Where to enjoy beer during NFL draft week
Las Vegas visitors and local sports fans alike are sure to raise pint glasses, bottles, and cans high next week as the 2022 NFL draft takes over the heart of the Strip. The gridiron extravaganza — presented by Bud Light — will be the perfect opportunity to quaff beers as top picks get matched with their future teams. Here’s a select lineup of places to enjoy frosty suds during the football fest.
The Draft Experience and the Draft Theater, located behind the High Roller and The Linq near Caesars Forum, will serve as the NFL’s pop-up interactive football theme park. It will house the Bud Light Draft Tavern plus participatory experiences like a 40-yard dash; a vertical jump against NFL players on LED screens; a Super Bowl rings display; and autograph sessions with NFL players. For local flavor, the Raiders’ Lombardi trophies will be on display, and David Perrico & the Raiders House Band will provide funky sounds. The Draft Experience is free and open to the public Thursday and Friday from noon to 9 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fans need to register for NFL OnePass to attend: NFL.com/OnePass.
Nearby, The Linq Hotel + Experience is filled with welcoming places to sip on hopped effervescent beverages. Guy Fieri’s Vegas Kitchen & Bar has a 6,500 square-foot outdoor patio overlooking Las Vegas Boulevard where Southern Nevada drafts like Big Dog’s Las Vegas Craft Lager and Tenaya Creek Ale are poured. On the Promenade, Yard House fills its distinctive half-yard glass containers with more than 150 brew taps, including Heineken 0.0 zero-alcohol malt lager; Strainge Beast ginger-lemon-hibiscus hard kombucha; and gluten-free Damm Daura Märzen. And Tilted Kilt Pub & Eatery has bubbly Bud Light Seltzer in flavors like black cherry, lemon-lime, strawberry and mango.
Decked out with basketball net-like chandeliers, baseball-inspired sconces and HD screens, Caesars Palace’s Stadia Bar is a sports-focused gathering place for the 21-and-up crowd. Its curated beverage list includes Peroni Nastro Azzurro lager from Italy and Saint Archer Tropical IPA from California on tap.
[ Find more for draft week on or near the Strip: new bars and cocktails and some top burgers ]
Get rocking during the Draft at Cabo Wabo Cantina in the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood Resort. Here, Mexican beers like Dos XX, Tecate, Pacifico and Modelo make for a football fiesta.
To soak up some sunshine during the athletic event, reserve a cabana or daybed at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas’ Boulevard Pool. High above the Fountains of Bellagio — the draft’s red carpet main stage — relax with a $45 bucket of beer featuring choices like icy Bud Light Lime, Estrella Jalisco, Kona Brewing Big Wave Golden Ale and Sierra Nevada Wild Little Thing.
Score $5 Bud Light drafts at Tailgate Social Sports Bar & Grill in Palace Station through Saturday.
Chickie’s & Pete’s Crabhouse and Sports Bar at the Sahara Las Vegas is an 8,000-square-foot arena with more than 20 beers on tap.
The Front Yard at Ellis Island Casino & Brewery features an 18-foot big-screen TV for draft watching and serves beers from the property’s in-house brewery. Varieties include the crowd favorite Hefeweizen with its banana-clove flavor notes and the robust Rauchbier aged in a Basil Hayden bourbon barrel.
And to wrap things up with a group, TopGolf Las Vegas has five separate bars filled with HD screens and offers a “Beer for the Bay” package — 24 domestics for $160. Or, ditch cans and bottles all together and open the spout on 128-ounces of brewski suspended in a golf ball-themed vessel. It’s called a beer tower, for good reason.
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Contact Greg Thilmont at gthilmont@reviewjournal.com. Follow @gregthilmont on Instagram.