Best of Las Vegas -- Las Vegas Review Journal

Entertainment options have moved upscale, but there will always be Lake Mead

By DOUG ELFMAN
REVIEW-JOURNAL

During the last 20 years, the best places for entertainment have either become traditions or have faded as fads.

The Review-Journal has spotted the trends. In the 1980s, Best of Las Vegas readers' poll awards went to very-'80s things, particularly video game arcades and video stores. The '90s recognized karaoke bars and alternative-rock hangouts.

In the meantime, entertainment in Las Vegas has grown more corporate and expensive. Consider that the Best Video-Rental Store honor used to go to Major Video, which has long passed from the scene along with many smaller video shops. Now the distinction belongs to Blockbuster (and the category has shifted to the Shopping listing).

The Best Place to Go When Price Is No Object has shot upscale since 1990, from Caesars Palace to The Mirage, and from the Forum Shops at Caesars to the extravagant Bellagio.

But the bigger, more corporate boom also has widened the city's range of options. In 1982, Wayne Newton beat Liberace for Best Strip Entertainer (a category since moved to the Hotels listing). Back then, there was no "O," no "Mystere," no Blue Man Group.

From 1986 to 1992, Wet 'n Wild won Best Family Attraction, but then came the more elaborate theme parks at the MGM Grand and Circus Circus, which have dominated the category since.

The broader Best Amusement Attraction also has been consistently won by the MGM Grand Adventures theme park and then Circus Circus Adventuredome, with an occasional roller coaster -- Desperado at Buffalo Bill's in Primm in 1995 and Manhattan Express at New York-New York in 2000 -- barreling through.

There used to be no category for Best Concert Venue (which the cavernous MGM Grand Garden arena won this year). But then, there are more live music places than ever, including the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay and The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel.

Among all this change, two places have continued to win their categories in most years: the Peppermill (Best Bar for Romance) and Dylan's Dance Hall & Saloon (Best Country-Western Bar).

Other businesses have changed -- or died -- with the times. Red Rock 11 won Best Movie Theater eight times, beginning in the mid-'80s. But technology has changed and stadium seating is favored. By 1999, the Century Orleans 12 had grabbed the award, and Red Rock slipped to a budget theater and then closed after a fire.

The Best Place to Dance has evolved frequently as the city has gotten cooler. The scene has changed from country-music clubs and lounge-act haunts to the hipper Studio 54.

TGI Friday's won Best Singles Bar a lot in the mid-'80s and again in the early '90s, but lately, the frat-partyish The Beach has dominated the scene.

In the suburbs, PT's Pubs are trying to create a dynasty in the Best Neighborhood Bar category, with wins since 1998. Gordon Biersch Brewing Co. is trying to do the same thing as Best Microbrewery.

The regular winners of categories such as Best Place to Go on a Budget have been Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Mount Charleston and Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.

Three places -- Circus Circus, Buccaneer Bay at Treasure Island and Excalibur -- have consistently run away with Best Free Entertainment and -- when an outdoorsy place doesn't win -- best Place to Go on a Budget.

There haven't been a lot of "culture" winners in Best of Las Vegas, but Nevada Ballet Theatre -- and under its former title as Nevada Dance Theatre -- has dominated Best Performing Arts Group, at least until this year, when it finished second to the Blue Man Group at Luxor. For Best Community Theater Group, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas theater department, Las Vegas Little Theatre and New West Theatre have enjoyed good runs.

The favorites in Best Use of Las Vegas in a Movie or TV Program include "Honeymoon in Vegas," "Casino," "Con Air" and the new CBS hit drama, "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."

In sports, it's a wonder the Las Vegas Thunder hockey team couldn't make it, considering R-J readers named it the best team for five years running in the '90s. Lately, UNLV has dominated the sports team category, usually for basketball, but this year the surprising, bowl-winning football team gets the prize.

The National Finals Rodeo has been the favorite choice for Best Local Sports Event -- whether readers had tickets or not -- but this year NASCAR finished first.

And, of course, there was our risqué period when Crazy Horse won Best Topless Bar from 1983 to 1986. The category was briefly revisited in 1994 with the Girls of Glitter Gulch getting the attention.

Perhaps the biggest trend during the years is that places win an award just once or twice. Looking back on their names ought to give pause to longtime residents who might remember:

The Speak Easy won Best Jazz Club in 1982. Jubilation won Best Dance Club that year (and in 1983). Pucci's was Best Chic Bar in 1985. Botany's won Best Place to Dance in 1986. Krackers was Best Rock Club in 1986 and 1987. The Inn Zone was Best Sports Bar in 1988.

The swanky Metz won Best Place to Dance in 1993 and 1994. LJ's Sports Bar & Grill was Best Sports Bar in 1995 and 1996. Calico Jack's Saloon won the prize for Best Karaoke in 1996. Finnegan's Pub was Best Neighborhood Bar in 1997. Tommy Rockers Cantina and Grill finished as Best Live Music Club in 1998. Garth Brooks was picked as the Best Concert act of 1999.

And this year, a new category, Best Place to Go If You're Under 21, turned up GameWorks. When GameWorks' customers grow up, where will they go? The Peppermill? Lake Mead? The odds are good.

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