"las vegas" news and stories

A weekly look at the draft selection in beer-friendly bars across the country.

Memorial Day marks the beginning of summer vacation season, so we turn our attention to one of America's largest tourist destinations, Las Vegas. Sin City has every indulgence one could ever hope for, and great beer is no exception. With a nice tap selection and an absurdly hefty bottled beer list featuring more than 900 possibilities, one of Vegas's best places to find rare brews is the Freakin' Frog.

Located across from UNLV's campus, Freakin' Frog may sound more aimed at college kids than tourists, but the bar is tailored to anyone looking for unique beers -- it boasts 900 bottles, 600 whiskeys, 300 tequilas and 15 taps. With an unassuming location in a strip mall a couple miles east of that "other" Strip, the Frog is a perfect alternative to the madness people associate with this desert city. "We're not a college bar," says owner Adam Carmer. "We're an intellectual, alcoholic coffee shop. We get people from all over the city, all over the country, all over the world."

Check out the Freakin' Frog's draft list after the jump.

Frank Sinatra was a man who loved to dine. Indeed, he was many a restaurants' favorite patron, from the neighborhood pizzeria to more upscale spots. Additionally, his picture hangs in hundreds, probably thousands of places he never even set foot in because Sinatra means Italian food.

The ultimate in Frank-revering restaurants has opened in the new Encore casino in Las Vegas, where Sinatra (Well, what would you call it?) is the first restaurant fully sanctioned by Ol' Blue Eyes' family. So sanctioned that it's bursting with enough memorabilia to stock a museum; not only photos, but gold records, Grammys and Frank's Best Supporting Actor award for From Here to Eternity grace the dining room, which puts a glossy, post-modern spin on Sinatra's signature Palm Beach style.

Heading up the kitchen is executive chef Theo Schoenegger (formerly of LA's Patina) whose Italian cuisine eschews red sauce and Mama Dolly's pasta for dishes possessed of a more minimalist elegance with a few simple, fresh ingredients applied to maximum effect. Order up a chairman-approved cocktail and toast the good life.

The point of fast-food franchises is instant familiarity--every outlet serving the same food under the same sign in essentially the same building. But McDonald's has been messing with that paradigm, opening new restaurants that are hard to recognize as the home of Ronald and the Big Mac. Viva McDonald's recently opened on the Las Vegas Strip, tearing down a 25-year-old golden arches to rebuild a slick new restaurant. The arch is still there--at least one, anyway--stretched as a marquee above a row of 20-foot wide video screens. Inside, there's something of the Quonset hut design of a Chipotle, along with even more screens, all broadcasting McDonald's own in-house TV channel. You can even get a latte and use wi-fi!

Not enough change for you? How about the McDonald's with no branding at all, not even the name. In Tokyo, the fast-food megalith has opened several small restaurants named, simply, Quarter Pounder. There's not an arch in sight--the black-and-red decor looks more like a bar or nightclub and even the wrappers are redesigned, streamlined and logo-free. However, don't get your hopes up about a chic new shame-based No-I-Am-Not-a-McDonald's: The stores are open as part of a promotion for the quarter pounder, which was not previously available in Japan.

Tiki has long been a beloved sub-genre of American culture, revered by those who love retro, irony, carved wooden heads, eccentric glassware and powerful, fruity drinks. All these things come together at the tiki hourse of worship: The tiki bar. Yet tiki bars are few and far between, with many having been torn down or stripped of their grandeur--only a few beloved relics like San Francisco's Tonga Room, Los Angeles' Tiki Ti and Tuscon's Kon Tiki remain.

But there's a new tiki in a town that rides its own undercurrent of retro and irony. Las Vegas now hosts the planet's only 24-hour tiki bar: Frankie's Tiki Room, which offically opens today, December 4.

Frankie's is a lovingly crafted example of authentic tiki style, with woven palm thatching, carved wooden chairs and blowfish lamps, along with one-of-a-kind art and design by tiki titan Bosko and space-age bachelor pad painter Shag, among others.

But, of course, no tiki bar is a true tiki bar without an extensive selection of fruity, sugary, unexpectedly powerful drinks. The menu at Frankie's Tiki Hut goes all out, offering classic rum-and-pineapple tropical beverages like the Mai Tai and the Zombie made with original Don the Beachcomber recipes. There is also an abundance of specially-created cocktails like the Mojito-esque Bearded Clam, the clover-and-hazelnut spiced Jonas Grumby and the Bombora Blast, which combines 151-proof rum with guava-flavored energy drink. The menu categorizes drinks, with a rating of two to five skulls indicating strength, from pleasant libation to lethal concotion. Given the deceptively sweet nature of tiki drinks, it's a big help.

My friend Nicole swears by Ethel's Chocolate. Seriously, she said, "They are the greatest chocolates I have ever eaten." That's high praise as Nicole loves her chocolate.

I checked out Ethel's online and their chocolates are gorgeous, like, audible gasp-gorgeous. These are obviously the best host gift (or loved-one gift, or self-gift) chocolates for this holiday season. Their holiday-themed packages are stunning, and even the regular sets, as you can see, are colorful and exciting. That's right, I said "exciting." They're also affordable; a 12-piece box is just $16.

Ethel's actually has lounges in Las Vegas and Chicago (and surrounding areas), which I certainly did not know. They cater to those passionate about chocolate who want to explore and experience "one of life's greatest pleasures." There are drinks. I shall consider these lounges chocolate brothels. And I want to go.

If you're not in Vegas or Chicago, like most of the world, Ethel's chocolates, in a stunning array of colors, are available online here. Check out our gallery for some great holiday gift ideas!

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