Best bartop comp drinks, irrespective of paytables?

There seems to be a ton of quantitative analysis of a VP bar's "quality", trying to balance payback % with how many drinks you can get and how frequently. Bang for your buck, drinks for your dollars, Coronas for your cash.

What there doesn't seem to be a lot of, is qualitative analyses. More specifically... what are the "nicest" drinks you can get comped while playing a bartop, not taking paytables/payback % into account?

For instance, I love me a good vodka martini with a twist, at times when I'm not in the mood for beer. What I'm not a fan of, is...

- Being served a martini in a plastic cup
- Getting 1 oz of room temperature Smirnoff
- Hearing that I can get house vodka and a mixer for free, but have to pay for anything else

So, for not-so-serious VP/bartop players who aren't especially bothered about the difference between 98% payback and 99.5% payback, where might one find "nice" drinks that don't look like they came from 7-Eleven, and don't taste like cost-control?

 

I've never been a VP diehard, but I've been playing a bit more on my last few trips. Spent 3.5 hours last night at Cosmo's Chandelier bar playing DDB. Drink tickets came out faster than my fiance and I could use them, and I was the only one playing (quarters, max bet). It felt like they were coming out every 20 minutes or so.

We got several specialty cocktails comped, including a verbena of course. Also managed to hit 6 quads, including 3 premium quads. Had a great time, and still have a bunch of leftover drink tickets to use tonight. The tickets say they're good for 2 hours, but they'll take them up to 24 hours later.

Edit: Just looked at my tickets since we're getting ready to head down. They're time-stamped and it looks like they were coming out every 10-15 minutes. I was playing at a fair clip, but not super fast. Maybe 250 hands per hour, but that's a really rough estimate.

 

There was a recent thread similiar to this and I think the general consensus was that the Chandelier Bar at Cosmo serves up the some of the best drinks due to their specialty cocktails that they will comp while playing VP.

Though I'm not a drink connoisseur by any means, I've been able to call and see the bartender pour the vodka brands that I want at Mirage, Cosmo, and the bar at Harrahs sportsbook.

I've received some push back on call drinks at Flamingo, Linq, Plaza, and Excalibur while playing VP.

 

For the strip? Cosmo Chandelier as long as you don't want more than 3 drinks per hour and/or don't play slow (~300 hands/hr).

 

Go during the day prior to 3:00 o MSS Boar's Head bar and tell Oleg you want a specific drink or "something" made with --------(fill in alcohol choice). He has many unique pairings. Jose after 4:00 can do similar. Only seen Patron have restrictions as to "free". Never had a problem ordering anything in the past until the next day sometimes. Maybe my wife is too simple.

 

As mentioned their is another thread basically covering this topic...

My vote is either the Bond or Chandlier bar at Cosmo. Grey Goose is included in the comp drinks.

 

To be fair, the difference is often more like 99.5% and 95%. 7/5 and 6/5 JOB is 10x or more house edge than a FP machine.

Not disagreeing with your overall premise, I understand the cost of entertainment and all, but often you can just pay the $16 for the drink and play elsewhere and still end up ahead.

 

I would agree there cannot be a better place than either Bond or Chandelier. Sportsbook at Cosmo doesnt have the same drink quality - confirmed as a bartender who made fantastic drinks at Bond, couldn't make the same quality drink since they are not really set up with the same fresh juices etc. It is a beer/shot bar.

I will say that the lobby bar at El Cortez makes great drinks (I assume Parlour Bar as well). If you want a downtown option for good drinks... Anywhere else downtown is fairly standard.

 

I enjoy a really good STRONG Crown N Coke or a high end merlot at the Chandelier Bar at Cosmo.

 

+1 for chandelier bar at cosmo. Played there at a decent pace (~300-350 hands/hour max betting quarters) and had drink tickets every 12-15 minutes. People also tend to leave them at the bar if they don't want anymore... might just be my experience but found 3 drink tickets altogether on 2 trips to Cosmo.