If bars were days of the week, 5 O'Clock Somewhere would be Saturday. The centerpiece of Flamingo's fabulously kitch, tropically scented Margaritaville casino, this kinda-beach-hut-inspired watering hole stands in utter defiance of the Strip's tragic, focus-grouped de-theming and transformation into the world's longest stretch of CVS pharmacies.
Fun is this bar's raisons d'être. You'd need to mount an international expedition to find flair bartenders as entertaining and hilarious as Billy & Kevin, and there's no better (or cheaper) show in town than staking out a spot on the Strip-adjacent outdoor patio at 3am and watching the flood of fascinating, shocking, comical, tragic and terrifying humanity wander by.
This is *not* a place to nurse a 30-year-old single malt or complain about the paucity of Lillet (or use the phrase "raisons d'être," I suppose). This is a place to forget the bad, remember the good, laugh at the spectacle and applaud the gravity-defying stunts. It's a vacation.
But a bone to pick I have, and it's with the patrons. Happy Hour is from 5-6pm each day, and is ironically the only time you'll see frowns, hear anger and feel sad at 5-O'Clock Somewhere. This is because the bar's 5-cent Happy Hour Miller Lites turn normally jovial humans into pushing, shoving, dollar-waving, hot-headed, tantrum-throwing toddlers who must be served this very instant or their entire year - nay, life - is ruined. For 60 ugly minutes each day, the entire bar is sieged by a 4-5 bro deep army of hollering occupiers, all bewilderingly obsessed with taking advantage of The World's Best Deal on a beverage that's allegedly beer.
This is the only bar I've ever visited where security guards stake out spots ahead of time in preparation for a Happy Hour.
*sigh*
However...for 96% percent of each day, 5 O'Clock Somewhere is a tremendously happy place filled with smiles, fake palm trees, tropical cocktails and comical bartenders. As long as you keep an eye on your watch, you're guaranteed a great time.