Ultimate guide to Vegas’ downtown Arts District: Over 20 must-see spots

It’s like a flower that grew from a crack in the sidewalk — albeit with craft brews, indie theater and pirate dogs in place of petals.

Oh, how the downtown Arts District has blossomed. Once a patchwork of galleries, shops, bars and eateries in a sporadically developed neighborhood, it’s sprouted into one of the most vibrant communities in the city and a destination for locals and out-of-towners alike. There’s so much to see and do in the area, where to start?

Here are some of our favorites:

Score an embalmed frog, maybe two

Can any living space truly be complete without a $4,000 stuffed Chacma baboon?

That’s a question we get asked at least six times a week.

The answer: A big, fat negative, chief.

Thankfully, you can save yourself further embarrassment and fill this obvious void in your home decor at Antique Alley Mall (1126 S. Main St.), a jam-packed antique mall that doubles as a maze of hard-to-find and/or hard-to-fathom wares and is part of Antique Alley, an array of 14 retro shops downtown, all of which are worth checking out.

You can find pretty much anything from the dozens of vendors here: vintage tiki gear, artisanal pocket knives, comic books and, of course, the aforementioned taxidermied primate. And be sure to check out Odd Vegas’ selection of goods, if animal skulls and embalmed reptiles are your thing.

Really, how could they not be?

If you’re looking to enhance your wardrobe in addition to your pad’s interior design, check out Alt Rebel (1425 S. Main St.), one of numerous impeccably-stocked secondhand clothing shops in the area where the wares range from Gucci belts to classic Rolling Stones “Bridges to Babylon” concert T-shirts.

And here we thought you couldn’t look any better …

Putting the art in the Arts District

Behold the Morton Salt girl, arm raised in protest, fist clenched — a familiar depiction turned on its head. It’s one of many repurposed iconic images and logos — Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, Land O’Lakes, Pepsi, to name a few — that line the walls of Recycled Propaganda (1114 S. Main St., Suite 120), all of them transformed into something that makes you question both what you’re seeing and the world around you.

You can’t have an arts district without, you know, the art, and Recycled Propaganda is one of the area’s standout galleries, awash in boundary- and button-pushing prints and paintings with a serrated sense of humor, courtesy of proprietor Izaac Zevalking, a British expat with a background in graphic design.

Zevalking had his first art show over a decade ago at the nearby Arts Factory (107 E. Charleston Blvd.), a beehive of creativity with over 30 artists and art studios, anchoring the district. Not only is it the center of the monthly First Friday festivities, but it’s open daily with dozens of galleries to explore and is a must-visit when in the area.

And be sure to feed a few bucks into the Gallery 2 Go art vending machine while you’re at it.

The best in DIY theater

Manson family operas, Bigfoot musicals, a little clown noir and Jane Austen classics staged indie-style?

Yes, yes, yes and yes.

All these productions — and scads more — have been featured at Majestic Repertory Theatre (1217 S. Main St.) in recent years.

It’s a go-to spot for some of the best in independent theater, presented in a suitably in-your-face setting.

And in an embarrassment of Vegas thespian riches, Vegas Theatre Company (1025 S. First St., Suite 110) is right up the street, boasting its own slate of consistently well-curated DIY productions, including monthly burlesque performances and the awesomely over-the-top Cockroach Cabaret variety show hosted by the Sensationally Scandalous Simone.

Your round, Fido

We know, we know, if you’ve seen one canine-themed tiki bar designed like a sunken schooner where cursed pirates have been transformed into dogs, you’ve seen them all.

But we’d argue that Stray Pirate (1321 S. Commerce St.) is worth a visit, regardless.

Now, the downtown Arts District is absolutely loaded with places to grab a craft beer or cocktail.

But with its gorgeous paintings of Chihuahuas and French bulldogs dressed as buccaneers, complete with video screens behind the bar shaped like portholes displaying aquatic scenes and a sweet — literally — tropical drink menu, Stray Pirate is the place to drop anchor for a round or two, even for landlubbers.

Right next door to Stray Pirate is its elegantly shadowy sister property, Prowl (1323 S. Commerce St.), a jungle cocktail hideaway where a black panther eyes visitors on the screen behind the bar and craft cocktails like the absinthe-enhanced Naked & Afraid are designed to unleash the inner wildcat in us all.

Prowl is among numerous new bars and nightspots in the area, including the playfully sinister Dark Sister (1410 S. Main St.), whose foliage-strewn walls are decorated with stiletto daggers, animal skeletons and ceramic birds of prey and whose devilishly delicious, whiskey-based Rosemary’s Baby lives up to its name.

