Neonopolis

Address: 450 Fremont Street Las Vegas, NV 89101 - Located at the east end of the Fremont Street Experience where Fremont Street meets Las Vegas Boulevard.

Phone Number (702) 477-0470 / 702-671-0092 (fax)

Hours:

Sunday-Thursday 11am to 9pm

Friday-Saturday 11am to 10pm

Food Court:

Sunday-Thursday 11am to 7pm

Friday-Saturday 11am to 10pm

Cost:

For the Crown 14 theaters, $8.50 for adults, $5.50 children/seniors, $5.50 for matinees before 6 p.m. (the twilight ticket price, for the last movie prior to 6 p.m. is $5) and midnight movies. On Senior Thursday, seniors pay $5 all day.

Parking rates at Neonopolis: $1.50 an hour for the first four hours, $1 an hour for the next four hours and 50 cents an hour after that.

It's hard to get visitors Downtown, but if you are genuinely looking for activities that do not have to do with gambling, this $100-million open-air restaurant, shop, and entertainment complex (with an 11-screen movie theater) provides at least some motivation. Located right at the Fremont Street Experience, where Fremont Street meets Las Vegas Boulevard South, it's basically a big open-air mall, but one that is powered by Jillian's, a national chain that specializes in creating little urban entertainment centers (they are behind the similar Metreon in San Francisco), with a state-of-the-art arcade (as well stocked, from air hockey to virtual-reality games, as we've ever seen), bowling alley, billiards, two bars, a nightclub, and a restaurant all in one tidy package. It's not a 24-hour joint, but the hours are long enough that nongamblers can amuse themselves here while the gamblers in their party are doing their thing. The cafe has an extensive menu (from hamburgers to jambalaya), with most items in the $4-to$10 range and as tasty as you could want from such a place. As much as we enjoy the concept of the place, it hasn't caught on with the general public, and as of this writing, most of the other storefronts are empty, pending a sale of the facility to new owners. Hopefully by the time you read this and get there, they will have found a way to make it live up to its potential.