"Theater at its best should feel like a real community effort.”
Friday night. Blockbuster parking lot. You sprint past the new releases, beeline for the comedy section, and spend 45 agonizing minutes debating between two movies you’ve already seen six times.
The carpet is that specific shade of industrial blue. The fluorescent lights hum. You grab a box of candy on the way to the register because, obviously.
Now picture all of that — except you’re an adult, and instead of renting a VHS copy of Happy Gilmore, you’re ordering a cocktail inspired by it in a nostalgic speakeasy.
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That’s the idea behind “Back 2 The Video Store: A 90s Speakeasy Bar,” a pop-up in Las Vegas that’s basically a love letter to every millennial who spent their formative years wandering the aisles of Blockbuster and Hollywood Video.
The bar already had sold-out success in cities like Miami, Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles and more.
How the Ordering Works
The pop-up is designed to look like an old-school video store, per the Las Vegas Review-Journal. But this goes beyond set dressing for Instagram photos. The design is the ordering experience.
Each movie case on the shelf lists cocktail ingredients inside. Customers pick a movie case off the shelf and bring it to a bartender, who then makes the corresponding drink.
So instead of scanning a laminated drink menu at the bar, you’re physically browsing shelves of VHS cases and choosing your cocktail the same way you once chose your weekend movie.
The bar was created by Bucket Listers, the company also behind Mariah Carey’s Holiday Bar at Park MGM and the Malibu Barbie Cafe at Area15.
There’s a track record here of building immersive, pop-culture-driven experiences that go beyond a simple theme night.
The Cocktail Menu Reads Like Your Childhood VHS Shelf
The drinks are inspired by classic 90s (and early 2000s) movies, and the pairings are genuinely clever.
The Mean Girls combines vodka, lemon juice, watermelon syrup, and cotton candy. The cotton candy is an objectively delightful touch — pink, dramatic, a little extra. On brand.
The Happy Gilmore mixes vodka, sweet tea, lemon juice, and simple syrup. A refreshing, straightforward cocktail that feels like it belongs on the back nine while someone is screaming at a golf ball. Sweet tea as a cocktail base is an inspired choice.
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Then there’s The Big Lebowski: vodka, vanilla extract, coffee liqueur, and shaved nutmeg. This is The Dude’s White Russian reimagined into a proper cocktail. The shaved nutmeg is a nice, elevated detail for a character who was definitively not elevated.
The nostalgia doesn’t stop at the bar. Food options include The Mighty Ducks Quesadilla — made with beef brisket or chicken — and The Mystic Pizza.
If you just involuntarily whispered “quack, quack, quack” to yourself, this is your place.
The food menu leans into the same playful movie-reference energy as the cocktails. You’re eating themed bar food that gives you and your friends another round of “oh my God, do you remember that movie?” conversation starters.
Trivia Nights and Karaoke Round Out the Experience
The pop-up will also host trivia nights, bingo nights, karaoke nights, and live DJs throughout the week.
For anyone who thrives on the intersection of competition and nostalgia — and 90s movie trivia night is practically designed for your friend group — the event programming adds a reason to come back more than once during the pop-up’s run.
A karaoke night at a 90s video store bar. The song choices practically make themselves.
If you’re already pulling up flights to Vegas, here are the details:
- Open Wednesdays through Sundays, March 25 through May 17
- Located at PKWY Tavern, 4930 W. Flamingo Road, Las Vegas
- General admission starts at $17.80 per person, which includes 90 minutes of open seating and one cocktail or mocktail
- Additional drinks are available for purchase
- Reservations and more info at bucketlisters.com
At $17.80 for entry plus a cocktail, the price point is reasonable for a themed pop-up — especially in Las Vegas, where novelty concepts often carry a steeper cover charge.
The 90-minute window gives you enough time to browse the shelves, order a couple of drinks, eat a Mighty Ducks Quesadilla, and take approximately 47 photos for your Instagram Story.
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Just remember to be kind — and rewind.
