Nightlife in Boulder City

Rock & Rita's, touted as "all fun" by Las Vegas Magazine, houses a bevy of cooks who sizzle up barbecue grub as bottle-twirling bartenders serve cool drinks amid psychedelic décor. The restaurant's philly cheesesteak "is a beauty," according to Las Vegas Magazine, sending taste buds into nostalgic revelry with a down-home blend of Cheez Whiz and paper-thin beef. Icy draft beers, well drinks, and 44-ounce fishbowl beverages fill the full bar, fashioned from a large prismatic bus, and bartenders toss bottles, juggle glasses, and balance barstools while pouring drinks and reciting the list of past mayoral candidates from memory. Rock & Rita's showcases karaoke on Thursdays and live-music entertainment on various nights throughout the week.

The Duke City Improv Festival welcomes 13 comedy acts, from local performers to visiting teams from Chicago, Phoenix, and Oklahoma. Support The Gryffindorks, Albuquerque's longest-running improv team, or indulge sadistic funny bones with Stretchin' It, an adult-oriented troupe from Oklahoma City that employs media and song to entertain and offend in equal measure. Three different groups from Phoenix battle for back-home bragging rights and to determine who will perform at halftime of the next Super Bowl, and the local laugh-lobbers from No Holds Bard improvise their way through "forgotten" Shakespearean texts. Frosty brews from the nearby Tractor Brewing Company grease gullets on Saturday nights, and a slate of improv-enhancing workshops are available for an additional $15 each.

The Lady Silvia's stylish loft space, inspired by Prague's Strahov Monastery Library, encircles revelers in a laid-back atmosphere divested of obtrusive signage and oppressively loud background noise. The bar's weekly schedule brims with art events, nightly happy hours, and the deft turntabular spinnings of resident DJ Shoe, whose swanky beats cause involuntary toe tapping against the checkerboard floor on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday nights. Signature cocktails, bottles service, and a well-curated wine list round out their menu of imbibables, which is expertly mixed and poured bar-side by a veteran team of mixologists.