Looking for about about 4-8 different bars along strip/at most 1 block off strip/Freemont area for a group of 10-16 guys to enjoy good music, good drinks, & fun crowd. We will already be checking out Carnival Court, but we are looking for some other options that don't have outrageous cover charges, & ridiculous drink prices. We are mostly from St. Louis, & are accustomed to bars that have good live music, and aren't the club setting. Let it rip! Looking forward to some recommendations!
how many nights are you looking at? one night downtown and one night on strip? east of downtown you have 10 or so bars that are worth checking out, also gold spike. On the strip coyote ugly, O sheas, DB's, Rock Bar. There are tons of places. Start at rockbar, the carnival court, then DB's then coyote ugly.
We'll be out ther this Thursday-Sunday (3 nights). I believe we are planning on staying around strip Thursday & Saturday night, & around Freemont Friday night. We're staying at MGM.
Not sure what Thursday your going, but I enjoyed pub crawl offered by vegas locals, 3rd thurday of the month http://www.vegas4locals.com/thirstythirdthursdaypubcrawl.html
I second this. Good selection of beers and good pub style food. At night they do dueling pianos if you're into that. Public House at Venetian is a little bit nicer than The Pub at Monte Carlo but has a good beer selection too. I strongly suggest picking up a couple tall boys at an ABC Store and do some people watching too.
Todd English at Aria's is a nice option. Two happy hours a day. On Fremont we always hit Memaids. Past July $1 Coors/Coors Light and $4 top shelf. Don't know what the occassion was but it worked for us. Pretty cool link to all of the Fremont bars: http://www.fremontstreetbars.com/fremont-street-las-vegas-map/
Live music might be a little touch to find especially with no/little cover. There are a few irish bars(one in NYNY, one in Mandalay Bay) that generally will have a band. Piano Bars in NYNY, Harrah's, and Paris. BB Kings House of Blue in Mandalay Bay Carnival Court you already mentioned I'm sure there are more, I just can't think of any. Most of the music I hear when in a casino is coming from a club, and not some bar with a band. Freemont will be easier I think. More than likely they will have a band or 2 just out on Freemont street. For bars I'd check out http://www.fremontstreetbars.com/ Others may be able to give more exact answers of potential bars downtown.
There is a lounge with a stage and live music (at least some nights) in Paris, Bally's and Planet Hollywood. No covers of which I am aware.
I can confirm they all have no cover. However, Paris and Ballys say 2 drink minimum which they never seem to enforce. Paris once had a "no outside beverage" sign, but I've walked in there with a drink and nobody said anything. I did not see that sign on the last trip.
Another vote for downtown For live music, I don't think you can beat downtown. As of last year, they have three outside stages with music pretty much every night. The people watching is great, and you can get beers cheaply in the casinos ($2 Corona, Heineken, Bud Light, Dos Equis at various places IIRC - you'll see the signs) and at the ABC store and other little stores on Fremont. The outdoor casino bars are more expensive but have pretty much any mixed drink you might want. Add in La Bayou and Mermaids for slushie drinks and you're pretty much good. Tip hustlers aside, you can't beat the scene downtown.
Johnny, I'm just an hour or two north of you in Illinois. If you go to Nine Fine Irishman In NYNY at around 10 pm, you won't be disappointed
last tims i went with a group of guys, we hit this newer bar on east fremont that was a block or 2 away from fse. cant remember the name, but it was a huge billiards joint, with probably 15 tables and very reasonable drinks. best part was they had a dj in there, but he was spinning rock music on vinyl. super cool vibe. also, if you and your buddies are gamers, its really worth it to go to insert coins on east fremont, if only for a drink or two. its a video game lounge, with tons of old arcade games. you can also do the bottle service thing with your own couch, bigscreen, and game console. beauty bar on east fremont is fun, but can be a freakshow, depending on what type of band is playing. my buddy pulled some strange here last time we went.