Don’t let our video poker bars and high-end mixology hot spots fool you: The Las Vegas libation scene is surprisingly diverse. For out-of-the-ordinary tastes, you just need to know where to look.

Mad scientist of mixology at RX Boiler RoomNathan Greene’s quiet voice is muffled under the avalanching sound of ice being shoveled into the bar wells. At Rx Boiler Room, and probably at the other bars inside Mandalay Bay, that means it’s about four o’clock.

Meet the Chinelos, raucous ambassadors to a Mexican protest tradition that’s brash, colorful — and very loud. Now jump!The burst of trumpets and trombones punctuated by a haughty tuba and a big bass drum bursts through the flimsy screen of a subwoofer and flirts with cacophony.

After decades cooking in the valley, restaurateur family the Woos find their latest good fortune at the Hard Rock’s FúThe year-old Fú at the Hard Rock Hotel looks like any other Asian restaurant poked into a corner of a Las Vegas casino, a contemporary space where you just know you’ll find noodles and barbecued pork and such. This is the new wing at the Hard Rock, and with the high-limit Dragon Salon offering pai gow, baccarat and big money blackjack just a few steps away, Fú’s location makes all kinds of sense.

Cocktail kegsThe past few years have been drenched in cocktails, so it’s fitting that the newest trend is tapping them. Unfortunately, the closest thing we may have to Negronis on tap may be the Ciroc that flows from the spigot at Radio City Pizza (508 E.

When the government tried to enforce Prohibition in Southern Nevada, it went down as smoothly as a slug of bootlegger’s bug wine.Revelers walking along Fremont Street with yard-long beers, Strip patio bars where tourists can watch the passing scene while indulging in a cocktail, bars and nightclubs featuring alcohol-fueled music and dancing until dawn.

1. The Kronos Quartet has classical chops but an untamed heart, choosing to explore and celebrate the work of experimental composers such as Philip Glass and Clint Mansell.

Spring Valley State Park is famous for being the best fishin’ hole within driving distance of Las Vegas. In fact, it’s so famous for fishing, most Southern Nevadans think it’s called Eagle Valley (the name of the park’s reservoir).

My favorite repairs were at showrooms. The upper-level bar at Zumanity, for example, had an open view of the show, so after I fixed whatever was broken — usually something as simple as replacing an empty bag-in-the-box the bar back forgot to change — I would hang out at the bar to, you know, “make sure the machine didn’t break again,” and catch the rest of the performance.

How my limp attempt at penning the next hot erotica franchise reminded me what writing is really about.“What are you doing here?” Marlena followed him to the kitchen, not at all paying attention to his well-sculpted shoulders or the identical tattoos of a marine compass on each shoulder blade.