I love dueling piano bars. They’re a fun entertainment option for everyone, from groups of friends to couples to solos. It’s less expensive than a show (especially the $100+ A list shows) and can be way cheaper than spending the night gambling (and losing). It’s also a way for solo travelers to socialize and become part of a fun-loving group for a little while. I have had many a good time at dueling piano bars during my travels, including Las Vegas. Here’s how you, too, can have some dueling piano fun during your trip to Las Vegas.

Dueling pianists

What to look for in good dueling pianists

• Musical talent, obviously.
• Teams who play well off each other.
• A sense of humor.
• Teams who know how to engage the audience in a fun way, without insulting anyone’s taste in music or being too offensive. (I’ve seen this line crossed once or twice.)
• Those who aren’t too pushy for tips. There’s a difference between occasionally reminding people that tips are appreciated and being pushy about it. People are out to have a good time, they don’t want to feel like they’re being mugged every few minutes.

Dueling piano crowd

How to have fun at a dueling piano show

• Dueling piano shows are fun because of crowd participation. That means you. If the pianists tell you to clap, clap; if they tell you to sing the chorus, sing the chorus.
• Bring your sense of humor. You might find yourself as the center of attention, especially if you’re celebrating a birthday and they find out about it. Or they might gently tease you about a song request. Most times it’s meant as good fun. Take it that way.
• Make song requests and make them as unique and difficult as possible. This really livens things up. Everyone requests “Piano Man” and “Sweet Caroline”. But if you can request something difficult, say a heavy metal tune from the ’80s, that’s when things get interesting. The best pianists pride themselves in being able to tackle a tough tune.
• When you make your request, don’t forget the tip ($1 or more). Those who tip more have their requests moved to the “front of the line,” so to speak. It is not unusual to see $20 tips accompany requests.
• The show may be free, but don’t be cheap. Order some drinks and don’t forget to tip your server.
• If there’s bar seating, that’s the best place for a solo to hang out and meet others. Or if you can snag a table first, offer to share with others as they come in looking for a seat.

So, where can you find dueling pianos in Las Vegas? The better question might be “Where can’t you find them?” There used to be just two–New York, New York’s Bar at Times Square and the Piano Bar at Harrahs–but now it’s like those two shagged like bunnies and produced offspring everywhere around town. I’m okay with this, because choice is a good thing.

Bar at Times Square

The Bar at Times Square, New York, New York

When: Nightly, 8pm – 2am
What you need to know:There is a $15 cover if you want to sit. The bar is separated into a standing section and a seated section, with the pianos separating them. This is the granddaddy of the dueling piano shows in Las Vegas and one of the most fun. The bar itself is a neat space, reminiscent of an old-time pub you might find in New York City, with lots of dark polished wood. If you’re looking for a rowdy, slightly off-color piano show, this is the one for you.

Piano Bar at Harrahs

The Piano Bar, Harrahs

When: Nightly, 9pm – 3am
What you need to know: Identical twin sisters Kim and Tamara Pinegar are the headliners for this dueling piano lounge, but they’re not there 100% of the time. They do know how to work up the crowd. The atmosphere here is down to earth, lively, and fun, and the show is always packed. There’s also lots of solo seating, including at the bar and a row of seats right in front of the pianos. This is my favorite of Vegas’s dueling piano bars. There may be a cover on the weekends, per Craig (see comments below).

Napoleon's

Napoleon’s, Paris

When: Nightly, 9pm – 11pm
What you need to know: Napoleon’s started out as a cigar and champagne lounge, so it’s got a much more upscale atmosphere than most of the other piano bars. The crowd tends to be a bit more grown-up and less rowdy than New York, New York or Harrahs.

Video Poker Bar at the Eastside Lounge

Eastside Lounge, Encore

When: Nightly, 9pm-on.
What you need to know: There is a 2 drink minimum here during shows. I haven’t been here during the show, but the Eastside Lounge has a very long bar (yay for solos!) and lots of comfortable seating areas. Mixologists mix up organic cocktails during the show.

