Wine List
Aureole
Apparently our readership has a good knowledge of fine wines, because this restaurant was the first one in Las Vegas to win a Grand Award from Wine Spectator Magazine. The gimmicks are many here, like a 44-foot Lucite wine tower and the E-Wine Book, a tablet PC that tracks the restaurant's inventory in real time. But the selections are diverse, prices fair and the wine service, led by a team of crack sommeliers, the best in town. Inside Mandalay Bay, 632-7401.
Martini
Red Square
We know why Red Square is a perennial winner of foodie awards. Not because it has more kinds of vodka than there are Romanoffs buried in the hinterlands.
Not because their food is killer.
It's the martini. Any martini. We tried one—at least, that was the last one we remember—made from the closest thing to a well-drink version of vodka the place has. An hour later, we began to understand the backward nature of the Cyrillic alphabet. And for a while, we felt supremely Russian. The only thing missing? Boris Yeltsin's hangover cure. Inside Mandalay Bay, 632-7407.
Microbrew
Gordon Biersch
Maybe it's because Dan Gordon, brewing engineer and co-founder of Gordon Biersch, is the only American to graduate from the prestigious five-year brewing engineering program at Germany's Weinhestephan Brewing University. Maybe it's because all of GB's brewing equipment and the yeast used in the process come from Germany. Maybe it's because GB's five year-round beers and four seasonal varieties are brewed according to Reinheitsgebot, Germany's 500-year-old purity law, which allows for the use of only four ingredients—malted barley, water, hops and yeast—in the brewing process. Or maybe it's the crisp, hoppy Pilsner, the unfiltered, full-bodied yet smooth Dunkels, the ever-so-sweet Marzen, the satisfyingly malty Blonde Bock or the fresh, light Golden Export lager. Whatever it is, it has inspired you, Las Vegas, to raise a glass to Gordon Biersch's tasty microbrews. Prost! 3987 Paradise Road, 312-5247
Beer Selection
Crown & Anchor British Pub
If the sight of those 30 taps lining the wall behind the bar doesn't sell you on the Crown & Anchor's beer selection, the variety of tasty libations flowing through the keg lines will. Boddington's Pub Ale, John Courage, McEwan's, Beamish Stout, Warsteiner and Pyramid Apricot Ale are just a few of the beers available by the pint, and thirsty patrons will find another 40 or so by the bottle. And should you go the distance and join the pub's Down the Hatch Club, expect to leave with your very own Down the Hatch Club T-shirt after enjoying a pint of each of the pub's 30 beers on tap (just remember to pin your membership card to your shirt if you do it all in one night). 1350 E. Tropicana Ave., 739-8676
Cup of Coffee
Starbucks
Well, of course it's Starbucks.
The reality is that Starbucks franchises are like bars in Wisconsin: There's one on almost every corner; two on some. Moreover, their coffee is so good, it's ruined most of us for Folgers or Maxwell House. Starbucks has made us all think outside the can. What would you rather do, plop down $3.50 for a grande café mocha or down a cup of the free stuff in the office cafeteria? You know the answer. Innumerable locations.