5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar Review Las Vegas Margaritaville

Wastin’ Away Is Better At the Margaritaville Cafe Next Door But Hot Girls Dancing on the Bar Are Vegas-Style Entertainment

 

Who’s the blonde stranger?

And the brunette? And the other blonde? There’s even a redhead.

They are the #1 cowgirls in Las Vegas and I would very much like to roll in the sand and drink rum with them until dawn.

They are hot, dressed in cowboy hats and Daisy Dukes, and are the best thing about Buffett’s new 5 O’Clock Somewhere bar in the Margaritaville Casino at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas.

I finally found something I like better at Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville than the concert videos.

Actually, the videos at Margaritaville Cafe are a few flip flop steps away (through the remodeled gift shop, how tempting and clever!) but I’ll take cowboy hats and Daisy Dukes any day of the week. Especially when they hop on the bar and dance as if they are in Mykonos.

The 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar is a little drinking area slinging margaritas and boat drinks in the Margaritaville Casino, which was opened in the fall of 2011 in what was basically a former hallway of the Flamingo. Other than the girls, there’s really not much to the joint.

 

There’s a bit of a tropical feel and it has about 20 barstools, a couple of tables and very little standing area. There is a spot at the back with a limited view of the Strip. The somewhat small TVs show mostly sports, not Buffett (nor Buffett music, interestingly). There is no food at this bar, only drinks.

The bartenders make drinks with a flair, flipping the bottles as if this were a big nightclub. That’s okay and it’s a nice show. All but one of the bartenders I encountered was quick with the conversation (the bald-headed one seemed as if he wished he were somewhere other than there), probably because hardly anyone was in the place. And I was there over New Year’s Eve!

The place ain’t cheap. A Landshark Lager is draft $8 (the bottle is a bit less unsettling $7). At $11.25, The Perfect Margarita is a much better deal – it’s pretty much all I drink at Margaritaville – but be warned this concoction is for veterans only. Do not attempt if you are new to this drinking thing. They won’t even serve them in the signature “keep ’em” mini-pitchers and “5 o’clocks” in which they make other drinks.

 

Gee, $8 for a draft. Whadda trying to do, Jimmy, make back your investment in one keg? Actually Jimmy doesn’t set the prices but he’s got enough boats, houses and planes and us Parrotheads spend enough on him in every walk of our lives, so it stings a bit to be slammed like this in his bar.

Sure, it’s the same price as the actual Margaritaville, but if the drinks were cheaper (say $5 and $6, with late-night Happy Hour specials), this place would have great potential to be a happening hangout. Tourists would spend time (and more money, rather than just having one or two they would have several) wastin’ away and bartenders and waitresses of other places would go there after work.. It could be a kind of a Banana Republic, a place to escape for expatriates of Vegas looking to have some fun.

 

If I just want to sit and have a few drinks somewhere, I’ll go elsewhere. There’s too many other places to go in Vegas.

Until the girls get on the bar, of course.