Las Vegas Weekly

Unintentional EyeCandy

Without meaning to, I somehow end up at Mandalay’s central bar—on more than one occasion

Mandalay Bay’s surprisingly cool EyeCandy.

I have a few strange and fuzzy memories from my few visits to EyeCandy, the big noisy bar in the middle of the Mandalay Bay casino floor. It’s just a few steps from the House of Blues and stumbling distance from my old favorite club, the now-defunct Forty Deuce. I never really set out to end up at EyeCandy, but it’s so close to everything else that I’ve accidentally ended up drinking there more than once. There’s never a line and always a place to sit.

Also, it’s way cooler than the average casino bar. It’s all cement and glass in clean modern shapes. There are purple and turquoise lights and leather furniture. There’s also a DJ playing seven nights a week, in case you suddenly feel like dancing. Smoking, however, is not permitted. I know because I once lit a cigarette there and security descended on me like I had just punched someone. The place is a little different.

On one of those nights when I stopped at EyeCandy to wait for someone before we headed off to our planned destination, I got propositioned by what I’m guessing was a tourist. The speed at which it happened was quite surprising. I went up to the bar, ordered a drink, and before the bartender was finished shaking my martini, I was already explaining to the tourist, that, “Oh, I don’t do … that.” He tried to reword his proposition as though he hadn’t asked it in the proper lingo. “Well … how much for your time?” he persisted.

When I went back a few days ago, thankfully, no such awkward attempt was made. It was the middle of the week, and the place was quieter than I’ve ever seen it.

My friends and I ordered drinks at the bar and sat around a low “interactive” table inside a round booth-like area. The table had one of those light-up touchscreens. I’m not even sure what its purpose is. I poked at it and it wasn’t particularly responsive, so I quickly lost interest. It’s kind of fuzzy now. I was finishing what was not my first martini.

It was getting late and everyone was getting tired. It was April Fool’s Day eve, and I had all kinds of foolery to rest up for. Everyone else had to go to work in the morning.