By, Courtney Mills of BestOfVegas.com
In a city filled with billboards, hand-out fliers, shining lights, and advertisements galore, there is hardly anything that goes unnoticed in Las Vegas. Packed with Las Vegas shows, Las Vegas tours, Las Vegas hotels, and Las Vegas nightclubs, other attractions seem to fade into the background. But, there are those few attractions that shine and sparkle on their own as hidden gems to the city of Sin. With very little formal advertising, these places thrive off of the most powerful form of advertising, word of mouth!
Just a few blocks from the Las Vegas Strip (near Bally’s Las Vegas and Paris Las Vegas) and just around the corner from the campus of UNLV lies one of the best hidden restaurants of the city, Firefly Tapas Kitchen and Bar. Serving up an endless variety of tapas and delicious libations in a hip atmosphere, Firefly makes for the perfect late night or daytime eatery. Guests can choose from a variety of chilled, hot, meat, poultry, seafood, and, even, dessert tapas. On top of the food, guests can try the delicious homemade beverages of 3-hour marinated red and white sangria (by the glass or pitcher), infused vodka with berries and lynchees, and uniquely flavored mojitos.
If you are looking for more of an urban city-flavor, then head just 12 miles from the Stratosphere Hotel to the Richmar Palaza to Grimaldi’s Pizza. Acclaimed for having one of the first pizzas in America (dating back to 1905) and making the Brooklyn Bridge famous, Grimaldi’s originated under the Brooklyn Bridge as a brick-oven pizza destination. The unique smoky flavor of the pizzas are loved by celebrities all across the globe, including Frank Sinatra, former NYC mayor Giuliani, Danny DeVito, and baseball player Mike Piazza. The taste of New York now has a location in Las Vegas, where you can enjoy the fresh ingredients, homemade mozzarella, and secret recipe dough and sauce.
Nine Fine Irishmen might be one of the less talked about bars in Sin City, but this place packs some punch. Running off of the motto of “Anyone who would build a pub in Ireland, ship it to America, and install it in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip, must be either a fool or bleedin’ genius,” Nine Fine Irishmen resides at the New York New York Hotel and Casino. The Irish owners of the bar LITERALLY moved pieces of their bar to the Las Vegas Strip, creating an authentic Irish pub with Irish grub, entertainment, whiskey, and stout galore.
If you like to go fast and be around objects that move fast, the Lamborghini dealership at the Palazzo is for you. Tucked back into the elegant hotel of the Palazzo Las Vegas, the Lamborghini dealership is the only one on the Strip and home to truly exotic cars. As a fancy “dream parking garage” for car lovers, you can see Lamborghinis, Bugattis, Spykers, Saleens, and Koenigseggs (the only ones in the country) for only $10! And, not to mention there is a delicious “hidden” gelato place just around the corner from the gift shop!
The last, but not least, hidden gem of Vegas on our list is THE Red Rock Canyon National Park. This breath-taking 197,000 acre area sits within the Mojave Desert and is well worth the trip outside of Las Vegas. Guests to the park can bike, hike, walk, run, and, even rock climb, throughout the area. There is also a 13 mile one-way scenic drive. Open from dusk until dawn, the park is only $5 for automobiles to enter, $2 for motorcycles, and FREE for bikers and walkers (talk about incentive to work out on vacation!)
There is so much to explore in Las Vegas outside of the typical Las Vegas shows, Las Vegas tours, Las Vegas hotels, and Las Vegas nightclubs. So, why not step outside of your comfort zone and try something new on your next trip to Las Vegas?
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