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Time Out
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time Out
This is officially America's best city for nightlife right now
A good night out means different things to different people. Maybe it's sweating it out on a dancefloor until dawn. Maybe it's catching up over a glass of wine, immersing yourself in rare grooves at a listening bar or even wiling away the hours at a sober club. Whatever your style, America's nightlife scene has it all, but one city stands out above the rest. According to Time Out, Las Vegas has been crowned not only the best nightlife city in the U.S., but the world's best nightlife city for 2025. The city scored an impressive 88-percent approval rating from a survey of locals and won praise from Time Out's expert panel. Sin City still brings the classic casino vibes and and mega-clubs with confetti drops, but the city's after-dark scene has evolved. These days, the real magic often happens off the Strip. Vegas's Arts District is home to cocktail lounges like Stray Pirate, Doberman and Nocturno, where bartenders craft creative drinks with wild infusions. Locals love the city's speakeasies, too: There's one hidden behind a barbershop, another behind a bookshelf at a Malaysian eatery and another called The Lock, which you literally crawl into through a safe door. Add tiki bars, live music joints and art-filled night markets, and it's easy to see why most locals call their nightlife 'exciting.' While Vegas is the only U.S. city to be named among the world's best, America's top nightlife cities are far from tame. At number two, Chicago keeps the party going with its mix of gritty dive bars, rooftop lounges, legendary house music clubs and late-night blues joints. Coming in third is New Orleans, where the soundtrack never stops. Frenchmen Street overflows with brass bands, funk collectives and soul singers playing to crowds that spill onto the sidewalk. The Quarter still has its rowdy energy, but locals swear by the smaller spots—dark, intimate bars where the cocktails are strong and the vibe is easygoing. Miami and New York, nightlife juggernauts, round out the top five. Whether it's a huge rave or a quiet whisky at an underground lounge, nightlife in the U.S. has never looked more diverse—or more fun. And right now, Vegas is leading the charge. Best cities for nightlife in the U.S., according to Time Out Las Vegas Chicago New Orleans Miami New York Los Angeles Austin San Diego Orlando Dallas
Time Out
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time Out
This is officially the world's best city for nightlife right now
Nightlife has undergone a significant transformation since our bars and nightclubs reopened their doors. The biggest shift has been that those kinds of venues are far from the only places on offer after dark – our cities have adapted to the changing times, and now, you'll find supperclubs alongside superclubs, as well as listening bars, sauna parties and gatherings for t-totallers. So, where should we be heading for a seriously good night out? Well, nightlife is our lifeblood at Time Out, and that's why we quizzed thousands of city-dwellers about the after-dark culture where they live. Last year, Rio de Janeiro danced its way into first place, but topping our ranking for 2025 is (drum roll, please) Las Vegas! The Nevada resort city gained an impressive 88 percent approval rating from the locals that we spoke to (helped by a strong vote of confidence from the panel of experts we also asked to weigh in) and was the most likely city to have its nightlife described as 'exciting'. But there's a whole lot more to Vegas than the casinos and cabana-lined pool parties that have come to characterise this city's nightlife scene. 'In recent years, there's been a shift to a more low-key nightlife venue: the cocktail bar,' writes local expert Ryan Slattery, 'Across town, bartenders are shaking up tasty concoctions using exotic ingredients and bespoke liqueurs. Many of these cocktail lounges – Stray Pirate, Doberman and Nocturno, to name a few – can be found in the city's thriving Arts District, a walkable downtown neighborhood of vintage shops, breweries and restaurants. Vegas also has a slew of tiki bars and dozens of speakeasies; spots hidden inside a working barbershop, behind a bookcase of a Mamak stall at Resorts World or in the basement of the Mob Museum. There's even one called The Lock that you crawl into through a safe door.' After a flavour of classic Vegas? You'll definitely still be able to find that, too. The Electric Daisy Carnival sees the Las Vegas Motor Speedway transformed into an enormous, EDM and hip-hop filled rave every May, but have a look at our roundup for the best things to do in the city and our handpicked list of Las Vegas's top bars.
