You can easily make a night of hopping along the Las Vegas Strip for drinks, dinner and dancing. But one of the newest additions to the nightlife scene is trying to attract customers to its nouveau Mediterranean setting and keep them for the entire evening.

At the Palazzo casino resort, the recently opened LAVO restaurant, with a name drawn from the Latin word meaning "to bathe," looks like a luxurious Turkish bathhouse. Inspired, in part, by legendary Parisian nightclub Les Bains Douche, the decor is a study in earth tones set off by imported chandeliers, urns and lattice-like panels.

"We want people to come in and enjoy cocktails out on the lounge at 7 or 8 p.m., come inside and have some dinner, then go up to the club for dancing or back out on the lounge for desert or a hookah," says Noah Tepperberg, one of the owners. "It eliminates having to take cabs or long walks, and with one phone call before they get to Vegas, people can set up their entire evening."

The cuisine is broadly Mediterranean, a blend of Italian, Spanish and French, with Greek and Turkish influences, and the serving style is tapas. On the menu, food selections are divided into three categories -- light, medium and heavy -- and diners are encouraged to sample items from each group.

Among the more exotic selections are charred octopus salad (light), crispy artichokes (medium), and filet mignon Rossini with foie gras, mushroom tartine and black truffle Madeira sauce (heavy). There also are more familiar dishes, such as Kobe beef sliders and pizza margherita. Individual selections run from $7 to $28.

Just off the dining room, overlooking the Strip, is a patio lounge where you can puff flavored tobaccos (from mint to Fruit Loop) through a hookah, or water pipe. The hookahs are works of art collected from throughout the Middle East.

The bathhouse motif continues along the walkway to the nightclub upstairs. The passage is lined with sinks, imported from Turkey, with running water. Farther along, niches are adorned with performers posing as Cleopatra or simply "woman in steam bath."

The nightclub is relatively cozy, with a quirky, hip appeal matching Old-World styling. The brick archways contrast with a decidedly 21st-century concave video dome that serves as an overhead centerpiece, displaying images of flames, bathhouse scenes, and even a disco ball.

Several miles west of LAVO and the Strip is a dinerlike eatery that bills its victuals as "Twisted Farm Food." Basically, that means the Hash House A Go Go, at 6800 W. Sahara Ave., serves familiar, stick-to-the-ribs standards -- with a tweak. For instance, you can get traditional eggs Benedict, or the poached eggs nestled atop hand-hammered pork tenderloin ($14.95). There's a bone-in rib-eye steak topped with slightly softened brie ($26.95).

Portions at the Hash House are humongous -- the signature buttermilk flapjacks come 16 to 18 inches wide and only cost $5.95 ($6.95 for blueberry pecan, mango coconut and other varieties).

"Every day, we have several people who insist on taking pictures of the food," part-owner Jim Rees says.

Another restaurant popular with locals and tourists is the Bootlegger Bistro on the south side of the Las Vegas Outlet Center, a short drive beyond Mandalay Bay.

The Bootlegger serves hearty southern Italian dishes, with such menu staples as spaghetti and meatballs ($12.95) and chicken Marsala ($18.95). But while it's popular for its tasty dishes and generous portions, the Bootlegger is recognized as one of the last bastions of old-style Vegas lounge entertainment. That's because owner Lorraine Hunt was a singer in the heyday of the casino lounges. She recently completed a stint as Nevada's lieutenant governor, and she still stops by the Bootlegger on a Saturday to sing with husband Dennis Bono.

Nearly every night, pianists Tommy Deering or Gus Mancuso entertain, with help from featured singers or talented folks in the audience.

The Bootlegger serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and stays open through the middle of the night, so you can grab a late dinner or an early breakfast. Just ring the doorbell.