Town Square Las Vegas Presents High Quality Nightlife

All kinds of good things are happening at Town Square Las Vegas, located just south of Mandalay Bay on Las Vegas Blvd. Here are a couple of spots to check out:

BLUE MARTINI – Impressive in size, design and ability to draw huge, enthusiastic crowds, Blue Martini is the newest locals’ hot spot. Choose from all different kinds of custom martinis and enjoy the live bands that sit directly behind the bartender, like choices on the liquor shelf.

A few steps into this newly opened ultra-lounge and you’ll realize you’ve walked (or stumbled) into something hot. The bar stays open until “4 a.m.”, with waitresses doing the little quote marks thing with their hands when they say “4 a.m.”. It sometimes stays open as late as 7 a.m.

Locals wanting to avoid tourists at all costs are strongly encouraged to check out Blue Martini.

YARD HOUSE – Directly below Blue Martini is the different but equally impressive Yard House, a restaurant and bar that serves up surprisingly good food and more beers on tap than you can imagine. If it wasn’t for the Freakin’ Frog and it’s mind-boggling selection of more than 900 beers, Yard House might very well boast the best beer menu in Vegas. It definitely carries the most beers on tap hands down, hundreds to choose from. Beer enthusiasts never had it so good.

If that’s not motivation enough, it’s tourist-free just like Blue Martini. There’s no way anyone outside of Las Vegas knows about these places yet. Take advantage! The crowds are still Vegas-size, just without the annoyance of super-drunk visitors. If super-drunk locals are more your speed, check out Yard House.

Town Square Las Vegas gets the stamp of approval from this blog.

What To Do If You’re In Vegas (Cinco de Mayo Weekend)

Living in Las Vegas means there’s never a good reason not to party. Even if you have only one day off a week and it falls on, let’s say, Tuesday you can still head over to somewhere like Jet and join in on that club’s weekly Monday night superbash, or even CatHouse or any of several spots that throw ridiculous Monday night parties.

This week might be a good one to hold off on the early-week stuff, however, because the weekend ahead is intense:

FRIDAY (5/2) – First Friday is back already, and with the weather warming up the turnout on Fremont Street just keeps getting better. Check out Beauty Bar, Griffin and Downtown Cocktail Room, and don’t forget about Brass! No reason to miss out on this, if you’ve never been go now!

SATURDAY-SUNDAY (5/3-5/4) – Pool season has begun (more on this soon), and you need to hit one of an ever-increasing number of insane pool parties. Rehab, at the Hard Rock, is the craziest of the crazy, taking place every Sunday. Bare at the Mirage should also be a good spot this Sunday, with 944 Magazine hosting special events all weekend.

MONDAY (5/5) – Cinco de Mayo! Dos Caminos at Palazzo and Border Grill at Mandalay Bay are both great Mexican restaurants to check out for this festive occasion.

Stay tuned for more on Cinco de Mayo and pool season!

What To Do If You’re In Vegas (4/14-4/17)

Can’t get the party out of your system from the weekend? You’re always in luck in Las Vegas, where insane parties rage at places like Jet Nightclub on Monday nights! Be sure to keep your responsibilities in order, but check out these mid-week (by Vegas standards Monday through Thursday is mid-week) hot spots:

MONDAY 4/14 - Make a night of it at the Mirage, beginning with Spy On Vegas Open Bar at Revolution Lounge at 6 p.m. Follow up by checking out Flight Night at Jet Nightclub, consistently the hottest party in town on Monday nights. You’ll have to wait a while to get in unless you have some pretty good connections, so be prepared.

TUESDAY 4/15 – Drink for free two nights in a row and head down to another Open Bar party, this time at Puff (Flamingo and Maryland). Puff is part bar, part hookah lounge and should provide an interesting, upscale take on a traditional hookah hangout. Go to Blush (inside Wynn) later in the night for “The Real” Sean Christie’s birthday party. Christie is a nightlife superstar in Las Vegas, formerly at Jet as a marketing specialist.

WEDNESDAY 4/16 – Body English at Hard Rock is a good stop if you’re trying to party Wednesday night.

THURSDAY 4/17 – Yayo Tequila Bar and Stoney’s Rockin’ Country are both highly recommended! More to come on Thursday’s must-go events.

Eating Cheap in Vegas

An average person who qualifies for food stamps gets about $1.08 per meal from the government. That’s nearly impossible for anyone to handle. Top Ramen and Kool-Aid only go so far.

More than perhaps any other city, Las Vegas is full of cheap eating options, even if you never set foot in the grocery store. Some of the following options don’t cash in at less than $1.08, but with a budget of $3.25 per day or $93 per month, some of these are possible if the consumer is willing to sacrifice a few times and go for Ramen for a few meals (10 cents per serving).

Health factors notwithstanding, here are some of the cheapest eats in Las Vegas:

ELLIS ISLAND (Flamingo and Koval) - The steak special is a feast for only $6.95, but even that’s too much on a food-stamp budget. For $2, however, you can get a breakfast special that includes two eggs, biscuits and gravy and bacon or sausage. The food at Ellis Island is high quality for the low price. This would only leave $1.25 for the rest of the day, but what a great start!

TUSCANY (Flamingo and Paradise) – This place has all kinds of cheap specials in its cafe all day, but after midnight is the time to hit up the Tuscany. $1 Pancakes, $2 biscuits and gravy and $3 steak and eggs are all available from 12 a.m. to 5 a.m.

SLOTS-A-FUN – (on the Strip nest to Circus Circus) – If giant 99 cent hot dogs and cheap pizza and beer are enough to get you through the day, then $3.25 at Slots-a-Fun is money well spent. The hot dog is no joke for less than a dollar, easily a meal in itself.

GOLD SPIKE (Downtown) – Perhaps the centerpiece of cheap dinning in Vegas. Lots of $2 breakfasts and full course dinners for $5-$6. Even on a tiny budget, you could save for a few days and splurge here.

It’s definitely not easy to stay healthy, but someone could get by for quite a while on a limited budget. $1.08 per meal though? Even in Las Vegas, a person would eventually starve.