STK vs Craftsteak Happy Hour: Cosmopolitan Party Bar or MGM Grand Quiet Room?
These two Strip steakhouses get lumped together because they both do wagyu, both have a bar happy hour, and both sit at the pricey end of the menu. But for someone deciding where to actually go this afternoon, they are barely the same category of decision.
STK at the Cosmopolitan publishes a full happy hour menu with real prices, runs it every day, and treats the bar as a scene. Craftsteak, Tom Colicchio's steakhouse inside MGM Grand, runs a much quieter, much shorter bar happy hour that it does not publish, and its own listings tell you to call and confirm before you show up. So this isn't really a fair fight on paper. It's a choice between a deal you can plan a dinner around and a lower-key bar visit that's worth a phone call first.
The short answer
If you want to know what you're getting before you leave the room, STK. The prices are posted, the window is generous, and the food punches above its cost. If you're already at MGM Grand, in a quieter mood, and happy to phone ahead, Craftsteak's bar is a pleasant, low-pressure way to try a serious steakhouse without booking a full table.
STK: the happy hour you can plan a meal around
STK sits on the casino level at the Cosmopolitan (3708 Las Vegas Blvd S), and the bar leans loud and social: a DJ, dim lighting, white leather, people dressed up. The kitchen is genuinely good, which is the part that gets lost in all the see-and-be-seen talk.
When it runs: Daily, 2:30 to 5:30pm, at the bar, lounge, and patio only. Seating is first come, so aim closer to 2:30 than 5, because the room fills fast once dinner reservations start landing. STK also posts a late-night happy hour Thursday through Sunday, 10pm to close, if you'd rather catch it on the back end of a night out.
The food is the reason to go. The centerpiece is seven bites at $7 each:
- Lil' Brg (the little burger)
- Salmon slider
- Crispy chicken
- Hummus plate
- Beet and burrata
- Grilled chimichurri filet
- Scallop and avocado ceviche
Stack a few of those and you have a real spread for the price of one regular appetizer. If you want to spend up, the menu keeps climbing in clean tiers: $14 plates (miso glazed Chilean seabass, beef tartare, charcuterie skewers), $21 plates (oysters, shrimp scampi), and a $29 four-ounce filet with asparagus and a red wine sauce. That $29 filet is the tell that this bar menu takes itself seriously.
Drinks: $12 specialty cocktails (roughly half off), $10 wines by the glass (Decoy Cabernet, Whispering Angel Rosé, Elouan Pinot Noir), and $5 beers (Stella Artois, Michelob Ultra).
Come here if you want energy with your steak, you're on a date or celebrating something, or you just want a legitimately good luxury snack spread without committing to a full steakhouse tab. Dress is upscale casual to dressy, and the music means you'll be leaning in to talk.
Craftsteak: a quieter bar, but call before you count on it
Craftsteak is the opposite mood. It's tucked inside MGM Grand on the south Strip (3799 S Las Vegas Blvd), all dark wood and warm light, and in the late afternoon it's far calmer than it ever is at peak dinner. The draw is the beef and a classic cocktail program, the kind of Old Fashioneds and Manhattans you'd expect from people who make them all day.
Here's the honest part: Craftsteak's bar happy hour is real but not published. It runs a short window, roughly an hour in the late afternoon (in the neighborhood of 4 to 5pm), and not every day of the week. The specific food and drink specials and their prices are not posted, and the venue's own guidance is to confirm current times and pricing before you go. So treat this less as a printed deal and more as a low-commitment way to sit at the bar of a high-end steakhouse, have a proper cocktail, and scout the room before deciding whether to book a real dinner.
Come here if you're already at MGM Grand, you want quiet over a DJ, you care more about the cocktail and the setting than a bargain, and you don't mind making a quick call to confirm the window. Dress runs business casual to upscale.
How to actually pick
By certainty: STK. You know the prices, the days, and the hours before you leave. Craftsteak requires a phone call and a little faith.
By budget: STK, clearly. Seven bites at $7 and $5 beers give you a plan for stretching a small tab. Craftsteak's happy hour pricing isn't published, so you can't budget it in advance.
By mood: STK for a loud, celebratory, dressed-up afternoon. Craftsteak for conversation, a good Old Fashioned, and no DJ.
By where you're standing: STK is center Strip at the Cosmopolitan. Craftsteak is farther south at MGM Grand. Pick whichever you're closer to, because neither is worth a long walk over the other for happy hour alone.
By who you're with: A group that wants Vegas energy leans STK. A couple, or one or two people talking business, leans Craftsteak.
If you want a printed steakhouse deal instead
If the whole point is a posted happy hour you can plan around, and STK isn't where you want to be, a few other Strip steakhouses list real specials:
- Ocean Prime (63 CityCenter, next to the Cosmopolitan) runs happy hour daily, 3 to 6pm, with half off signature cocktails, select wines by the glass, and the lounge menu.
- The Palm (Forum Shops at Caesars, 3500 Las Vegas Blvd S) does Sunday through Friday, 3 to 5:30pm: $5 beer, $7 wine, $8 cocktails, and small bites in the $7 to $13 range.
- The Capital Grille (Fashion Show Mall) runs a weekday bar menu with $10 handcrafted cocktails, $8 wines, and food from $8 salad bites up to a $16 sliced dry-aged New York strip.
- Browse more in the full steakhouse listings.
Bottom line
STK is the safer, more generous, more plannable happy hour, and it's a genuinely fun room if you want atmosphere with your steak. Craftsteak is the better call when you want quiet and a serious cocktail and you're willing to phone ahead, since its bar deal is short and unpublished. Different tools for different afternoons, but only one of them lets you know exactly what you're walking into.