Las Vegas Off Strip – Because Sometimes you Need To Go

We really wanted more than casino bars and your typical Vegas fare when we decided to do a little remote working.

So we had to dig in for this trip and find what you need to know before you go for the fantastic, slightly “extra” experience when doing Las Vegas right.

A little Disclosure

Peggy and I lived in Vegas in the 90s.  Post college, early baby years, in total we spent about 6 years living out in Summerlin.  We have knowledge of the city from a more-than-a-tourist point-of-view.  It’s been a while, but it did provide us with the comfortability of Las Vegas outside of the Strip.

Sister Side Note (ssn) – those were great years…if you could just imagine us in our 20’s. Many people who only visit the Strip wonder what it would be like to live in Vegas. It is fantastic! The outlying areas are just like any other suburb – except that your neighbor might be a stripper (true story). The restaurants are wonderful – lots of ethnic variety, it is quite beautiful with many outdoor activities, and people like to visit!

Renting a car while in Las Vegas is a good, and often cheap choice, if you are the kind of person who doesn’t just want to hole up in a casino on the Strip.  Having a car allows you to see Hoover Dam, go hiking at Red Rocks or the Valley of Fire, and see some of the beauty of the valley.  There are so many amazing local restaurants, bars, and shopping places in Las Vegas. It’s a shame so many people don’t venture outside of the big casino mega-complexes.

Our Off Strip Adventure Day

Bright and Early for Sunrise and Seven Magic Mountains

Day one is always our big GSD day. 

ssn – that’s Get Stuff Done (if you’re our mother), or Get Shit Done (if you’re most anyone else)

Seven Magic Mountains is a large-scale desert art installation. Technically on Las Vegas Blvd, but very off the Strip.  You can Uber out here, but we opted for a one day car rental to hit some spots on our list. 

Seven Magic Mountains had mixed reviews, people either love it and list it as a “can’t miss” spot for tourists or to others, it’s weird and stupid and why bother.  No one seems middle of the road about Seven Magic Mountains.

It was closed for renovating (painting) while we were there, but I still loved it.  It was fenced off and construction crews were refreshing the paint. But it was bright and colorful, and I thought it was really cool. 

It is about 15 min south, but it is a quick little side trip to get away from the casinos and bright lights.

In Las Vegas and it’s too early for breakfast?

We stumbled upon Distill by accident. One wrong turn and 45 minutes to kill before Lola opened, Distill had an open sign. And we had an alcohol need, it was Kismet.

There are several Distill bars in Las Vegas, but we had never heard of it.  It was fantastic.  Loved the atmosphere and décor.  A little section in front of the tv with couches and lounge chairs for catching a game, other spots with traditional bar tables for food.  They do traditional bar food, along with a full menu of burgers, salads, sliders and wraps.  This is definitely someplace I see hanging out at when we are visiting family or just hanging out for off-strip down days.

We did it for the ‘Gram

The cutest little brunch spot exists on the west side called Café Lola. Pink and fluffy, and perfect for a bougie girls mimosa day. 

The décor is spot on, it’s so girly, and makes you feel like you are spoiled and loved just being there. 

What to drink

Mainly a coffee café, they run a full menu of coffee drinks to choose from. Innovative and interesting flavor combinations.  They have coffee and tea lattes bolstered with superfood additives (think spirulina, turmeric, beet root), as alternative ingredients like matcha and lavender.

However, for us bougie, girly mimosa day people, they have a selection of wines and champagne-based cocktails.  I had to try the Cotton Candy Cocktail after my fantastic experience in Dallas.

And there’s food

To go with the light and fluffy décor, the menu is mainly lighter fare (no steak and eggs, or biscuits and gravy here).  They have a full display of pastries in the case, or a light menu of salads, sandwiches and toasts. 

Burrata and prosciutto with fig jam?  Salmon Toast (Barney’s Upper East Toast)? Yes, please!  That’s definitely in our wheel house. 

All fresh and light, and pretty.  Checkout their strawberry shortcake waffle for a sweet, bright treat for breakfast!