Eater
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Eater
Welcome to the Jungle Bar
is a journalist and longtime Las Vegas resident who has been covering entertainment and following trends within the city's restaurant and bar scene for the better part of two decades. The crew behind the popular dog-themed shipwreck bar Stray Pirate is trading pups for cats — big cats. On Thursday, June 12, they unveiled Prowl right next door, a new jungle-inspired cocktail lounge with shadowy rock walls and adventurous cocktails — all under the watchful gaze of a black panther that stalks silently across the screens behind the bar. Chris 'Tater' Gutierrez, general manager and cocktail creator at both Stray Pirate and Prowl, saw an opportunity when the T-shirt shop closed next door. But he didn't want to disrupt the cozy, chaotic vibe he fostered at Stray Pirate. 'So we wanted to do something else and create an entirely different bar, a bit the same, but more refined,' he says. Inspired by Elvis's Jungle Room at Graceland, Gutierrez leaned into the kitsch: a moss-covered lava rock wall with a carved Olmec face, a crystal-lined cave hallway, and two standout bathrooms — one with an overhead butterfly display and the other with twinkling fiber optic 'fireflies' dangling from the ceiling. The 1,200-square-foot room seats just under 50 and features a retro feel with booths of burnt orange and avocado green beneath glowing glass orbs. Prowl. Louiie Victa Prowl's cocktails follow the same inventive playbook Gutierrez developed next door at Stray Pirate — housemade syrups, fresh fruit, and unexpected flavors, all anchored by top-shelf spirits. Think ingredients like mashed sugar snap peas, honeydew, and housemade orgeat made from roasted pepitas, and a ginger beer infused with makrut lime leaf and hibiscus. It's a style Gutierrez has honed over the years behind the bar at the likes of Corduroy, Oak & Ivy, and Atomic Liquors. The drinks at Prowl are cheeky by design. Gutierrez describes the Jungle Spirits menu as 'playfully raunchy,' with irreverent names and cult movie references. There's Sex Panther, a blend of reposado tequila and Oaxacan rum served in a ceramic panther head and teased on the menu as containing 'bits of real panther.' For a Good Time Call includes an actual phone number that patrons can dial for entertainment. 'We're trying to make the menu lighthearted and fun to read,' Gutierrez says. But for him, it's still all about what's in the glass. Monstera Mash combines Capurro Quebranta Pisco with savory sugar snap peas, citrus, mint, elderflower, cardamom, and egg white. The Cougar is a light grapefruit-and-rose vodka drink, while the Morning Wood blends Vesta coffee with Woodford Reserve Bourbon, maple, Italian amaro, and sherry for something bold, balanced, and a little bit naughty. Prowl. Louiie Victa Prowl's opening is the latest sign of the cocktail bar revolution that's happening in the Arts District. It joins other new arrivals like Natalie Young's Echo Taste and Sound, James Tree's Petite Boheme, Corner Bar Management's Doberman, and Nocturno from Milpa's DJ Flores — all run by bartenders with deep roots in Vegas and serious culinary chops. Together, they're redefining the Las Vegas cocktail bar: serving elevated drinks in high-concept spaces built for bar-hopping nights in a walkable, fast-evolving neighborhood. 'This is the area where people's dreams are coming true,' Gutierrez says about the Arts District. 'You can go into a spot and see somebody's dream come together within four walls.' Louiie Victa Prowl. Louiie Victa Prowl. Louiie Victa
Eater
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Eater
Welcome to the New Jungle Bar in Las Vegas
The crew behind the popular dog-themed shipwreck bar Stray Pirate is trading pups for cats — big cats. On Thursday, June 12, they unveiled Prowl right next door, a new jungle-inspired cocktail lounge with shadowy rock walls and adventurous cocktails — all under the watchful gaze of a black panther that stalks silently across the screens behind the bar. Chris 'Tater' Gutierrez, general manager and cocktail creator at both Stray Pirate and Prowl, saw an opportunity when the T-shirt shop closed next door. But he didn't want to disrupt the cozy, chaotic vibe he fostered at Stray Pirate. 'So we wanted to do something else and create an entirely different bar, a bit the same, but more refined,' he says. Inspired by Elvis's Jungle Room at Graceland, Gutierrez leaned into the kitsch: a moss-covered lava rock wall with a carved Olmec face, a crystal-lined cave hallway, and two standout bathrooms — one with an overhead butterfly display and the other with twinkling fiber optic 'fireflies' dangling from the ceiling. The 1,200-square-foot room seats just under 50 and features a retro feel with booths of burnt orange and avocado green beneath glowing glass orbs. Prowl's cocktails follow the same inventive playbook Gutierrez developed next door at Stray Pirate — housemade syrups, fresh fruit, and unexpected flavors, all anchored by top-shelf spirits. Think ingredients like mashed sugar snap peas, honeydew, and housemade orgeat made from roasted pepitas, and a ginger beer infused with makrut lime leaf and hibiscus. It's a style Gutierrez has honed over the years behind the bar at the likes of Corduroy, Oak & Ivy, and Atomic Liquors. The drinks at Prowl are cheeky by design. Gutierrez describes the Jungle Spirits menu as 'playfully raunchy,' with irreverent names and cult movie references. There's Sex Panther, a blend of reposado tequila and Oaxacan rum served in a ceramic panther head and teased on the menu as containing 'bits of real panther.' For a Good Time Call includes an actual phone number that patrons can dial for entertainment. 'We're trying to make the menu lighthearted and fun to read,' Gutierrez says. But for him, it's still all about what's in the glass. Monstera Mash combines Capurro Quebranta Pisco with savory sugar snap peas, citrus, mint, elderflower, cardamom, and egg white. The Cougar is a light grapefruit-and-rose vodka drink, while the Morning Wood blends Vesta coffee with Woodford Reserve Bourbon, maple, Italian amaro, and sherry for something bold, balanced, and a little bit naughty. Prowl's opening is the latest sign of the cocktail bar revolution that's happening in the Arts District. It joins other new arrivals like Natalie Young's Echo Taste and Sound, James Tree's Petite Boheme, Corner Bar Management's Doberman, and Nocturno from Milpa's DJ Flores — all run by bartenders with deep roots in Vegas and serious culinary chops. Together, they're redefining the Las Vegas cocktail bar: serving elevated drinks in high-concept spaces built for bar-hopping nights in a walkable, fast-evolving neighborhood. 'This is the area where people's dreams are coming true,' Gutierrez says about the Arts District. 'You can go into a spot and see somebody's dream come together within four walls.' See More: Eater Inside Vegas Restaurant Openings
