Gilley's Saloon, Dance Hall & Bar-B-Que

Gilley's is the Strip's honky-tonk - a saloon, barbecue kitchen, and dance hall rolled into one room at Treasure Island, carrying a name that goes back to the Texas original of Urban Cowboy fame. The mechanical bull runs daily from 4pm, live music plays every night, and the smoker works until 11pm.

It's open noon to 1am (2am Friday-Saturday), and the calendar is a machine: free line-dance lessons Monday through Thursday at 7pm, karaoke Tuesdays at 8pm, the Toughest Bull Rider competition Thursdays at 9:30pm, and bikini bull riding on select Sundays. Cover only exists Friday and Saturday after 9pm - $10 typically, up to $30 for special events - and until about 9pm the room is all-ages, so kids can eat brisket and try the line dancing before the saloon flips to 21-plus.

It is, unavoidably, a casino honky-tonk: tourist-heavy, drink prices to match, and a bull line that eats time on weekends. The barbecue is better than it needs to be, though, and as a free-entry live-music room in the heart of the Strip until 9pm, it has no real competition.