Well.
Just got back yesterday, good friend of ours was turning 30 and she wanted to do Vegas "right". Basically used all my prior trips plus the recommendations in here, and it was AMAZING. Thanks to everyone who contributes to this glorious thread, it really is so, so useful. The purpose of this post is to be useful and practical, not to tell stories (what happens in Vegas, and all that...). So don't read this LONG ### POST and complain that you weren't entertained. Because this won't be very entertaining, sorry! Haha
We had 9 people (two couples and the rest singles) in 5 total rooms staying at Cosmo. Four groups just wanted regular rooms, but my wife and I saw that fountain view balcony and we were sold. WELL WORTH EVERY CENT. I know I know it's just a room and you're never there. But I can't really describe how awesome it is to be able to watch the Bellaggio fountains while showering, or just sitting out on the balcony having a drink and checking out the show while the wife is getting ready, or waking up in the morning and the first thing you see is the Eiffel Tower. So awesome. The others did get good deals because we used Priceline and BetterBidding thanks to here.
Cosmo is really well done, very sleek and modern. Celebrity sightings included David Spade and Norm McDonald walking around, the worst 40% of the Backstreet Boys, and we missed seeing OJ Simpson getting kicked out by a day. Only made it to the pool once, the Chelsea pool, very nice scenery even on a 75 degree Thursday. The Chandelier Bar is world famous but unfortunately the top two levels were being renovated so we had to settle for the main floor. Not bad, but not what we were looking forward to. Oh well, next time. I somehow was there for four nights and never once made it to Secret Pizza. The one time we attempted to was Saturday night but it was 5:30 in the morning when we got back from Spearmint Rhino (look at me) and they apparently close at 5. Had to settle for Eggslut, which the girls all raved about every day but I thought was just ok. Cookies were great though.
Thursday we had breakfast at Bruxie and dinner at Casa di Amore. Our friend's boss recommended Amore as authentic eye-Talian. It's east of the strip literally next door to the Gun Store. The ravioli was awesome, the drinks left a little to be desired for me, but I had a lot anyway just to cover the bases. And the live entertainment was total kitschy Vegas with the coiffed hair and the super white teeth, crooning out old school hits AND a ton of 80's sitcom theme songs (a certain patron may have been drunkenly requesting Golden Girls and Perfect Strangers at some point - loudly - and was pleasantly surprised with Growing Pains). I'd recommend the place for the food and entertainment alone.
Went downtown Friday. Frankie's Tiki Room is about halfway between north strip and downtown and looks crappy outside, but inside it's awesome. The bartender told me it would "ruin all other mai tais" for me, and she wasn't lying. Holy crap was it good. Every drink on the menu looks awesome, and all of us were in love. Oscar's is a really cool dinner spot, definitely not as good as Craftsteak but it holds its own. Neon Museum was ok, our tour guide wasn't very entertaining but she was knowledgeable. Thought it would be cool to do it at night, but all it really did was prevent us from going to other places we wanted to be more. Hit up Atomic Liquors after that, wasn't anything special but hadda do it once. Pizza Rock was incredibly great (coming from a Jersey guy, that should be meaningful), and finished up our night at Peppermill. We got a seat around the fire, and one of our drunken friends may have dipped her toes in the hot ### water, so that's fun. Peppermill is a tremendous place to finish up a night. Such a Vegas vibe, everything all purple neon lit up and really enhances your drunkenness. Never got to Container Park although it might have been a bit cold and looked closed anyway when we walked past, and never got to Gold Spike which someone in here recommended. Again, next time.
Mon Ami Gabi for Saturday brunch is a must every time we go. Had too many people to get patio seating in a timely manner (2 hour wait for the patio, and wasn't even worth slipping someone a $20 because there were no empty seats and it woulda been at least 30-40 minutes anyway unless they kicked someone out haha). Ended up booking Yellowtail at Bellagio Saturday night. Don't think it's been mentioned in here at least not recently, but it's delicious. Not quite on the level of a Nobu, but a small notch down. I was pretty surprised we got a rez so easily, and the place wasn't half full when we were there. It's right next to the fountains, but it doesn't have great views unless you're at this one table in what I guess is the northeast corner behind a makeshift wall. Not sure if you can even see them from there though to be honest, so don't quote me. Some favorites of the group included: Spicy miso soup, big eye tuna pizza, tempura crab, rock shrimp (omg), and crispy kalbi. After dinner, I hustled some of our team over to MGM for dessert. Another staple every time I go is to hit Craftsteak. Didn't get dinner there, but I knew the girls would be in heaven over the monkeybread. I think I ordered three of them for five of us, and we were literally scraping the plates when we were done. Wife and I got the Two Smoking Barrels bourbon drink they serve there. For my money, there might not be a better dessert combo on the planet than that and the monkeybread with vanilla ice cream. Uber back to mid-strip, struck out getting into some club at Caesars, so it was off to pick up the whole team and head to Spearmint Rhino, many details of which will remain unsaid since I'm not so anonymous here like some of you!
But I will say, if you bring a group of 5 girls and 3 guys (1 poor ******* wasn't feeling well and skipped it) and you get a party bus to pick you up, pay no cover, then order bottle service, and stay til almost 5am, you're gonna have a good time...
Sunday morning we all wanted to die. Instead, we had already booked a non-refundable ATV tour in the desert (yay?). Took about a half hour to get to the spot, fill out all the waivers and crap, and then another 15 min to the course. Really pretty area, just wide open spaces with mountains surrounding you, and to top it off there was an air show going on all day so we had that happening overhead. The tour was so much fun, at least until I decided to go top speed around a curve and flipped the thing on top of my leg. Still had some adrenaline left and finished the course, but man that was some scary crap. Still can't walk now two days later. Respect those things, yikes. Dined at Yardbird on the way back (another staple of every trip, thanks to you guys). That chicken and a Yardbird old fashioned really started the night off right. Then off to Zumanity. Girls liked it more than the guys, but the two chicks swimming on top of each other in an elevated pool while we were in the first row was pretty cool. Then off to gamble, drink, whatever the last night away...
And now it's back to reality. Until next time...
. It will be glorious!!!!
I was there from 9-10 pm. We got the last available reservation apparently.![[icon]](/data/avatars/m/5/5167.jpg?1660313464){kind=avatar}
