What’s cooler than The Rat Pack? While the group of men dominated the Las Vegas Strip in both performance and play, they were also known to frequent a bar in the downtown area: Bar Prohibition! at Golden Gate.
According to Mark Brandenburg, past owner of the Golden Gate and now Fremont Street Experience chairman, Sammy Davis Jr. drank at the bar often, as well as Dean Martin, because he often traveled by train (he supposedly preferred taking the train versus flying), and the train station was just down the street from the bar.
Bar Prohibition! is more than 100 years old, as it was erected at the same time that the Golden Gate was built in 1906.And while the property has been expanded over the decades and renovated many times over, the bar has remained in the same spot and has, for the most part, stayed true to the original design. Guests can even see the original plaster ceilings and old electrical panels from the 1940s (although certainly not in use!). In 2012, the bar was renamed to its current moniker. “We named it Bar Prohibition!—not Prohibition Bar—with a double play on ‘bar’ to mean ‘prohibit Prohibition,’” Brandenburg says.
It’s here that you can taste the spirit recipes of the era with the bar’s specialty cocktails. Order the 1906 Spritz, mixed with Bombay Dry or Aviation gin, St-Germain elderflower liqueur, Campari and champagne, or try the Lady Luck with Skyy Infusions Blood Orange vodka, peach schnapps, cranberry and pineapple juices and fresh-squeezed lime juice. In a nod to the boys, there’s the Rat Pack Manhattan, a blend of Bulleit rye whiskey, Grand Marnier, sweet vermouth and a dash of Angostura bitters.
Click here to learn more about the Golden Gate’s 100-plus-year history and to get a peek at what other artifacts have been preserved and are on display throughout the property, as well as some hidden gems.
Golden Gate, 702.385.1906
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