People are looking for more of a locals’ scene,” says Jen Taler, a partner in Dustland, one of the new bars in the Arts District. “I’ve seen a huge shift and change, especially over this past year. As more things open, more people will come down here.”
Initially known for mechanics’ garages and metal shops, the neighborhood became home to a cluster of art galleries and studio spaces in the early 2000s. More recently, those have given way to craft breweries and vintage stores. Now, a batch of cocktail bars have sprung up, creating their own community within the neighborhood as locals and industry veterans come together to build their own businesses — and support one another’s.
“I believe that Vegas is very collaborative,” Taler says. “There’s been competition, but for the most part, I feel like we’ve come together and lifted each other up.”
Dustland feels casually thrown together, yet meticulously designed: speckled tiles in geometric patterns, niches with taxidermized armadillos, a player piano in the corner, and a vintage photo booth by the backyard door. The team built or sourced almost everything, buying objects such as glassware and check covers from local small businesses. Bar manager Kat Calma created the drink menu with the same thoughtfulness.
“We wanted flavorings that kind of embrace our own cultures,” partner Roxy Hendrickson says. “Kat is Filipino, I’m Mexican, what Jen grew up with in Texas. And we wanted to celebrate small-batch and local makers.” Along with the products of other local distilleries and breweries, Dustland collaborates with Juxta Nomad to create a new beer every season.
If Dustland has a Joshua Tree/Pioneertown feel, then Audio Bar takes its desert inspiration from Burning Man and EDC. A photomural of a rave crowd and an elevated central DJ booth create a bar-club hybrid, with a side of restaurant that’s open day-to-night. There’s weekend brunch, where kids run around the outdoor cornhole game while their parents sip on Bloody Marys garnished with mini breakfast burritos.
Even the godfather of the 18b food scene, James Trees, has added bars to his restaurants. Petite Bohème is the petite soeur to his Bar Bohème restaurant,
ideal for a pre-meal aperitif or post-dinner nightcap. The back-alley entrance unfolds to multiple patios surrounding a lounge, where graffitied walls and a ’90s hip-hop soundtrack invite you to linger over a mescal-amaro cocktail with a snack of roasted chickpeas.
The Stadium is the neighborhood’s only full-on, sound-on, wings ’n’ beer sports bar. “We could not be happier to see the new developments and the additions coming this way. It has been a long overdue process,” co-owner Marissa Pretkus says. “We are adding a completely different element to elevate the already wonderful aspects of our neighborhood.” A nearly life-size mural of a Golden Knights crowd extends from the front window to the backdoor, while TV screens line the wall behind the bar.
Also on the busy strip of Main Street, ECHO Taste & Sound is veteran downtown chef Natalie Young’s newest project, combining food, cocktails, and music in a “listening room.” The golden wood finishes, amber stone bartop, and displays of gleaming midcentury barware give the space a glow, which is heightened by the top-shelf sound system playing vintage vinyl or supporting live jazz combos. The luxe-casual vibe extends to the menu, with caviar potato chips or Wagyu skewers served alongside cocktails named after classic tunes.
Created by the team behind Stray Pirate, Prowl’s decor gives off jungle vibes, not just in the lush foliage sense, but also in the ’60s and ’70s singles-bar sense. (The Elvis jungle room combines the two.) Black panthers lurk along the walls, and a midnight-blue ceiling twinkles with LED “fireflies.” The names of the cocktails combine the gimmicky and the sexy — Naked and Afraid, anyone? — but are crafted with ingredients such as house-made ginger beer and pepita orgeat.
“People come here, and we can tell them, ‘Go check out Prowl. Go check out Liquid Diet.’ And they do the same for us,” says Arron Cappello, co-owner of Nocturno. “We all have something unique that we offer.” Nocturno adds a rare combination of upscale lounge and regulars hang to the Arts District mix, with a comfortable, low-lit room dominated both visually and audibly by a wall of vinyl ranging from Chet Baker to MF Doom to Chappel Roan.
But the space is just a backdrop for the service and the menu. Nocturno offers a selection of small plates created by co-owner (and James Beard nominee) DJ Flores, such as pork trotter croquettes and seabass crudo. And then there are the menus — illustrated books of cocktails — which bar manager Lu Lopez says were inspired by the detailed menus of Cuba’s Prohibition-era bars.
“All the signatures, the classics, and the flavor profiles are on the front two pages,” he explains, “then you see the history of the negroni, daiquiri, Alexander. You see where it came from, who made it, what book it was first featured in — all our recipes and then variations on those classics. It’s approachable to the person who wants to order a quick drink or somebody who’s really a connoisseur and loves to experience and learn the history of cocktails.”
This approachability is a big part of the growth of the Arts District. It offers the warm welcome and wide variety that people once associated with Las Vegas and now miss on the Strip.
“I feel like the ties of everybody have grown very close since we’ve been here,” Cappello says, adding that both the bar and the community “would only work in a place like the Arts District, (where) you’re surrounded by like-minded people who want an area to flourish and grow, but also keep the neighborhood what it is.”
