Best Casino (or dive-bar) Drink?

[ZachGarner]

I'm going back to Las Vegas again. While I'm happy about the free drinks, I'm not happy about the quality (you get what you pay for).

Last time I was there, we got by on Tequilla & Orange Juice. After a few days of that, we tried a Peña Colada and quickly decided that it was a bad idea.

So the question: What kind of cocktail do you get, when the 'art' in bartending has been entirely left out.

[Tiger21]

I say go for something on the rocks or straight. These drinks are hard to mess up or water down.

[beans]

A double welcome to ZachGarner and Tiger21! Welcome to eG newbies!

Much can go wrong with rocks or straight -- starting with the quality of the booze. If an option, I'd go with the preferred brand of bottled beer, however I'm sure draught ruins that suggestion. (Draught, too many variables to ruin the taste of any particular beer).

Loads of free rot gut, no thanks. I'll pay for the poison of my choice. (Yes, I've gone with a glass of $40 cognac or JWBlue on occasion). And I happily seek out and pay for the talents of any barkeep worth the margarita salt in their rimmer.

[Chris Cognac]

you cant beat the standard vodka cranberry...If you take care of the bartender while playing video poker at the bar, there is a good chance of you getting ketel one or other high end vodka...

[trillium]

Being a generous tipper helps with the quality issue of free drinks, well, it helps anywhere actually. My stomach isn't what it used to be, and like beans, these days I'll pay to have my booze of choice, but I totally dig your problem. My dive bar drinks used to be, depending on the weather, Manhattans on the rocks with extra bitters or a gin and tonic with extra lime. Notice the extras, they help...

regards,

trillium

[Mark Sommelier]

I'm going back to Las Vegas again. While I'm happy about the free drinks, I'm not happy about the quality (you get what you pay for).

Last time I was there, we got by on Tequilla & Orange Juice. After a few days of that, we tried a Peña Colada and quickly decided that it was a bad idea.

So the question: What kind of cocktail do you get, when the 'art' in bartending has been entirely left out.

Zach,

Welcome to eGullet! If you are going to Las Vegas, you absolutely MUST have some drinks at Kahunaville in the Treasure Island hotel. These guys are all "extreme" bartenders. You will not believe the showmanship that goes into the making of every drink. Throughout the night they stop the service for 10 minutes and have bartender contests. I saw one guy stack 16 shaker cups, tilt it and pour 16 drinks all at once. It was absolutely amazing. What they do makes the movie Cocktail look like kindergarten. For a little preview check out:

http://www.kahunaville.com

http://www.extremebartending.com

[Sazerac]

I know this is a far cry from free drinks, but if you want to drink the best cocktails in Vegas and don't care about the juggling show, make a beeline to the Petrossian Bar in the Bellagio; it's between the reception area and the casino.

I've had some of the finest drinks of my life in that bar, made by a bartending staff that's incredibly knowledgeable and who go to more continuing education classes than most physicians I know. Michael, our favorite bartender there, told us when we first went there that he had been a bartender in Vegas for 25 years, the last 4 at Bellagio. He said that he had learned more about cocktails, spirits and wines in the last 4 years than in the previous 21 combined. Tony Abou-Ganim and the rest of the beverage staff there are serious about libations. They're all artists, as far as I'm concerned.

They're not cheap by any means, though; last time I was there I specified 13-Year-Old Pappy Van Winkle rye whiskey in my Manhattan, and it arrived with a price tag of $15.25. I gaped for a minute, and then realized all I could do was laugh. I tipped the cocktail waitress $3, said "What the heck, I'm on vacation" and proceeded to have was was perhaps the best Manhattan I had ever been served in any bar.

Chuck