Oktoberfest celebrations abundant around Las Vegas
Las Vegas may have a decided shortage of German restaurants, but during Oktoberfest everyone's German and everyone has a chance to celebrate, with many local restaurants and bars offering specials.
These include:
■ On Fridays and Saturdays through Oct. 27, Hofbrauhaus Las Vegas, 4510 Paradise Road, will have Oktoberfest keg tappings and stein-holding contests. Live music nightly.
■ It's Dogtober from 2 to 9 p.m. Saturday at Big Dog's Brewing Co., 4543 N. Rancho Drive, with a Wisconsin-style brat party, bratwurst, knackwurst, frankfurters, Bavarian kraut, pretzels and the tapping of Chocolate Lab Porter, plus more than 50 seasonal brews from around the world. There also will be live music.
■ Ranch House Kitchen at Town Square, 6593 Las Vegas Blvd. South, celebrates Oktoberfest through Sunday with happy hour specials from 3 to 6 p.m., including $3 domestic drafts, $3 well drinks, and half-price bottles of wine, appetizers and pizzas.
■ Rocktoberfest runs from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Monday at Stripburger at Fashion Show mall, 3200 Las Vegas Blvd. South. Some 20 varieties of German beers can be sampled for $20. Food to be served includes Rheingau-style chicken (marinated in beer), brisket, burgers, German potato salad, soft pretzels, spaetzle salad and dark chocolate brownies with cherry sauce. There also will be a DJ.
■ All Feast and Festival buffets at Station Casinos properties across the valley are offering sausage and sauerkraut, sauerbraten, pierogies with caramelized onions, German potato salad, braised red cabbage and pretzel bread during lunch, brunch and dinner hours, through the end of October (at regular buffet prices). And Barley's, 4500 E. Sunset Road, Henderson, has released its Red Rock original Oktoberfest lager, which also is available at all Wildfire Gaming properties and at Green Valley Ranch Resort, Red Rock Resort and Fiesta Henderson casino bars.
■ The buffets at The Orleans, Gold Coast, Suncoast, Sam's Town, California, Fremont and Main Street Station will celebrate Oktoberfest every Saturday this month with eight traditional dishes and a complimentary bottle of St. Pauli Girl beer (with additional bottles available for $2 each). Regular buffet pricing applies.
■ At The Mirage, 3400 Las Vegas Blvd. South, this month is Hoptober, a monthlong celebration of hops and barley with resort restaurants and bars showcasing craft beers, such as Brazilian beers at Samba, Oktoberfest and pumpkin ales at Cravings and beers from Ommegang, a small brewery in New York, at Carnegie Deli. Plus, Kokomo's and Onda Ristorante will each week feature a four-course menu with beer pairings for $79, inclusive. The themes: Top-Rated Beer, through Sunday at both restaurants; Samuel Adams Beer, Tuesday through Oct. 14 at both; AleSmith Beer, Oct 16-21 at both; and New Belgium Beer, Oct. 23-31 at Kokomo's and Oct. 25-29 at Onda. Free seminars also will be offered at 4 p.m. at Onda Wine Lounge on the following topics: Saturday, "Lagunitas and American IPAs"; Oct. 12 and 13, "The Fine Art of Brewing"; Oct 19 and 20, "Beer and Food Pairing"; Feb. 26 and 27, "New Belgium Brewing and Sour Ales."
■ Through Oct. 21, Gordon Biersch locations at 3987 Paradise Road and 750 S. Rampart Blvd. are celebrating with limited-edition FestBier lager and dishes such as a FestBier combo of grilled bratwurst, knackwurst, Hungarian sausages, garlic fries and a soft pretzel, plus a German sausage platter, German Kobe burger, Harvest Chicken Salad and more, priced at $6.50 to $26.95.
■ Lagasse's Stadium at the Palazzo, 3325 Las Vegas Blvd. South, is celebrating through Oct. 31 with German potato salad, potato-bacon-cheese soup, Munich brat with caramelized onions and steak fries, mustard-glazed pork loin with beer-braised cabbage and warm apple strudel, priced at $5 to $20.
■ Garfield's, 2620 Regatta Drive, 925-8333, offers brats and German soft pretzels in a beer garden during Monday night football.
■ And Public House at The Venetian, 3355 Las Vegas Blvd. South, is featuring an October Flight of pumpkin and Oktoberfest beers - Tenaya Creek Oktoberfest, Firestone Oaktober, Warsteiner Oktoberfest and Big Dogs Pumpkin Barleywine - for $17. Public House also is offering a 64-ounce growler for $8 empty, or $22 to $52 filled.
- Heidi Knapp Rinella/las vegas review-journal