Monte Carlo

The Pub, Monte Carlo

When: Thursday – Sunday, 9pm – 2am
What you need to know: If you like beer, this may be the best piano bar for you. The Pub has a huge selection of beers from around the world in every category. They also have some tasty adult milkshakes.

The Plaza

Swinger’s Club, The Plaza

When: Wednesday – Sunday, 8:30pm – 2am
What you need to know: This is the only dueling piano club in town that also offers a 9-hole miniature golf course. It’s located Downtown at the top of Fremont Street.

Pete’s Dueling Piano Bar, Town Square

When: Wednesday – Saturday, 8pm – 2am
What you need to know: Pete’s is a chain of dueling piano bars with locations in Texas, Nevada, and Florida. Given its location in the Town Square development (on Las Vegas Boulevard, south of the airport), it tends to attract more locals than tourists and is more down to earth. It gets crowded and can be hard to find a seat if you don’t reserve one. Note: There may or may not be a cover charge.

Salute Lounge

Salute Lounge, Palazzo

When: Nightly 7:30pm-1:30am.
What you need to know: I love the retro feel of Salute Lounge, with its zebra strip upholstery and stalactite shaped overhead lighting. It is a cool place to hang out. If only the dueling pianos here were as cool. Honestly, this is the weak link in the chain of dueling piano shows in Las Vegas.

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Dueling Piano Fun in Las Vegas is a post from: The Vegas Solo

Not being much of a fan of Japanese cuisine, it took me until Restaurant Week 2011 to actually try Japonais at the Mirage. Their Restaurant Week menu had an entree of braised short ribs with pureed sweet potato that was calling my name. On this night, I showed up around 7pm (without a reservation) and was offered a seat in either the dining room or the lounge. I chose the lounge, which sounded more casual. Little did I realize how casual.

Photo Courtesy of MGM MIRAGE

I was shown to my seat: a couch in one of those cozy little seating areas meant for groups of friends. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten dinner on a couch in a public place before. I sat down and felt completely swallowed up by the couch. I couldn’t quite figure out how to look like I was comfortable sitting there having dinner by myself. I felt a little too exposed–as if I’d been expecting a group of friends and they all stood me up. Also, it was very dark in there. We all know how I feel about dark restaurants. Grr.

Then when I placed my order, my waitress informed me that they were out of the short ribs.

NOOOOOOOOOO!

I didn’t actually scream it out loud, but at this point, I seriously considered getting up and leaving. My waitress gave me more time to review the menu while she went to get my drink. As I was fuming about my poor choice in restaurants and wondering what the hell to order now, my glance fell on the Restaurant Week logo on the menu and it reminded me why I was really there. Charity. Oh right; this isn’t about me. It’s about feeding the truly hungry. Shame flooded me, but it also turned my attitude right around.

I wound up ordering the lobster spring rolls, the organic chicken, and the sorbet trio for dessert. I made one special request: I asked if they still had any of the sweet potato puree left and if they could substitute that for the rice that normally came with the chicken. She went to check and came back with the good news: Yes! After that, all was right with the world.

While I waited for my food to arrive, I relaxed a little into the couch, sipping my cocktail and listening to the background music while trying to ignore the other diners around me. There were candles on the tables in the lounge, ostensibly for the romance, but I think secretly it’s because the lounge is so dark you can’t read the menu without them. Still, once I stopped feeling self-conscious–and there was really no reason to feel that way, since not a single other person in the restaurant had so much as glanced in my direction–it wasn’t such a bad place to be, I decided.

Then the food arrived, and I was happy I’d stayed. I’ve never met a spring roll I didn’t like. The chicken was fine (and likely much healthier than the short ribs), the broccolini was crisp-tender, and the sweet potato puree was to die for. It tasted like there was apple or pear mixed in with the potato. Mmmm. The sorbets came in a trio of flavors–mango, raspberry, and yuzu, a Japanese citrus that tasted like lemon. More mmmmm.

