The Bar Towel

Visited The Yard House while in Las Vegas. The bar is a short cab ride south of Mandalay Bay and located in the Town Square shopping centre. They had around 150 taps with Happy Hour pricing the afternoon we were there. Had the Speakeasy Double Daddy, North Coast Brother Thelonius, Firestone Pale Ale. Friendly knowledgeable staff. Bonus - since it's not a casino there's no smoking. Worth a visit if you're in town. Remember, the money you spend on beer will be less than you'd lose elsewhere.
Cheers!

Nice, I've always wanted a Vegas recommendation, thanks for posting that.

Speakeasy Double Daddy is a personal favourite - had several very fresh pints in San Fran a few years ago which were terrific - bottles are pretty good as well.

They had Double Daddy at The Burger Bar in Mandalay Bay too. Another good beer spot.

Last time there I visited Pour 24 in New York, New York.

Pretty crappy bar, located at the top of the escalators and is open concept over looking the casino floor. A couple of tv's and 24 taps of great craft beer.

I wouldn't stay at the bar but I would definitely pick up a roadie if you are in the vicinity.

Heading to Vegas for the first time next weekend. Will check out these places, also heard about the Freakin' Frog.

Just got back from a whirlwind weekend in Vegas. Wanted to report a couple of things.

The Freakin' Frog is a freakin' great place. It's off the strip, a short cab ride away. It doesn't look like much from the outside - it's located in a nondescript strip mall building and the bar itself doesn't have any windows. But that's the only negative.

Once inside it's a large space with lots of tables and a couple of projectors - great as we watched some of the Final Four.

On the main floor there's a massive walk-in beer fridge where you are allowed to go in (with the bartender) to choose your own beer. Great concept and a lot of fun to browse the shelves ourselves to pick out beers. They had hundreds of kinds of beer including some rarer US ones which is what we focused on. We had an Alesmith Wee Heavy and Grand Cru, a Victory Wild Devil and a Deschutes Abyss. All great beers and the bartender served to us in fresh glasses each time. Prices were very reasonable.

On the upstairs floor they had a large tasting room with a head-to-toe selection of whiskies and tequilas. Also very impressive. They also had a full menu of grub (great chili fries) and a stage for live music. The bartender was an incredibly friendly guy who was happy to show us around and chat beer. A must-visit if you're in Vegas and you need a good beer and break from the craziness of the Strip.

I was also able to check out the Burger Bar in Mandalay Place and it was very good (not FF good). Good draught lineup of US craft and a large bottle selection - and great prices. A great place to go on the Strip itself.

Didn't make it to any of the other places unfortunately. I was staying at the Flamingo which has a satellite location of Sin City Brewing on the main floor which was good for quick beers when we needed them.

I'll be staying at the MGM Grand in early Nov for a week for a conference. Looks like FF and Burger @ Mandalay Bay are good spots.. anyone know of anywhere decent to drink/eat in the MGM hotel itself? Conference lunches are a little lacking the .. personal touch.

Any off the beaten path restaurant recommendations would be welcome as well.

Cheers

NY NY and Pour 24 are "across the street" lol good place for roadies, bar itself blows.

Freaking Frog is a short cab ride and is worth it.

Ralphus wrote: Any off the beaten path restaurant recommendations would be welcome as well.

Cheers

Not totally off the beaten path, as it gets a lot of talk on chowhound, but off-strip, is Raku. Fairly short cab ride west from the strip. Very very good Japanese food, specialty is charcoal grilling. Not cheap at all (but not massively expensive either), but really worth it. Not like anything I'd ever had in Toronto. Look at menu with pictures online before you go.

Not too far from north end of strip is a great Thai place called Lotus of Siam. They have a massive reisling wine list as well as some good beer - pretty sure I got Stone IPA there (bottled).

Quite off the beaten path, if you like Mexican, try Los Molcajetes. Better accessed with rental car than taxi, really, but the food is a bargain. $16 dish called combination molcajete could feed 3-4 people. Another great Mex place is Yayo Taco, a UNLV hangout that is walking distance from Freakin Frogs.

another good place on the strip is "The Pub" located in a promenade between Monte Carlo and Aria has a very large tap selection. mostly macros but they had the full line up of the local brewers tenaya creek and joseph james, sierra nevada 30th anniversary, goose island matilda among other things. good place to pick up a roadie. they even serve a krispy kreme donut complete with marshmallow sauce if you are so inclined. sage in aria is also good if you want some higher end food.

Back from Vegas and just getting over the jet lag / hangover now.

MGM itself was ok. Rooms were standard but the bed was very comfortable. The internet service sucks however. I mean everyone had problems with it on different days. Beerwise, there's pretty much SNPA and Fat Tire at every bar & restaurant, with most of the restaurants offering up Chimay as well.

Lotus of Siam was excellent. Really good Thai food washed down with a number of Stone IPAs was just a great combination. It's too bad it was a $15 - 20 cab ride in each direction as a 30 dollar meal ended up becoming $60 or so.

The Freaking Frog was a bit underwhelming to be honest. Its not a lot to look at inside, or out. And it's clearly a student hang out, some of which know a thing or two about good beer and the rest who were more interested in the coin operated arcade game. I had printed out BA's top 10 list of American IPAs before hand.. these are all beers with thousands of reviews.. they had none of them. In fact of all the beers I was looking for they only had two (Deschutes Hop In The Dark Cascadian Dark Ale and Stone Sublimely Self Riteous Ale). That said, prices were reasonable and the walk in cooler was a neat, albeit very cold, side trip. I think if you went with a gang and could get past the student vibe it would be a better time. It was a $12 ride or so from the MGM.

The Burger Bar at Mandalay Bay was a great spot for lunch. Burgers are great (albeit expensive) and the ability to order a 6 row sampler of really solid taps for $15-$18 was refreshing. Bottle selection was impressive and the staff were quick and knew their beer.

I hit the Ghost Bar at the top of the Palms late one night with a co-worker as I had seen it listed as one of the "Top 100 spots to drink before you die" thread here on BT. I had been planning on doing a helicopter tour of the strip during my stay but after seeing the view from the Ghost Bar I no longer felt the need. That is one hell of a view. Be prepared for the $20 cover if you don't have a room or a coupon though. You also get a stamp for the playboy club in the same resort, which unfortunately was closed when we visited.

I have a buddy heading down in a month or so. He asked me, "Where do I get beer in Vegas?" I showed him this thread. He said, "That's awesome! But where do I go to buy bottles of beer with the caps still on them? To bring back." I replied, "Dunno. Never been there. I will put the question up on Bartowel for you."

Anyone?

If you go to the Yard House, there is a Whole Foods in the same shopping centre. I bought beer there. The only one I remember is the Stone 09.09.09.

Cheers,
Sarge

Don't know of any place on the strip that you can get bottles to take home. You will probably have to cab it to a nearby Whole Foods or Wegmans in order to find a selection.

Cass wrote: The Freakin' Frog is a freakin' great place. It's off the strip, a short cab ride away. It doesn't look like much from the outside - it's located in a nondescript strip mall building and the bar itself doesn't have any windows...We had an Alesmith Wee Heavy and Grand Cru, a Victory Wild Devil and a Deschutes Abyss. All great beers and the bartender served to us in fresh glasses each time. Prices were very reasonable.

Thanks for the reco, Cass. I'm going to Vegas for a bachelor party and will have one night to myself where I can enjoy some decent beers. Looks like Freakin' Frog will be the spot, as it's only 4 minutes away from my hotel (Hard Rock on Paradise). Flood also told me it's the place to be. If time permits I might check out Yard House or Burger Bar.