Las Vegas Mixtape v56: Music/Celebrity Merger, New Alchemy, and Motor City Pizza — Track #2 (of 5): The Alchemist Bar and Restaurant @Chinatown

Track #2 (of 5): The Alchemist Bar and Restaurant @Chinatown

Don’t just do a drive-by—park and walk right in. (Image: Vegas 411)

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Driving along Spring Mountain Rd in Chinatown at night, it’s hard not to miss the relatively new Alchemist Bar and Restaurant, thanks to its eye-popping electronic sign that looks like it’s on fire. Certainly that's one way to lure customers into a place in an area of town that’s percolating with many competing restaurant/bars like the Golden Tiki, Lullabar, and Mas Por Favor.

Located in Spring Mountain Plaza (adjacent to Shanghai Plaza), the Alchemist is building a buzz for its artfully created cocktails with surreal-sounding names like “Charanda’s Incantation,” consisting of charanda (a Mexican distilled spirit), banana, pineapple and falernum (a Caribbean cocktail syrup or liqueur).

Vietnam has a love affair with Italy on this plate. (Image: Vegas 411)

Although this is a cocktail-focused spot, the menu—global fusion—is attractive and sizable. I stopped in on a Thursday night—after seeing Franky Perez and The All Nighters’ weekly show “The Return of the Vegas Showman” at Treasure Island—and fell instantly in love with the Xiu Mai Meatballs (Vietnamese meatballs with pomodoro sauce) and an exotic Asian noodle dish.

Related: Las Vegas Mixtape v53: ‘80s Resurrection, Indo-Chinese Delights, and Vital Local Sounds

Other fascinating fusion offerings include the Chorizo Lettuce Cups with cheese, the Peruvian ribeye dish Lomo Saltado with house-made mole negro, and the Alchemist Burger. The latter is a meld of Vietnamese ribeye, guacamole, kimchi, egg, and miso-confit tomatoes—a real culinary adventure that I want to experience on my next visit here.