No matter how hungry I was before my meal, though, I recognized once again why Restaurant Week is such a bad idea for me: I cannot eat three courses in one sitting. I was so full by the time this meal was done, I almost had to ask to be rolled out of the restaurant and back to my hotel in a wheelbarrow.

Despite getting off on the wrong foot, my meal here was terrific. The food was fine, but what really stood out for me was the service. My waitress did everything she could to make up for the disappointment of not being able to order what I wanted, as did the chef by accommodating my sweet potato puree obsession. There were times when I thought perhaps I’d been mistaken for a restaurant critic–the staff was that attentive to me.

Next time you’re in the Mirage to see a show or do a little gambling, Japonais is well worth a try. Tip: They also have a happy hour in their lounge daily, with $7 drinks and appetizers from 5-8pm. I think I’ll try that next time.

Photo credit: MGM MIRAGE

Japonais: Disappointment or Delight? is a post from: The Vegas Solo

There are many reasons to travel to Las Vegas–the superb weather, the fine dining, the variety of Vegas night-life options, the world-class shopping, the decadent pampering you can receive at the resorts, and of course, attractions galore to keep the idle mind entertained. But there is a whole different list of reasons why you should travel to Las Vegas alone rather than with others. Here are my top 10 reasons for traveling solo to Las Vegas. Keep in mind these are MY reasons. I’m sure yours are much more X-rated.

Las Vegas

1. The time-share people will leave you alone.

Timeshare salespeople can be very aggressive on the Strip. During my early trips to Las Vegas, when I was hanging out with my uncle, the timeshare people badgered us constantly. Now that I travel alone, they don’t even notice me. Why? Because they have no interest in selling timeshares to singles. Score!

Vegas makes dining solo easier

2. Dining options are very solo-friendly.

Feel weird about eating alone in Vegas? Don’t. Most restaurants here have bar seating. There are also buffets, where you can avoid the boredom that normally sets in between ordering your meal and its arrival, or you can get a table with a view to keep yourself entertained. Most waitstaff are so accustomed to solo diners, they don’t bat an eye when you say there’s just one of you. If there’s a long wait at a restaurant, you can bypass that long line of groups and couples waiting to be seated and grab a seat at the bar. This perk is what I call:

Bar seating at Cafe Nikki

3. The Single-Seat Advantage.

It’s easier to score a last-minute single seat to a top show, a single lounge chair by the pool, or a single seat at a VP bar or bank of slot machines than it is to try to find 2 or more seats together.

Where to next? Wherever I want.

4. Freedom and flexibility.

This doesn’t really need an explanation, does it?

Las Vegas Strip at night

5. No fights.

If you’ve ever gotten into a fight with your significant other on vacation, you know what I’m talking about. Nothing sours your good time faster than that. Unless you’ve got anger management issues, it’s unlikely you’ll get into a fight with a stranger while in Vegas.

I hate waiting.

6. No waiting on someone else.

You don’t have to wait for your companion to get done with her two-hour morning beautification ritual in order to start your day. You also don’t have to wait to go to dinner while your companion plays “just one more hand” for the sixteenth time at the blackjack table. Do you have any idea how much you can squeeze into a vacation when you don’t spend half of it waiting on someone else?

Go ahead, be a superhero for a weekend. No one has to know.

7. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Really.

I HATE that slogan with the fire of a thousand suns, but when it comes to traveling alone, it’s really true. If you try singing karaoke and the audience boos you off the stage, no one will carry that story back to your friends and family (unless you do). If you drink a little too much and pass out in the hotel elevator, no one back home is going to know. (Not that I recommend you try this.)

Find a bar, make some friends

8. Make new friends.

Oftentimes when we travel with companions, we become a self-contained bubble, so caught up in each other that we’re not open to meeting new people. People traveling alone tend to be more approachable. And it’s fairly easy to meet people in Las Vegas, because everyone is in a good mood. Why wouldn’t they be? They’re in Vegas, baby!

