Searching for Happy Hour Deals in Las Vegas
Finding a decent happy hour deal in Las Vegas is getting to be as difficult as winning big at the casinos. You can pay pretty much as much as you want for a drink, or you can pay basically nothing. Here’s what we found:
Drink and Food deals at Stage Door “Casino”
This is my new favorite Las Vegas dive bar. It says it’s a casino, but it’s more of a bar with slot machines. For $2, you can get a bottle of Busch and shot of Ancient Age whiskey. Or you can get a hotdog and a Budweiser for $2.50. Or splurge and get a brat and a Longboard Lager for $3. The prices are insane and are not happy-hour dependent. It’s always cheap.
The bar surface is entirely covered in video poker machines, so there are gambling subsidies in play here. Still, better to play here and enjoy the bar scene than to play in a big casino and wait for free drinks alone. Or just take advantage of the drinks like we did.
Cheap Beers on the Strip: Casino Royale and Slots-a-Fun
Stage Door is 200 yards from the strip, so that’s how fast prices drop. On the strip, however, there are still two great beer deals — $1 beers (used to be Beck’s, now it’s Michelob) at the Casino Royale ($1 margaritas too) at $2 beers in front of Circus-Circus at Slots-a-Fun. Funnily, Slots-a-Fun says they have the cheapest beer on the strip. The sign guy must not travel as far south as we did. Again, these are all-day deals. And by all-day, I’m pretty sure that means 24-hours here in Las Vegas. Breakfast beer … yum.
Free Beer at Todd English’s P.U.B.
New places have good deals to lure people away from the established spots. That’s the case at P.U.B.
Here, you can score two free beers … if you chug them in 7 seconds. Ask the bartender for the details … and ask about the guy that put away 14 of these before they capped it at two.
For the rest of us, the deal is 1/2 off drafts and glasses of wine and cheap wings, oysters, and sliders during happy hour (3PM-6PM).
Drink Coupons at Diablo’s Cantina
We stumbled onto this one after getting lucky at the Monte Carlo Casino. Time it right, and a guy out front will give you a coupon for a $3 drink. You can get either a house margarita or draft beer. The food looks good here, but we were saving ourselves for Aureole and didn’t try any.
Vodka Drink Deals at Red Square
At Red Square, they serve $5 cocktails Monday-Friday from 4PM-7PM and Saturday-Sunday from 2PM-7PM. The catch is that they only offer two choices at the deal price. They also offer 5 different appetizers for $5 during happy hour.
The more interesting deal is probably the caviar and vodka deal. Get an ounce of “free” caviar when you purchase the right combination of drinks (ask the waitress to explain).
Nothing at Olives at the Bellagio
Another Todd English joint, this one has been around for a while and, alas, offers no happy hour deal. Expect to pay fully inflated prices here. They’ve got to pay for their $1,600,000,000 hotel somehow. Best to win big first, then grab a drink here.
NOTE: By the time you visit (even if it’s tomorrow), 50% of these places will have been demolished or closed. This site, assuming it stays in business, should have all the latest deals: lasvegashappyhour.net.