The Best Cocktail Bars in Las Vegas

Behind a bookcase at the back of a record store, which is exactly as good as it sounds. The Velvet Parlor seats twenty-two and operates on a reservation-only policy Tuesday through Saturday. The cocktail list runs to twelve drinks, each built around a specific spirit producer — Tuesday's menu might feature bourbon from a single Kentucky distillery, Thursday's might run entirely on Japanese whisky. Call ahead; the menu rotates weekly.

Order: Ask for the bartender's current favourite — they will always tell you honestly

The most serious hotel cocktail program on the Strip, occupying a corner of the lobby that the design team got right — dark marble, low brass pendants, seating that allows actual conversation. The head bartender came from a James Beard-nominated bar in Chicago, and the menu shows that pedigree: every drink has a clear point of view, every spec is documented to the millilitre. Expensive, but worth it at least once.

Order: The 1952 — aged rum, Amaro Montenegro, house banana-cinnamon bitters

A former metalworks warehouse with exposed steel beams and a cocktail menu written on a blackboard that gets erased and rewritten every two weeks. The Foundry operates in the middle ground between dive bar and craft destination — the drinks are excellent but the prices stay reasonable, and the crowd reflects that: regulars who live in the area alongside visitors who know where to look. Best on a Wednesday when the bartender runs the classic rotation.

Order: The Paper Plane variation with Aperol swapped for Cynar

The name is a joke about Strip economics that the owners seem to find funnier than anyone else. High Margin sits fourteen floors up with an unobstructed west-facing view, and the cocktail list takes full advantage of the setting — everything is designed to be photographed and to taste good, which is a harder combination to achieve than it looks. The agave section is the strongest part of the menu; the tequila program covers eight producing regions.

Order: The Highland — blanco tequila, mezcal, prickly pear, lime, sal de chapulines rim

A members-focused bar that has a walk-in policy for guests who know to ask at the door. The room is small — sixteen seats at the bar, four booths — and the cocktail menu is built entirely around the staff's current obsessions, which rotate quarterly. The last menu ran entirely on fortified wines; the one before that explored the full category of American vermouths. Worth visiting just to see what they are working with this season.

Order: The house Bamboo variation — seasonal sherry, dry vermouth, house citrus bitters

Summerlin's best kept cocktail secret, operating in a strip mall between a nail salon and a dry cleaner. The interior is sleek despite the location — all dark wood and copper fixtures — and the menu runs to fifteen cocktails that the owner writes with seasonal ingredients from the Desert Farmers Market. The regulars are local; the bartenders are serious; the prices are what Vegas cocktails should cost everywhere but mostly don't.

Order: The Desert Gimlet — gin, house-pressed lime, cardamom syrup, fresh herb float

Twenty-two floors above the Strip with a 270-degree view and a cocktail menu that actually justifies the cover charge. The bar team here rotates on a schedule that brings in a new guest bartender every month — someone from New York, Chicago, London, Tokyo — which means the menu never feels static. Book at least a week out for weekend evenings; walk-in availability exists on weeknights before 9pm.

Order: Whatever the current guest bartender's signature is — always listed first on the menu

The best rooftop cocktail bar in Downtown Las Vegas, partly because it does not try to compete with the Strip on spectacle. The view is of the city grid rather than the hotels, which suits the clientele — locals, designers, the occasional touring musician. The cocktail list is the most thoughtful on any rooftop in the city: twelve drinks, each built around a specific flavour argument rather than a colour or aesthetic.

Order: The Printed Circuit — Genever, green Chartreuse, coconut water, activated charcoal salt

Named for the classic equal-parts cocktail, which they make better than anywhere else in Nevada. The Last Word is a neighbourhood bar in Henderson that happens to run one of the most technically rigorous cocktail programs in the city. No velvet rope, no reservation system, no dress code — just a room of regulars and a bartender who has been practicing the same craft for twelve years. The Martini is made to order, specification, and preference. Go before the crowds find it.

Order: The Last Word (classic) — equal parts gin, green Chartreuse, maraschino, fresh lime