Proper Bar at Proper Eats (Aria)

Proper Bar is the central full-service bar of Proper Eats Food Hall, the 24,000-square-foot food hall that Clique Hospitality opened in the winter of 2022 in the space ARIA's buffet used to occupy, on the resort's second-level promenade. The room was designed by the Italian designer Munge, and the roster was curated by Clique founder Andy Masi together with culinary director Jason McLeod and Oliver Wharton of A Perfect Bite. It launched with twelve dining concepts, several of them making their first appearance outside their home cities: Seoul Bird's first location outside London, Wexler's Deli's first outside Los Angeles, San Diego's Temaki Bar, New York's breakfast-focused Egghead, and Steve Aoki's Pizzaoki. The bar sits in the middle of all of it, and because the hall opens at 7am daily it is one of the earliest places on the Strip to get a properly made drink of any kind.

Its non-alcoholic work has been built around Almave, the zero-proof blue-agave distillate co-created by the Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton, in three crafted builds: the Golden Hour Margarita (Almave Blanco, fresh lime, prickly pear syrup, agave nectar), the Blanco Paloma (Almave Blanco, fresh grapefruit and lime, Squirt), and the Ambar Carajillo (Almave Ambar, cold brew coffee, agave nectar, aromatic bitters). One honest caveat belongs on that list: those drinks were promoted as a Dry January feature rather than as a permanent year-round menu, so it is worth asking at the bar rather than assuming they are pouring in July. What is always available is a reliable set of standing non-alcoholic choices — Fever-Tree sodas, fresh-pressed juices, Perrier and Red Bull — and the surrounding hall covers the rest, with coffee, donuts and a dozen kitchens that make it an easy place to spend an evening without ordering alcohol at all.