Las Vegas for Tourists or: Ed’s Punk Rock Bowling Companion Guide
The beauty of setting a festival in the heart of Sin City is when the shows are over or you just want to take a break from watching bands, there’s an enormous amount of supplemental activities nearby.
If you’re attending Punk Rock Bowling this year, this list of favorites may be useful.
As an entertainment hub that has just about every kind of activity you can imagine, I only have two non-consumable Vegas recommendations. Simply visiting the Las Vegas Arts District is the first. There’s plenty of galleries, open markets, oddities and vintage shops nestled through an expanding restaurant and bar scene. You might find it a refreshing, relaxed change of pace from downtown that’s worth your time. The second suggestion, visit Meow Wolf Omega Mart located inside Area 15. Meow Wolfs are these immersive free-roaming art experiences speckled across the country. We try to hit every one we can find on tour. You can knock one of these out in about 2 hours but you could easily spend all day exploring the multi-layered story lines hidden within their walls.
BARS
There has not been a time in recent memory I’ve visited Vegas without stopping for one at Atomic. Formerly known as Virginia’s Cafe, Atomic Liquors first attracted my attention for being the city’s oldest free standing bar and first liquor store license. It’s also known historically as a prime location to watch Cold War era nuclear bomb tests at the Nevada Test Site.
Atomic is comprised of several areas between the original bar, a newer restaurant building and adjoining patio. I’d expect to see many of the punks from PRB spilling over to the dive bar throughout the weekend for their surprisingly great beer selection and always stellar punk rock and metal playlists. Despite being just blocks from the Fremont St Experience, Atomic offers a surprisingly welcoming locals vibe with a tasteful lacing of old Vegas charm. Though I rarely make it over to the restaurant side, I’ll note the times I have the food has been excellent.
A wrestling themed bar just steps of Fremont was enough to get my attention alone. I wasn’t expecting it to end up being favorite new bar in Vegas. I anticipated some kind of Hard Rock Cafe style of pro-wrestling bar draped from floor to ceiling in memorabilia. Instead the motif is tastefully subtle with several luchador masks decorating the bar around a screen playing classic wrestling matches. I visited on a quieter night which gave us the pleasure of talking with the owners working the bar, Randy and Suzanne Tyson. They shared with us how they first met after Suzanne had relocated from South Africa and how they ran the original DDT bar in Brooklyn before deciding to relocate to Las Vegas. Randy explained they kept the theme subtle intentionally but the love of wrestling is still apparent. He gave me a tour of the upstairs bar covered in hand painted murals of wrestling greats such as El Santo, Bret Hart, the Briscoes, and the late, great Bray Wyatt. They host various events such as their cocktail fight club, where bartenders compete against each other for the honor of holding the DDT Clubs own big golden belt.
Whether wrestling is your thing or not, DDT’s South African inspired menu is enough to make it an essential destination. This is perfectly encapsulated by drinks such as the Crimson Mask, a rye drink with pepperdew, lemon, peppercorns and a side of biltong.
Or try The Dusty Old Fashioned, a rye, rooibos, apricot and a hint of birdseye chili with accompanying glass skull dropper vial of chili tincture to customize your heat level. Don’t be afraid to ask about any off menu items including “The Purple.” We sampled several that all came with several delightful surprises that I won’t spoil for you.
If you’re at all interested, you’ll want to stop in ASAP. They recently announced they’ll be permanently closing.
This cocktail bar is the jewel of the arts district offering an ever evolving menu for the most adventurous palettes. I’ve never left Velveteen Rabbit without being impressed by the latest beverage creations they’ve conjured up. The menu is so creative I’ll order in drinks from spirits I don’t usually care for in confidence it will at least be a fascinating experience.
A newer French and street art inspired cocktail bar tucked back a little off the Arts District’s Main Street serving classic and modern cocktails. We arrived toward the end of our evening already tired. We weren’t able to fully dig into the but our one round of boozy round in this establishment left us wanted to revisit. Also, they’re credited for turning us onto DDT bar as a least one of their bartenders compete in their Cocktail Fight Club.
Another brand new bar in the Arts District that Randy and Suzanne from DDT recommended. This bar had literally just opened a few days prior to our visit. I prefer to temper any criticisms around establishments that just opened their doors. I really only have lovely things to say about this bar, their staff and their imaginative cocktail menu. So I can’t say in confidence you’ll have a similar experience. I’d suspect it would be even better once they’ve settled in. It’s definitely worth a visit if you’re already near checking out some my other recs.
RESTAURANTS
This neighborhood coffeehouse came recommended by my trusted foodie friend, Derek Ballard of Nadezhda. Described as a canteen style local coffee and farm-to-table eatery, PublicUs serves up much more than your typical café fair. You can order coffee in pretty much any form from standard espresso drinks to more extravagant preparations like from the multiple Kyoto Towers lining the bar. Their alternative beverage offerings are equally impressive in both variety and creativity. Enhance all the selections above with an array of house made syrups and milk alternatives.
Public Us’ food offerings equal the ambition of their beverage service. At the counter, you’re greeted by a diverse assortment of fresh baked breads and pastries rivaling any bakery in Paris.
Generously proportioned breakfast and lunch options include many new American and world culinary offerings with a strong pan-Asian influence. Personal highlights include the braised short rib musubi and brekkie sandwich served on a Hawaiian sweet bun. I also recommend getting the 10 oz chimichurri NY steak as a side.
Located on Fremont stumbling distance from PRB’s main stage, Tacos and Miches is not an Instagrammable food destination by any stretch of the imagination. However at some point in your festival, it’s going to be the right decision. Open late, these tacos are cheap and reliably good, worth wading through a sea of overserved tourist at 2 a.m.
A small Phoenix based chain that serves elevated interpretations of classic UK Pasties. If you’re unfamiliar, think of them like the best hot pocket imaginable. Be careful because they come out piping hot. I tell friends, “You’ll probably burn the shit out of your mouth but you’ll love it.” My go-to is the lamb vindaloo pasty with minted yogurt sauce. Added bonus, they also serve the fancier version of Scotch eggs with the jammy yolks.
Ed Barakauskas is the drummer in Teen Mortgage. Their newest record, Devil Ultrasonic Dream on Roadrunner Records, is available on all streaming platforms.
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