Art Bar

A quiet night at the OutBack steak house in some nameless sub-section of Henderson. Quickly downing a strong Jack and Coke, much too strong for a corporate restaurant, I plotted my scheme for the evening. Songs playing above remind me not to look into the rearview.
Music the ultimate commotion to make you take a real long deep peak at yourself, its working and my drink isn't as strong as I thought. It's weak like my demeanor on this St. Patty's day 2006. Sit back relax and enjoy the vibe. Tonight it's gonna be a long one. The Strip awaits the whore of Nevada. I'm not looking forward to the drive, but I need to ride this out. Let's toast to our greatest demise. Drink up!
Las Vegas Blvd, jilted losers; street urchins with too much money wander throughout. I wonder how different I'll turn out to be after a few months, this assignment is a long one.
I'm prepared with a huge cup of Long Island, a pack of smokes and a nice buzzing in my scrambled brain. The Main St. locale I found on the Internet was much more than I anticipated. The first review of the night. I'd called ahead and made a point of letting management know that I was on assignment covering the local scene and the Art Bar was a recommended place. To name a bar after an often obscure notion like "Art" was daring and takes balls. People will show up, Therefore you have to put up. Those of you familiar with the "Casbah," a Rock and Roll club in San Diego will enjoy the Art-Bar. The place is Rock and Roll and lounge with Elvis' ghost roaming around eating a fried banana sandwich.
The bar seems to be locals only so far; this place is much too raw for the tourists who might have overshot the strip by 6 blocks. The crowd was mellow yet the vibe was anticipatory; they were bidding their time. So was I downing a few beers while I sorted the place out. No cover and was beer was cheap so far so good by most. The bartenders are nice, the girl's especially were nice. The guys were nice too hard working. Video poker is the drug in this town, I've personally witnessed at some casino's men pumping 20's after 20's and zoning everything else out. No women or amusement for them, the flashing lights and "comped" drinks are their drug.
The video poker machines here at Art Bar were quiet, even the older couple who saw me and smiled were not playing. They just seemed thankful to be alive and enjoying the scene. At this point a band that describes their sound as Bossa Nova Jazz starts their set. Even at the peak of their performance the sound is not overbearing, it helps that the band is technically sound. I had to make my move before the beers did their work.
Imagine if you will an Elvis impersonator without the get-up shoving a syringe full of Jell-O shot straight into your mouth and artists and bartenders laughing. My eyes nearly exploded outta my skull, tripling my blood alcohol level. Smiling he introduced himself as Jesse Garon owner and proprietor of Art-Bar.
Jesse is a cool man with a southern accent, 14 yrs removed from Texas whose sister by the way is one of the nice bartenders I mentioned earlier. Jesse is a smart man, fully aware and in touch with the surging popular art culture that is rising out of the ashes of old Vegas. What he does and what's unique about his place is, he lets local artists display their work for free and with all the proceeds going to the artists. Not a bad deal. The walls are covered with art of different styles and approaches; some of it was a amateurish some was truly well done. I especially enjoyed a modern take on the 40's pin-up done by Capital H Gallery. No matter Art director Erik Swanson is always looking for art and artists.
This is an eclectic bar with no excuses, a good vibe and cute ladies. It would do good for anyone to visit. This is a joint worth watching. The bar is centered in the room with easy access all around. If you wander to the bathroom like I did, they a have huge stack of Budweiser cans piled up into a pyramid type structure. Any frat boy worth his salt should see this and pray to one day amass such an impressive collection. The Elvis lounge was, I believe still under construction; however I did see people wandering about without hard hats so maybe im wrong. There is plenty of comfy seating where you can sit and enjoy the art. Dear readers if Vegas is the major leagues of fun then, Art-Bar is the bullpen of the local scene. Ready and willing to show you a good time and close out the game. The specter of the Strip is evident and comforting for those who wander in and get confused. I'm starting to get hammered so I better leave. Elvis is alive and well I grab another syringe of Jell-O shot and make my way out the door. Gracious host’s good music cheap beer good vibe….watch out for the Jell-O shot syringes. I'm gonna blast mine on the way to New York, New York…I'm gonna need it.


1511 S. Main Street
Las Vegas, NV 89104
(702) 437-2787