A:
That's a good question, since we know a lot of our readers have a fondness for microbrews. If you're among them, you're in luck, as Las Vegas has a number of options to try out, although only a handful of them are available on casino floors. These include:
- Barley's Casino and Brewing Company -- this Station-owned casino in Henderson (4500 E. Sunset Rd.) offers slots and video poker, plus a race and sports book, but no table games. As the name suggests, they also serve Barley's range of master-crafted beers from their on-site brewery, available to any player on the casino floor.
- Main Street Station is home to the Triple Seven Restaurant and Microbrewery, purveyors of fine brews, including Black Cherry Stout and their best-selling Hefeweizen, and the beers are available to players throughout the casino.
- Chicago Brewing Company, which offers an extensive menu of microbrews, has a venue inside the Four Queens. The beers are available as comps to video poker/slot players in the restaurant bar, but not to slot players on the main casino floor; a couple of their brews are on tap at the King's and Palace Bars, but these are available as comps only through the pit. A second venue on the west side at 2201 S. Fort Apache offers their full beer menu to video poker players.
- Ellis Island Casino & Brewery -- this name's another dead giveaway and the popular off-Strip venue serves microbrews on the gaming floor, as as well as offering slots, video poker, blackjack, roulette, and craps. It's also home to some great dining specials and seasonal home-made eggnog. The microbrews are available to players at the group's various Village Pub video poker bars throughout the valley, too.
That's it, as far as we know, in terms of casinos, but there are also a couple of microbreweries around town that operate bars and taverns, where you can enjoy their distinct brews while playing video poker. These include:
- Big Dog's -- This popular sports bar operates three venues at 6390 W. Sahara, 1511 N. Nellis, and 4543 N. Rancho, all of which carry Big Dog's range of beers. ales, and stouts.
- Tenaya Creek Brewing Company -- This local brewery supplies its brews to a lot of liquor stores, bars, and restaurants around town, but they're not available on any casino floor that we know of. You can enjoy them while playing video poker at the main location at 3101 N. Tenaya Way (just west of Cheyenne), however.
Click here for our complete listings of pubs and microbreweries in Las Vegas -- there are several other notable local producers, including Sin City Brewing Company and Gordon Biersch, which don't have a casino presence (there are SCBC locations at the Flamingo and Mandalay Place, but the brews are available only at their bars, not on the casino floor, and Gordon Biersch's two venues in town have no gambling, but decent food).
Note that we have relevant offers for several of these vendors, including Sin City Brewing Company, Big Dog's, and Ellis Island, in the 2011 MRB.
Update 23 April 2011
A reader contributes:
"On casinos that serve micro-brews, Gordon Biersch Marzen is served at Santa Fe Station for players. (They used to serve a Gordon Biersch Pilnsner that is very good but they stopped serving that when Budweiser brought in their imitation micro-brew.) Used to be served at the other Station Casinos, and they may still do so, haven't checked them for awhile.
"There is some kind of a connection between the Stations and Gordon Biersch, which may make for an interesting Question of the Day. What is that connection?"
No part of this answer may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without the written permission of the publisher.
