Chug! The Top Five Places to Drink in Vegas

Las Vegas, the illustrious Oz of our 21rst century world, shot into the spotlight this summer with the release of the surprise mega hit The Hangover, a film featuring the craziest kind of "what happens in Vegas" shenanigans. Like any good pop culture enthusiast, I decided to try out the glitz and gambling myself and signed up for a two night stint in sin city, hoping to get into all sorts of trouble.

I didn't get into much trouble (or okay, any at all), but I did discover Vegas' third vice (after gambling and sex): drinking. And since you can carry your beer wherever you go in the 24 hour city, there is a lot of it to be had. Here is a rundown of the best five places to drink in the city that's built on it:

1. Fat Tuesdays:
   Perhaps the most outlandish, and affordable, of all the drink spots, Fat Tuesdays, a New Orleans concept featuring supersized frozen drinks, offers five locations on the Vegas strip. One location, next door to Planet Hollywood, is inside a mall, giving a boost to dreary day time shopping. The chain offers a variety of sizes and for between $7 and $13 you can carry around a giant drink. Get the largest and walk down the strip- by the time you get to the other end, you can refill it at the next Fat Tuesdays location. An added bonus? $1 Jello Shots.
2. Caesar's Palace:
   There is nothing spectacular about the size or price of the drinks found outside the Caesar's Palace hotel, but the pink lemonade concoction is one of the very best. Served in a small stand on the walk between the Bellagio and Caesar's, the Bacardi pink lemonade is sweet enough to rot your teeth and strong enough to make you feel it. There's not much more you can ask from a drink on the Vegas strip.
3. Koi, Planet Hollywood:
   Koi inside Planet Hollywood, Las Vegas' version of the LA powerhouse, is as sleek and overpriced as the original, but with the myriad of the coupons available in Vegas, a stop in the restaurant's dreamy lounge is worth it. The lounge offers a quiet retreat from the rest of the Planet Hollywood casino and a menu of delicate and delicately-named martinis and cocktails made with top shelf liquor. Your palate and your head will thank you for taking things slowly.
4. Paris Las Vegas:
   The shrine to all thing Parisian that is the Paris hotel also offers some of the most ridiculous cocktails on the strip. Both inside and outside of the hotel, you can find stands offering frozen drinks served in miniature replicas of the eiffel tower or the hotel's signature Paris balloon. Choose from a margarita, pina colado, or a daiquiri, and you've got a drink to last you hours and a souvenir you'll actually want to take home.
5. Bellagio's casino floor:
   Drinks are free at any casino while you're gambling, but I had the best luck at the Bellagio, both with the slots and with the drinks. The penny slots don't attract a lot of freebies, but every time I played there, I was offered a drink. What you get for free isn't very strong (beer may be your best bet for quality assurance), but it's part of the gambling experience, and it is the cheapest drink in Vegas. Just be sure to tip!

Have fun, be safe, and don't forget to eat!