Hi All,

I just got back from Vegas and since there are not many recent posts from there, I thought I would give my thoughts as we went to 12 different places! Overall, Vegas is doing quite well in this area, as I had many good quality experience. I won't go into too much depth, but hopefully this can help others who might be visiting and looking for some insight. FYI, I order the same drink (regular latte) everywhere. Here they are in order from favorite to least favorite:

Best:
Mothership - Near old Vegas. My favorite of the trip. Their drink was smooth and delicious! Highly recommended!
Dark Moon - In Henderson. Another top notch place with excellent espresso. Quality shop which produced an excellent drink.
Vesta - Arts District - Very high quality! Watched them do some roasting in the back. Great.
Bad Owl - Henderson - Fun place with a good atmosphere. Espresso was well done and tasty.
Makers & Finders - Arts District - Another fun place with high quality espresso. Very smooth drink.
Sambalatte - West of center strip - They offer a lot of choices of drinks here but my usual was very good and enjoyable.

The Rest:
Coffee Religion - North and West of center strip - Interesting place. Coffee was good but not amazing.
PublicUs - Near Old Vegas - I know a lot of people say this is the best place. It is a fun-looking shop with a lot of food offerings. Although the barista did a good job on the shot, they did not do a good job on the milk and the end product was too hot and was bitter.
Grouchy Jons - South towards Henderson - Fun coffee shop, but the drink was just ok.
Illumilatte - West of center strip - Wanted to like this place because of the name and the decor in the shop. Drink was not the best. Barista said he was new and didn't have a lot of experience. It showed in the drink.
Joe Maxx - Henderson - Hadn't planned on going here but was recommended by another place. Was not the best and could have easily skipped it.
Gabi - West of center strip - Not exactly a coffee shop, but more of a bakery. The drink was not very good but their croissants were.

Hope this helps someone traveling there. I did plenty of research before I went but nothing compares to actually going and seeing/tasting for yourself. Good luck!

The barista of the day is such a factor, isn't it? When I went last month the PublicUS barista was really good and the SO I had was excellent. Nothing to complain about Mothership so maybe they have more consistent baristas. It's too bad there is such variation but that's the economics of things, I guess. Should make us Home-Baristas realize it's not just the machines or even just the beans that matter but our own skill is pretty vital.

Thanks for the good write-up!