8 Vegas Bars No Visitor Should Miss (Slideshow)

Don't be thrown by the plain, white, square exterior of Frankie's Tiki Room — a whole quirky, colorful, and creative world is contained within. With one part South Seas exotica, one part modern primitivism, and a dash of Vegas kitsch, Frankie's flaunts its theme with a generous amount of decorations, but these aren't your normal store-bought tacky tikis. The interior was built by Bamboo Ben, grandson of Eli Hedley, who was personally responsible for the décor at Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room and the Aku Aku at the Stardust. The joint also includes original carvings by Tiki Bosko (who created art for the Tropicana and the Venetian) and two other notable artists. Of course the drinks are just as imaginative, with offerings like the famous Bearded Clam (a mojito with passion fruit), the Lava Letch (rum, brandy, raspberry liqueur, and ginger beer), and the dangerous Fink Bomb (coconut rum, 160-proof rum, melon liqueur, and pineapple juice) — all of which can be ordered in a souvenir mug. In true Vegas fashion, Frankie's is open 24 hours.

After first opening as the Rendezvous Hotel and Casino (which doesn't sound shady at all) in 1976, the Gold Spike was christened with its new name in 1983, sold in 2002, and then sold again in 2007, 2008, and 2013. The current owners, the revitalization-focused Downtown Project, closed the place in 2014. After a three-week remodel, it re-opened as a bar, lounge, and adult-game venue. Now guests can sip drinks while they play pool, darts, beer pong, cornhole, shuffleboard, and a number of oversized games like chess, Connect Four, and Jenga. The outdoor area also plays host to dance, roller skating, and food truck parties. If you're the type who enjoys games with your drinks, there's no better place to go in Vegas.

Looking for some drinking games you can play at home? Check out these 10 from around the world.

Hofbräuhaus is Las Vegas' first and only German beer hall and restaurant, so if you're looking for big beer steins slung by Bavarian-dress-wearing waitresses in a large, high-ceilinged establishment, then look no further. The fare here (like the beer)  is actually German (or at least German-inspired), and not just American cuisine with altered names. Guests can start with Bavarian potato soup or a jumbo pretzel before moving on to giant pork sausages with sauerkraut, chicken schnitzel sandwiches, currywurst, and a multitude of other related options. These items can be washed down a Hofbräu lager, Munich-style dark beer, or hefeweizen in various sizes (most of which are quite large). Hofbräuhaus is located just off the Strip on Paradise Road neat the UNLV campus.

Amongst all the Las Vegas theme restaurants and bars where the staff dresses in costume, the Millennium Fandom Bar is one of the only where the customers get to show off their get-ups too. In addition to regular theme parties, occasional workshops, and a weekly nerd/geek trivia night every Wednesday, there's also a daily happy hour from 5-7 p.m., which includes 20 percent off for all cosplayers. Grab your costume that's been stashed away since Comic-Con (or Halloween), and head to the Millennium for drinks with your favorite sci-fi, fantasy, and anime friends.

As we all know, Las Vegas was originally founded by mobsters who came from New York and Chicago looking for a place where they could practice their religion free from persecution. (Or something like that.) If you want a more accurate history lesson, stop by Las Vegas' Mob Museum, and then have a drink across the street at the crime-themed Mob Bar. There you'll find signature cocktails, old-school drinks, and mob-themed spins on familiar favorites, like the "Blood in the Sand" (a parody of Blood and Sand) with scotch, OJ, sweet vermouth, and cherry liqueur. There's also retro décor, costumed bartenders and wait staff, and live piano music. They also have a tempting menu of small bites, and routinely host video games tournaments for some reason.

The Mob Museum made our list of the top nine "manly museums" in America. Click here to check out the rest.

Edgar Allan Poe spent his entire short but eventful life living and writing on America's East Coast. If he had quit the biz and moved west to open a saloon (not farfetched, considering his love of booze), it would probably look something like Park on Fremont. Creepy paintings, deer heads, and taxidermy birds line the walls of this ornately decorated bar — and there's even a Cinderella carriage on the roof made of recycled materials. As you explore the eclectic interior (or exterior, as there's also a patio), grab a signature cocktail like The Unicorn (citrus vodka, lemon, mint, and ginger beer) or The Hopster (tequila blanco, fresh lime juice, grapefruit beer, and a salted rim), or opt for a brew from the large selection of almost 50 craft beers.

Although the outside of Peppermill makes the building look like it used to be an old Pizza Hut, this bar, lounge, and restaurant has actually been around since 1972 and is a living relic of the old Vegas Strip. Worth a visit for its nostalgia alone, the Peppermill is also famous for its happy hour (50 percent off well drinks, house wines, and domestic beers 3-6 p.m. and 9-11 p.m. every day), oversized food portions, and funky interior. Stuck somewhere between the 1970s and what people in the '70s thought 2016 would probably look like, the décor includes multicolored neon lights, bright velvet-covered furniture, and even a flaming fire pit filled with water. Like the bar itself, don't think too hard about that last part; just order a drink and enjoy it all.

A Russian-themed bar and restaurant might initially seem like an odd idea, especially since it's one of the only depictions of Soviet culture in America, but somehow Mandalay Bay's Red Square makes it work. Just walk past the decapitated (and bird-dropping-covered) Lenin statue, through the large stone columns, and skip the Czarist palace-themed dining rooms to head straight to the bar. Although the food menu contains items like "Siberian" nachos (wonton chips with smoked salmon, wasabi cream, chive, and tobiko), braised short rib dumplings, a "Czar" (Caesar) salad, and Chicken Kiev, the biggest draw is the vodka list containing over 200 brands from over two dozen countries. Guests can don fur coats when visiting the vodka vault and frozen ice bar for an even more immersive experience.