The Tailgater Tavern sits on West Russell Road, less than a half-mile from Allegiant Stadium, and it is built for exactly one job: a cheap, cold beer and a clear screen on game day, around the clock.
The tavern runs 24 hours and pours 24 beers on tap, a ratio that tells you what kind of room this is. The official site pitches it as a laid-back spot to watch the UNLV Rebels, the Golden Knights, and the Raiders, and the Las Vegas Review-Journal folds it into its annual guide to the city's NFL bars. For a former bartender, the appeal is the lack of pretense.
The room
This is a no-frills tavern, not a casino showroom: a long bar, tap wall, screens spread wide, and bar-top gaming for the locals. Harlow checks the bad seats first, and the Tailgater earns the pass because the screens are scattered around the room rather than banked in one corner, so a stool near the door still has something to watch. The trade-off is size. This is a neighborhood-scale room, so a Raiders home game packs it and the noise climbs fast.
What to order
Work the 24 taps, because that draft wall is the whole point and the value sits there at the $$ price. A local craft pour or a domestic pitcher both fit a tavern like this better than a cocktail. The kitchen runs tavern food built for watching the game, so wings and a burger are the safe call. Skip the room if you want a serious mixed drink. The Tailgater is a beer-and-a-game bar and it knows it.
The crowd and best time to go
The crowd skews Raiders and Knights fans before and after events at Allegiant, with a steady locals base filling the off-hours that the 24-hour door keeps open. On a stadium night the half-mile walk makes this a natural pre-game and post-game stop, so arrive at least 90 minutes before kickoff to claim a seat with a screen. The quiet window is a weekday afternoon, when the taps are fresh and the room is yours.
What regulars say
The repeated praise on Yelp and Tripadvisor is the tap selection, the prices, and the proximity to Allegiant, with regulars treating it as the default tailgate annex. The common complaint is capacity on the biggest event nights, when a small room meets a stadium crowd. Reviewers tell first-timers to grab the bar for the quickest service and the best line on the nearest screen.
Who it is for
The Tailgater is for the stadium fan who wants a cheaper, cooler seat a short walk from the gate, for the local chasing 24 taps at odd hours, and for anyone who rates a sports bar on beer and sightlines over decor. Skip it if you want a Strip view or table service. It is a working tavern that takes game day at face value.
The verdict
Two things make the Tailgater Tavern worth the queue line on a stadium night. The first is the location, less than a half-mile from Allegiant, which turns it into the obvious pre-game and post-game beer without the in-stadium markup. The second is the tap wall, 24 beers deep, paired with an all-hours door that keeps the room open long after the final whistle. The Review-Journal's NFL bar guide flags it for a reason, and on a Raiders Sunday the energy earns its place. The value holds at $$, the crowd is fans rather than tourists, and the only real cost is a small footprint that fills when the stadium does. For a cold draft and a clean screen a short walk from the gate, the Tailgater is the call.
For the rest of the city's game-day options, see our guide to the best sports bars in Las Vegas and the editorial pillar on the top Las Vegas sports bars. A bigger-screen alternative on the Strip is Tom's Watch Bar in Las Vegas, while the wider scene is mapped in the Las Vegas bar guide.
Sources: The Tailgater Tavern official site (2026); Las Vegas Review-Journal NFL bar guide; Yelp reviews; Tripadvisor.