All to myself.

9. Peace and quiet

I know, “peace and quiet” isn’t exactly the first phrase you think of when you think of Las Vegas, is it? Vegas is a city of constant sensory stimulation, which is exciting and fun, but at the end of the day, I’m grateful to be able to go back to my room for some peace and quiet. When you travel with someone else, you don’t usually get that quiet time by yourself.

Las Vegas

10. Because you can!

If you can go to Las Vegas, and you want to, you should. There’s no law that says you have to  wait until someone else can afford to go, or has the time to go, or the desire to go. Why deprive yourself of a few days of fun in Sin City because of other people? Just go and enjoy yourself.

Do you have other reasons why someone should travel alone to Las Vegas? What are they? Keep it PG-rated please.

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Top 10 Reasons to Travel Solo to Las Vegas is a post from: The Vegas Solo

It might seem a strange revelation to admit that, in all my years going to Las Vegas and admiring St. Mark’s Square (Piazza San Marco) at the Venetian, I had never actually eaten there before my last trip. I’ve been to the Square on every trip—at least once. But no, I had never eaten there before. I have no particular reason why. I wasn’t avoiding it; it just hadn’t happened. Even this time, it was not my first choice.

I had planned on dining at Delmonico Steakhouse, but when I walked past it, I saw that it was open, but completely empty but for one couple. Suddenly, it lost its appeal. So instead, I wandered down to St. Mark’s Square and read the menus of all the restaurants there. Postrio’s menu wooed me, but it was Canaletto that won me over.

St. Mark's Square, Venetian

Dining in St. Mark’s Square is really pretty cool. If you’ve not been to the Venetian before, let me describe St. Mark’s Square. It’s a replica of the Piazza San Marco in the real city of Venice. The ceiling high above is painted to look like a blue sky, with puffy white clouds floating by. The restaurants and shops have gorgeous facades with intricate architectural details, and there are streetlamps everywhere. The floor is cobblestone.

The square draws tourists, just like the real Piazza San Marco. They’re drawn to the beauty of the square, and to the entertainment. The gondola ride starts here, and there are stilt walkers and singers and living statues, souvenir kiosks, a caricature artist, and a gelato stand. The only time I’ve ever seen it relatively peaceful was very early in the morning. Otherwise, it is bustling and loud and crowded, with tourists snapping pictures.

Canaletto

As a solo diner, I didn’t care how loud it was; I wasn’t trying to carry on a conversation with anyone. I actually found it relaxing to sit and listen to the piped-in Italian music, which I could still hear above the hubbub of voices and clinking of silverware. Or maybe it was the beer that relaxed me.

For lunch, I started with a Sam Adams lager (got to support the home team sometimes) and the requisite bread with dipping oil. The bread was tasty, but the oil (with balsamic vinegar) was a bit too plain for me. I prefer a dipping oil with garlic and spices. My entree was the cannelloni with chicken, mozzarella, spinach, mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes. I was torn between that and the tagliatelle, but when I asked my waiter for advice on which was smaller (since I’m a light eater), he steered me toward the cannelloni.

Turns out, even the cannellonis were large; each one seemed the size of a burrito. One side of the dish had a tomato-based sauce, while the other half had a white sauce. Overall, it was creamier than I generally like to eat my pasta. There were far fewer vegetables in it than I would have liked given how prominently they were mentioned on the menu, and I got really sick of eating the chicken cubes that dominated the dish after awhile. It was all right, but it didn’t knock my socks off, if you know what I mean. Service throughout lunch, however, was excellent.

Cannelloni at Canaletto

I’m going to give the restaurant the benefit of the doubt and chalk it up to me ordering the wrong thing. If and when I return, I’ll try a different dish. Or maybe I’ll try Postrio instead. Or Otto Enoteca Pizzeria. In any case, I would definitely return to dine on the Square. I highly recommend it for the solo diner, as long as you can get a table “outside” one of the restaurants.  The atmosphere and people-watching of St. Mark’s Square is worth it.

