T R AV E L T I P S
LAS VEGAS SIN CITY REMAINS ICONIC IN THE MINDS AND CULTURE OF AMERICA. BUT BEHIND THE NEON LIGHTS AND CASINO FLOORS, THE TOURIST MECCA HAS REALIZED AND REACHED OUT TO THE LGBT VISITOR IN EVERINCREASING WAYS.
One of the best recent additions to Las Vegas, CARSON KITCHEN (carsonkitchen.com), is located in downtown Las Vegas. It requires leaving the Strip, but you won’t be far from the classic casino facades around the Fremont Street Experience. The restaurant’s eclectic soul-food-inspired menu and the charming outdoor patio space offer a great way to experience the desert air rather than the recycled oxygen at the casinos.
to locals like BADLANDS SALOON (badlandssaloonlv.com) and the LAS VEGAS LOUNGE (one of the few bars in the nation that caters almost exclusively to transgender people and their admirers). The Commercial Center is also where you’ll find several service organizations for the LGBT community and the city’s bathhouses because of its proximity to the “old Vegas” neighborhood that is the closest the city has to a gayborhood.
If you’d rather stick to the casinos, KOI RESTAURANT (koirestaurant.com) in the The Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino offers a pan-Asian dining experience with an upscale feel. Crispy Rice Topped with Spicy Tuna or the Miso-Bronzer Black Cod with Seasonal Vegetables are among the best dishes on the menu, although your best bet might be to find out what seasonal dish the master sushi chef has available. Once segregated to strip malls and a few clusters, the Las Vegas LGBT nightlife scene has firmly established itself on the Strip and in trendier parts of town. If you’re looking to meet a local, head over to the Fruit Loop, an intersection at Paradise Road and Naples Drive just a few blocks from the Strip, where clubs like FREEZONE (freezonelv.com) and PIRAHNA (piranhavegas.com) were once the kings and queens of the Las Vegas bar scene and still remain popular with the natives. Over in the Commerical Center, off Sahara Avenue and Maryland Parkway, is another cluster of bars catering
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Increasingly, however, locals and visitors alike are headed to Strip destinations and trendier neighborhoods. SHARE NIGHTCLUB (sharenightclub.com) is the current reigning champion in the gay bar landscape of the city, attracting the young and sexy crowds to dance or take in the frequent entertainment. During the summers, TEMPTATION AT LUXOR (luxor.com/LGBT/temptation-sundays) becomes the poolside queer party at which to see and be seen. If you’re looking for something more cultured and highbrow than the strippers and magic acts, the recently opened
SMITH CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS (thesmithcenter.com) is both architecturally stunning on a sprawling campus, but also home to traveling Broadway shows, jazz and philharmonic concerts, speakers, ballet, and the Children’s Discovery Museum. As for where to rest your head at night and gamble, LGBT-friendly SLS LAS VEGAS (slslasvegas.com) is an all-encompassing resort and casino with more than 1,600 guest rooms and suites in three distinctive towers, 80,000 square feet of flexible meeting space, and a collection of acclaimed restaurants and nightlife. And, of course, it’s worth mentioning that same-sex marriage is now legal in the state of Nevada, meaning you, too, can take part in the time-honored heterosexual tradition of a drunken meet-up and quickie wedding with an Elvis impersonator at THE LITTLE VEGAS CHAPEL (thelittlevegaschapel.com), and awkward annulment the following week. Or you can go all-out for a fully-inclusive dream ceremony at one of the too-numerous-tocount hotel chapels, banquet halls, and ceremony rental spaces.