Exploring the University District

If you go by the Google Maps version of the University District — which clings pretty tightly to the campus and its immediate environs — an excursion there might be somewhat limited. But if you expand the funzone just a little, you’ll find there’s a lot going on. 

🍽️ EATING:Al Mancini, longtime food writer, now also podcaster and proprietor of the Neon Feast app, points out that a couple of the city’s gems are around here: Lotus of Siam and Ferraro’s Ristorante. “You need to visit Lotus to get a feel for how great the Vegas dining scene is,” he says. Mancini also name-checked Naked City Pizza and its Buffalo-style pizza and wings. And don’t sleep on the lunch buffet at Mint Indian Bistro, either. 

Meanwhile, Alisha Kerlin, executive director of UNLV’s Barrick Museum, touts Kaizen Fusion Roll & Sushi (“I have a thing for their shishito peppers”) and TIABI Coffee & Waffle. I’ll testify to that one, too. 

💡 ENLIGHTENMENT: Turns out Las Vegas has a great art museum; it’s just attached to the university: The Barrick. A couple of years ago, Kerlin and her team overhauled its curatorial vision, focusing more attention on neglected communities and local artists — with generally acclaimed results. Nearby, the National Atomic Testing Museum chronicles Nevada’s part in America’s nuclear sublime. 

😎 EXPERIENCE: Imagine a funhouse mirror view of the decline of Western Civ, but with a lively punk vibe and a famous cocktail called Ass Juice. I’m speaking, of course, of the Double Down Saloon. I once saw a woman step out of her jeans during a game of pool there; no one batted an eye. Everyone should visit at least once. And if you’re ready for some body adornment, there’s Blck Teeth Tattoo. This is a place for the, and I quote, “weird, strange, disenfranchised, underrepresented.” Black- and woman-owned, LGTBQ-friendly, too. 

🌳 TREES: The Instagram account Snuffleupagus Tree is devoted to a single Chaparral weeping mulberry on the UNLV campus, and, frankly, is weirdly mesmerizing. Not a surprise; the tree is one of 10“champion”trees on the school’s grounds.