Il Fornaio Happy Hour. The Strip

Order the antipasti and a wood-fired pizza alongside a glass of Italian wine, and you've basically assembled a light meal for what drinks alone cost elsewhere on the Strip. The pizza is the standout when it lands on the happy hour list, and the in-house quality is what separates this from the canned-marinara casino crowd.

Il Fornaio is the Italian kitchen at New York-New York. Happy hour runs every day from 2 to 6pm in the bar area, which sidesteps the dinner rush nicely if you want to post up mid-afternoon. Drinks land at $7 beer, $8 wine, and $9 cocktails, with the Italian wine list worth leaning on since the bartenders know it well. The antipasti and pizzas run roughly $10 to $14, covering bruschette, calamaretti, and the pizzas.

This is the conversation room, not a party bar. Wood tables, a countryside aesthetic, and windows over the casino floor for low-key people-watching. It reads relaxed enough for a date or catching up with a friend, but casual enough that shorts won't feel out of place. Service tends to be attentive, which isn't a given on the Strip.

Good for pre-dinner drinks, an afternoon break from the gaming floor, or stretching a few plates and a glass of wine into dinner itself. It sits inside the New York-New York casino with resort parking and valet. Skip it if you're hunting $3 wells. Come if you want real ingredients and a quieter hour.