On our mini bar crawl we chose a few places bars or restaurants that we have seen and always wanted to visit. On this trio we decided on the Ghost Donkey Bar at Cosmopolitan, followed by the Vanderpump Cocktail Garden in Caesars Palace, and wrapping up at Parasol Down and the Lake of Dreams at Wynn Las Vegas.
We arrived at Vanderpump’s Cocktail Garden and there was a short line ahead of us. But looking into the venue there appeared to be a lot of empty seating. The host was a pleasant man who provided us the option of a brief wait or seating in an area further away from the main bar. This place is not super big so we opted for immediate seating away from the main bar. More on this in a minute…
The venue itself appears dark and cozy woth large trees charmed in little hearts and lights. It’s a very pretty and intimate feeling bar.
Celebrity personality Lisa Vanderpump brought Vanderpump Cocktail Garden to Caesars Palace Las Vegas in 2019, the newest hotspot featuring a hand-crafted cocktail menu and a selection of small bites making it the perfect way to start or end the night.
After viewing the menu we opted to try a shareable cocktail for two called Rome is Burning. This cocktail is a smoked black cherry Manhattan, featuring Woodford Reserve, Carpano Antica Vermouth, Black Cherry and Chocolate bitters.
Now…before I get to the presentation and review of the cocktail let’s talk about the service here…
We opted for immediate seating away from the bar, which apparently means no service for 25 minutes. And when I say no service I mean ZERO service we weren’t acknowledged in any way shape or form for 25 minutes!! We watched at least 4 other tables get seated and leave before getting any service! But we stuck it out for the sake of this review lol! Once our waitress finally came through, we placed our order and waited maybe another 10 minutes to get our drink. Now, we fully understand short staffing issues as the result of the pandemic etc…but I would have rather they said it’s going to be a 15-20min. wait due to short staffing and seat us in a workable area for staff, than wait without explanation for a LONG time. So, that’s the only negative I really have for this location, and honestly I rarely post negative reviews, I’d much rather tell you all about the great places than the ones that we had any problems with. Now, Let’s get back to that cocktail.
The service presentation was so nice!
A cute decanter filled with our drinks and cloud of smoke hovering in the bottle. The waitress poured our first drink and explained that she was going to cap the decanter and let the smoke change the flavors for our second round. That’s right there were two pours each from the decanter, and she was absolutely right the first glass was smooth, sweet with a light smoke, it was delicious, and the second glass was bolder, rich you tasted more of the chocolate bitters. It was a really fantastic cocktail!
So, overall I would recommend this as place you should all give a try, but ask a lot of questions if they give you seating options, and above all I guess sometimes it truly pays to have the patience of a saint! Enjoy!
Barnwood and Baked Goods 