Step into what looks like an ordinary freezer door at the Craft Creamery ice cream shop in Las Vegas' Arts District and enter a warm, intimate, elegant speakeasy with midcentury-modern furniture, attentive service, exceptional cocktails and delicious bites.
The Zen Garden is a yuzu-forward, floral and citrusy cocktail topped with cucumber wheels. American Wagyu and bacon sliders have a dollop of a secret sauce, and chicken and waffles are finished with a mixed berry jam, maple butter and a pickle.
Craft Creamery, which opened in 2024, is just one stop on Lip Smacking Foodie Tours' new Arts District Craft Cocktail Crawl. The two-hour experience (starting at $99, plus tax and fees) is a guided walking tour that takes participants to five bars that are part of the downtown neighborhood's burgeoning cocktail scene. Tour guests get quick entry, sit at the best tables and are presented with each establishment's signature cocktails and dishes.
Another stop on the tour includes Nocturno, a semifinalist this year for Best New Bar in the U.S. by the James Beard Foundation. Guests can sip Crimes of Passion, a tequila and mezcal cocktail with passion fruit and chili salt. It's paired with a crispy prosciutto potato croquette with caviar as well as chicken tenders with pickle spice seasoning and a secret sauce.
Prowl’s lava rock walls and an animated panther are highlights of the Arts District Craft Cocktail Crawl. Photo Credit: Lip Smacking Foodie Tour
Also on the tour are trio of establishments that opened in the last year: Doberman Drawing Room, an exquisitely decorated manor with heavy wood, red velvet, tapestries and taxidermy; Prowl, a lounge with lava rock walls and an animated panther on a screen that seems to stare at guests; and Viking Mike's, a wintery Nordic yurt with an entrance kept at 32 degrees and featuring the Lake Mead gin-and-mead cocktail.
In case of a private event at one of these bars, other venues may be substituted on the tour, such as Petite Boheme, which opened in January 2025 and Velveteen Rabbit, an Arts District institution since 2013.
"Going out and trying a great restaurant has always been a thing, and now [it's] going out and getting an immersive experience where the bar has its own feel and look and nuance and ambience and cocktail program," said Donald Contursi, president of Lip Smacking Foodie Tours. "There's a lot of thought that goes into these, and people love the experience."
How the bars are chosen
Many factors go into the choice of bars to highlight, such as relationships Contursi has built, uniqueness, quality, location and social media potential. But what rises above all those are the operator's creative reputation and the venue's design and build, Contursi said.
"Are they putting their best foot forward to create a venue that is special? Does it have character, or is it just a box with a couple TVs and some chairs?" Contursi said.
Investment in decor, originality of the cocktails and elevated service set these bars apart. "All of these are very different from the other, including the type of cocktails that they serve, the mood that the setting is in," Contursi said.
The Arts District's walkability, acclaimed restaurants such as Esther's Kitchen, breweries, antique stores and vintage-clothing shops have steadily attracted more tourists, Contursi said. The neighborhood has hosted First Friday events each month for more than two decades.
Lip Smacking Foodie Tours, which has been in Las Vegas for 11 years, has expanded its presence to about two dozen other cities. About 85% of Lip Smacking customers are tourists, Contursi said. The company pays a 12% commission to travel advisors who book with it and also routinely hosts corporate groups and other large groups.