Quick stop

Are you a dive bar lover?  Just across the freeway (I-15) from the strip is one of the diviest dive bars I have ever experienced:  The Rusty Spur Saloon.  You’ll know it by the huge silver Unicorn out front, but don’t let that give you the impression that there is any redeemable quality about the Rusty Spur except for the drinks and the full-on dive bar experience.

ssn – you KNOW I wanted to climb on that unicorn. It was however, too tall…and I was too sober…

A Little History Thrown in

The Mob Museum is located just two blocks north of Fremont in Downtown Las Vegas.

I was skeptical but had heard from other people that is was actually a great museum. 

And there is a speakeasy in the basement, so clearly, we had to go.

It was actually a great little museum.  It’s not going to take up more than a couple hours of your time and covers early Vegas, and the mobs influence on the town’s growth. In the old Las Vegas courthouse, it’s three floors of information and sectioned by timeline. 

You can add on several extra experiences including the distillery tour and tasting and a crime lab experience. But to begin, take the elevator up to the top.

The Mob Museum

Start on the third floor with the origins of the mob, how they organized, how they moved in to Vegas, and background on famous mobsters we’ve seen all the movies about.

The old courtroom on the second floor runs a film about the Kefauver Hearings, about the Senate committee charged with investigating organized crime.  This was the big series of hearings around the country that exposed a national crime syndicate.

From there the second floor goes into the infiltration of Vegas, the money, the corruption, and then into my favorite part:  the mobs supposed participation in the Kennedy assassination. We had learned about that in our Dallas JFK conspiracy theory tour, so this section brought me joy in reaffirming this angle of the assassination.

First floor focuses on the men themselves, Lansky, Segal, Bulger, all the big names. 

And a Speakeasy!

However, by this time we were distracted by the fact there is a speakeasy in the basement and we were ready. We cover the speakeasy in our Speakeasy specific blog post, but loved the dark wood and leather atmosphere, the retro feel, and the creative cocktails

And a bit more Las Vegas history

The Neon Museum

North of Fremont street headed up into North Las Vegas you will find The Neon Museum.

A boneyard of old neon signs from Iconic hotels, restaurants, and bars that lived in the hey day of Vegas.  The outside garden has over 250, un-restored pieces, with a gallery and visitors center containing information about pieces and insight into the history.

A walk down memory lane for some. A glimpse into the history of gambling and drinking in this party town for others. The collection dates back to the 1930s and tells the story of the fun, excitement, and progression of Las Vegas from small town to vacation mecca. 

The Neon Museum is a great way to kill a couple of hours in the afternoon.  It’s an easy self-guided walking tour through the lot. Docents are available to share fun, interesting facts about the displayed Las Vegas businesses, and also answer any questions you might have.

There is also an evening Neon Experience that lights up the boneyard, and an augmented reality experience called “Brilliant!” taking place in the North Gallery to add on to your Neon experience providing a 3D, 360 degree show that reanimates over 40 vintage signs to create an immersive visit. I was not planning on being overwhelmed by a yard full of old signs, but ended up loving the outing and absolutely recommend planning this into your Vegas vacation.

---

---

Our Must See Las Vegas Experience

Area15

Area 15 is across the freeway from the strip and is a super popular, fully immersive entertainment experience.

There are art shows, and mind twisting Altered Reality, axe throwing, zombie encounters, a flight simulator, and more.  Separated by different rooms and buildings, it’s a series of attractions, events, bars, restaurant. Possibly the hottest currently, the much-touted Meow Wolf’s Omega Mart (a wacky, wild, supermarket style experience).

There is an Illuminarium and ice cream shop, it is family friendly but for adults, start in the afternoon at Area15 and finish with Lost Sprits.

Lost Spirits Distillery

Book a reservation for Lost Spirits for the most amazing distillery tasting experience I’ve ever been on.  Entry includes 4 rum tastings and a freak show feel as you wind through different rooms with different shows.

Upon entry you are given a tasting glass with your first sample, and then directed down a path to your first room.  The night we were there it included a fantastic burlesque dancer at our first stop.  There is a bar to the side where you can get full cocktails featuring the Lost Spirit rums. 