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Las Vegas Vacations

Dining at Canaletto in St. Mark’s Square at the Venetian is a post from: The Vegas Solo

One of the things I love the most about Las Vegas–and the reason I can keep coming back here every year without getting bored–is that the city is constantly changing. Out with the old, in with the new, just like the new year. Okay, I’m sometimes gutted when I find out something I love is going buh-bye (like the Las Vegas Mob Experience or the lion habitat at MGM Grand–sob!). But sometimes the new things are pretty great themselves and I’ll add them to my list for my next visit. It’s been 4 months since my last trip to Las Vegas, and there are already a few new things I’m looking forward to trying on my next one:

Las Vegas Strip

Confessions of a Rock Star (the Riviera)

This new show is brought to us by Pat DiNizio, lead singer of one of my favorite rock groups of all time, the Smithereens!  You remember the Smithereens: They had such hits as “Blood and Roses,” “Behind the Wall of Sleep,” “Blues Before and After,” “A Girl Like You,” and perhaps my favorite, “House We Used to Live In.” I used to own the Best of the Smithereens album on cassette, which shows you how long they–and I–have been around. The show is billed as “songs, sounds and stories from 30 crazy years in the big bad business of rock & roll”. I’m mostly looking forward to the songs, but I’ve heard the stories are pretty great, too.

The Mob Museum

Not to be mistaken with the late, lamented Las Vegas Mob Experience at the Tropicana, the Mob Museum will be opening in the Downtown area of Las Vegas in early 2012 and will walk visitors through the history of Las Vegas’s ties to organized crime. I’ll be interested to see how it compares with the museum elements of the Las Vegas Mob Experience, which I thought were well done.

The Neon Museum

Finally! This museum dedicated to the preservation of the classic neon signs of yesteryear in Las Vegas (a collection of over 150 signs) is slated to open its new Visitors Center in mid-2012. I hope this makes it easier to get in to see the signs than its current Neon Boneyard outpost, where tours need to be booked well in advance. Two weeks’ lead time wasn’t enough last time I tried to book a tour.

Viva Vision Light Show

Bon Jovi’s Viva Vision Show (Fremont Street Experience)

Viva Vision, the overhead canopy light show at the Fremont Street Experience, is adding a new show to its lineup, a Bon Jovi-centric show featuring three of the band’s hit songs, “It’s My Life,” “Livin’ on a Prayer,” and “Who Says You Can’t Go Home.”  According to the press release, the storyline for this show was Jon Bon Jovi’s concept, in which “the band is dropped onto the screen from a spaceship” and performs their hit songs while traveling the universe–kinda like they do in real life. The Bon Jovi show joins classic Viva Vision shows such as Don McLean’s American Pie, John Van Hamersveld’s Signs of Life, and A Tribute to Queen. The show debuted on New Year’s Eve, appropriately.

The Dark Knight (slot machine)

This Batman slot machine came out in 2011, but I couldn’t find it anywhere in Las Vegas during my last trip. Hopefully, by the time I return, it’ll be more widespread in casinos around town, because I really want to try it. It follows the Batman timeline of the Christian Bale movies and pits Batman against (Heath Ledger’s) Joker. This is one of those new style video slot machines which includes clips from the movie, sounds, etc. and you can choose to play as either Batman or the Joker. Here’s a review of the game.

I can only hope and pray that these things are successful enough that they’re still in operation by the time I am in Las Vegas again. There’s nothing worse than when something opens–and then closes–before I can even get back to town. And I can’t wait to see what other cool new things are announced in the next few months.

What shiny new Vegas thing are you looking forward to on your next trip?

Oh–and Happy New Year, everyone!

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New Year, New Things to Do in Vegas is a post from: The Vegas Solo