At the upscale social club Doberman Drawing Room (1025 S. First St., Suite 100), guests are forbidden from taking cellphone pictures in order for first-time visitors to be fully regaled at just how picturesque the place is without any visual spoilers in advance. We recommend rolling the dice and knocking back an Otter Festival (lemongrass shochu, matcha, elderflower, yuzu, white cacao, tonic) or two during the Doberman’s “Backgammon &” weekly classic game night on Mondays.

Sports fans feel like they’re at the game — sans the $20 Bud Light tallboys — with Ballpark Nachos and foot-long Chili Cheese Dawgs at The Stadium (1508 S. Main St.), the Arts District’s first fully dedicated sports bar.

Still thirsty?

Check out the equally chic and rustic The Dustland Bar (1433 S. Commerce St.), whose tastefully appointed design evokes a vintage Nevada vibe complete with a stage for live bands, and Petite Boheme (1407 S. Main St.), the French-inspired cocktail lounge from renowned Vegas chef James Trees.

Speaking of whom …

Hungry?

Exploring all that the Arts District has to offer will surely conjure an appetite befitting of a grizzly bear having just awakened from its winter slumber, so a stop at Trees’ Italian eatery Esther’s Kitchen (1131 S. Main St.) is a must to sample the homemade pastas and gourmet pizzas created in an oven in the center of the room.

Trees also recently opened modern French bistro Bar Boheme (1401 S. Main St.) in conjunction with the aforementioned cocktail/wine bar, where genuine Parisian baguettes pair well with the trout amandine and the late-night bar bites (half off with the purchase of a drink) are some of the best around.

Staying with new additions to the area, Holsteins Shakes and Buns (1216 S. Main St.) brings its beloved burgers downtown from the high-end (the $38 Billionaire, a foie gras and Prime beef blend) to the inventive (the Rising Sun, with kalbi glaze, crispy yams, nori furikake, tempura avocado and spicy mayo) as well as gargantuan, one-of-a-kind milkshakes — available with booze or without — that almost look too good to drink (almost).

And for those sweet tooths looking for nondairy treats, look no further than Philly Freeze Me (1021 S. Main St., Suite 100) whose authentic Italian ice “jawns” — also available with booze or without, in over 50 flavors — will give you a taste of Philadelphia without the Eagles fans, a win-win for everybody.

Finally, seeing as we are in the Arts District, how about a spot truly evocative of its surroundings? Enter Palate (1301 S. Main St., Suite 110), where you’ll feel like you’re dining in an art gallery amid walls brightened by paintings from artist Mark Shevetone and regal, bright red high-back chairs alongside a library of borrowable cookbooks. The menu is similarly inviting with their Best of the West oysters, biscuits of the day and signature Palate charcuterie boards. Night owls, flock here for chef Sterling Buckley’s Late Night “Secret Menu” from 10 to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

Music to our ears

OK, so if the Arts District has no shortage of canine-themed tiki bars, the same couldn’t always be said of fully dedicated music venues.

Enter Swan Dive (1301 S. Main St.); exit frowny faces.

The sleek, sizable room on the upper floor of the Colorado building caters to midsized touring acts of all stripes, from hip-hop to electronic dance music, indie rock to death metal, and just about anything else.

The club is owned and operated by the same folks behind popular indie dance club Oddfellows in the Fremont East District, so you know that they know how to throw a party.

There’s also a large balcony for views of downtown as sweet as the sounds.

Speaking of the latter, on the lower floor of the Colorado is one of the coolest places to experience music in Vegas: Echo Taste & Sound (1301 S. Main St., Suite 160) vinyl listening lounge. Press past the velvet curtain, and you’d think you were in the wood-paneled, ’70s-style rec room of a deep-pocketed audiophile with an even deeper understanding of high-end sound systems.

The gear here is both vintage — dig the Technics reel-to-reel that looks as if it dates to the Nixon administration — and so extravagantly cutting edge that the cables used to connect the brand-new McIntosh hi-fi stereo rig cost $15,000 alone. The sounds vary, with DJs curating themed nights on the weekends — Funk Fridays, Jazz Saturdays, Soul Sundays — and there’s also a pop-up vinyl shop in a back corner curated by Moondog Records owner Clint McKean, so that you take some of the music home with you.

Keep the beat going at Audio Bar (1020 S. First St.), where brunch gets loud on the weekends and louder still at night when the place transforms into a full-on party bar.

Who doesn’t like the sound of that?

Contact Jason Bracelin at jbracelin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0476. Follow @jasonbracelin76 on Instagram.