You move on down the hallway, there is a belly dancing woman with a large snake, hard pass for me, and on to the next room.  Here there is aerial pole dancing, and an incredible couple performs an aerial dance to “Sound of Silence” the Disturbed version, it was amazing. I may have been mesmerized, but I stayed for the second performance that turned out to be a flamenco dancer that turned into an aerial pole dance. Again: FANTASTIC

A third room had a mentalist and more dancers in burlesque style performances. I’m not sure how I feel about mentalists, cool or not, creepy or not, but I was three rums in and there for it all! And he was actually good, but maybe I’m just salty about not being chosen as one of the participants.

The final room is a submarine themed long room decorated with an almost titanic feel.  The chandeliers sway in synchronicity as if you are truly swaying with the waves of the water. Truly cool vibe and immersive feel.

It was an incredible experience, I loved the pineapple and the cherry rum, but was glad you could also purchase a bottle of coke to chase down the aged rum, because it was strong!

This is a definite must-do for drinkers who aren’t into the hard core gambling Vegas (and non-drinkers who are just into life cool experiences).

ssn – there was really too much Spectacular Spectacular to post pics, so check out our TikTok!

And Speaking of Bars – We can’t resist a Tiki

The Vegas Iconic Tiki Dive Bar

Frankie’s Tiki Room.

Oh, Frankie’s.

Everyone told us not to miss Frankie’s Tiki Room. Frankie’s has a 4.6 on Google Reviews. People love Frankie’s.

And it was a dive!  A total, old-school Vegas, dark, dank, smokey, dive bar. 

But with the full on, over the top Tiki theme.

It makes me giggle again thinking about it, because the drinks were amazing, the service was fantastic, but our pictures are terrible because it was so dark. There were ashtrays on every video poker machine and it smelled like it.

You can upgrade your drink into a Tiki glass in a fabulous variety of traditional ceramic tiki mugs, or just order a boozy, fruity, tropical concoction of wonderfulness.

While we were just stunned at the dive bar-iness of Frankie’s, we did appreciate the experience and are thankful for everyone’s recommendations.

ssn – getting our Uber driver to drop us off at Frankie’s (which is off Charleston, just west of I-15) was like meeting up for some shady deal. It felt like we were being set up on an episode of CSI: Las Vegas. But hey, maybe it is a great time when it isn’t a Tuesday afternoon.

Tiki #2, The Golden Tiki

Now hear us out on this one, a tiki bar in the heart of Chinatown.  How could this be a bad thing?

Well, it’s not, it’s just simply not; in fact, it’s amazing! 

The Golden Tiki is flat out a fantastic Tiki Bar.

Where do I even start? 

The crushed velvet naked women on the beach paintings lining the tables?  The Robotic talking parrots bantering back and forth?  The water wave lighting and paper lanterns. . . or the fossilized butthole in the back hallway?

Yes, I’m serious about that butthole. . . prehistoric actually. . .  

Or the dancing Tahitian dolls above the bar, that I’m pretty sure they had to have gotten from the “It’s a Small World” ride at Disney.

I could go on and on. . .

The singer, doing a perfect rendition of Rat Pack crooner music. A bit of tropical themed songs, blended with some current, classic, and mix of all decades.  We spoke with him and he said he absolutely has the best job and can’t wait to go to work everyday. And we believe him.  He did an amazing job working the room and belting out some fun tunes.

A full dual page menu of tropical concoctions, but also some amazing items on their specialty shots, and sharable “served in a full pineapple” and lit-on-fire-style-best-of-the-business Tiki drinks.

ssn – I loved The Golden Tiki – it embodies Happy Hour on vacation. The darkness is a little startling at first but it doesn’t take long to settle into the vibe. Our drinks were fab, we tried the Demon Seaman shots (twice!) and the snacks were surprisingly tasty!

And Not to Ruin the Surprise but. . . .

You really should go to the bathroom at The Golden Tiki

And to add to the wonder:  They Have Happy Hour!!!!  Food AND Drink specials

ssn – seriously, you need to make reservations and go for Happy Hour. We were lucky to see Dino A La Carte but they have lots of entertainment and cool theme nights.

Don’t miss our related posts

Las Vegas Speakeasy Guide

Seattle – Tiki, Thai and Speakeasies