this one would seem silly, but the muted romantic ambience here (candlelight, soft music, dark wood, comfy leather couches) makes it work. Host hotel The Lexi, reopened in 2023, is billed as the first "cannabis-friendly" hotel in Las Vegas.

Ayu Dayclub, part of the opulent outdoor oasis that is Resorts World’s pool area, is designed to bring to mind the islands of Southeast Asia. The 41,000-square-foot space features music from a variety of genres, including EDM, hip hop, R&B, and new wave, from artists including Tiesto, Cash Cash, and Louis the Child. The DJs curate special playlists for big-event weekends.

Live music is a constant at this adults-only hot spot on the southeast corner of 6th and Fremont Streets. Genres range from rock and metal to honky-tonk and rap. As the name suggests, billiards is a big part of the appeal. Optional table service includes cut-the-line passes and a spot near the stage.

Consider the Badlands saloon a 24-hour haven for local gay cowboys. It's decorated with a mock-log-cabin facade and offers cubbyholes in which regulars can store their beer steins. There's also a jukebox crammed to the coin slot with country-and-western hits. Acknowledged to be Las Vegas's oldest surviving gay bar, Badlands was featured on the reality show Bar Rescue in 2021 after the pandemic crippled its business.

Don’t be deterred if you walk through the door and see a few guys in barber chairs getting haircuts. Just head to the “janitor” door in the back of the room and pass through. The next room—gorgeous and high-ceilinged with crystal chandeliers—reflects Las Vegas’s current fascination with speakeasies, though they were seldom this opulent. There’s bottle service, shooters, and “spiked juices” such as the Bonnie & Clyde, which is Rittenhouse rye, Cointreau, Aperol, and lemon juice and serves two in a souvenir flask. And if you want to, you really can get a haircut, shave, or facial.

It's in a shopping mall eight minutes from the Strip (by taxi), but we won't hold that against the Blue Martini, because it's still pretty cool. The cream of local bands plays here nightly, an attractive blue interior curves from room to room, and the cocktail menu is impressive (the signature martinis are served in the shaker). Also, there's a legendary happy hour from 5 to 8 pm daily. Best of all, hordes of the kind of people you'll want to meet (that is, sexy non-tourists of all genders) keep pouring in.

The inventive cocktails snag the spotlight at this hidden gem tucked away at the back of The Cromwell. Try the Bunny Bubbles, with Benedictine liqueur, raspberry puree, pomegranate juice, and Champagne, or one of the extensive collection of bourbons, Scotch, and other whiskeys (and whiskys) from all over the world. There's also a selection of light bites.

Brad Garrett, he of Everybody Loves Raymond and Single Parents fame, has returned to his stand-up roots in a classic comedy-club setting—a bar with plenty of photos of...well, Brad Garrett on the walls. He handpicks the comedians and headlines almost monthly himself: "It was either this or Jews on Ice at the Stratosphere," he likes to tell audiences. There's usually a hefty cover charge of at least $75.

This full-service cigar shop reproduces the decor and atmosphere of El Floridita, Ernest Hemingway's favorite Havana watering hole. Its sophisticated lounge, which obviously specializes in rum drinks, is a great place to enjoy your smoke.

A staircase leads revelers straight from the Paris casino floor up to this French-inspired nightclub on the roof of the resort. It's bordered with glass walls to provide optimal views of the Strip—and allow for lots of Instagram-worthy photos. The Rooftop has VIP tables, bottle service, and plenty of room for dancing under the stars. It's open from 10 pm to 2 am, Friday and Saturday, and reservations are required; call or book online.

Think of this 99-seat venue as a tiny Vaudeville fantasy world; on any given night, you might encounter an aerialist, a drag queen, a piano singer, a juggler, a comedian, or something entirely different (and similarly mind-boggling). There's burlesque, too. Owner Ryan Doherty bills the space as a "variety club" and the name is apt; the more  you go, the more variety you're likely to see. Drinks, including craft cocktails, are strong and designed to get the audience nice and loud. Perhaps the best part of the Cheapshot experience is the value: for $25 you get 90 minutes of entertainment. Where else in Vegas can you find such a deal?

As urban renewal continues Downtown, the one-block stretch of Fremont east of Las Vegas Boulevard (dubbed Fremont East) remains the hottest of the hot spots, and Commonwealth arguably is the epicenter. Inside, wrought-iron railings, chandeliers, and a tin ceiling create a feeling of old-school opulence without being excessive. Drink options range from handcrafted cocktails to microbrews; there's also good live music in the evening. The atmosphere changes as evenings progress, from quiet happy hours conducive to conversation to full-on dance craziness for a younger crowd. Venture upstairs to the rooftop bar, or try to secure an invite to the private Laundry Room speakeasy. Commonwealth is closed on Monday and Tuesday.