Jimmy Kimmel Reveals How to Do Las Vegas Like a Local Ahead of Super Bowl (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Jimmy Kimmel (left) and the Las Vegas Strip (right).Photo:Denise Truscello/Getty; LVCVA

Denise Truscello/Getty; LVCVA

Jimmy Kimmelis proving no one knows Las Vegas better than a local!

While chatting with PEOPLE about his involvement with the city’sExcessive Celebration Encouragedcampaign ahead of the Super Bowl, theJimmy Kimmel Live!host, 56, revealed his ultimate Sin City travel guide and shared how excited he is for the big game to finally be held in his hometown this Sunday.

“It’s a lot of fun,” he says. “We always felt like Las Vegas was a small town, even though it’s Las Vegas. So you still get that feeling when something big happens there, like the Super Bowl or the Formula One race. It’s like when the circus comes to town.”

Kimmel — whose family moved to Las Vegas from Brooklyn when he was nine years old — tells PEOPLE he takes a lot of pride in his home city. In fact, heading back for the Super Bowl to “excessively celebrate” was a no-brainer for him.

“I will be in Vegas at the Super Bowl, and I’m looking forward to it. I have a 30-year-old son, so I’m bringing him with me,” he says, referring to his sonKevin. (Along with Kevin, Kimmel shares daughterKatie, 32, with his ex-wife Gina Maddy. He also has two younger children — daughter Jane, 9, and son Billy, 6 — with wifeMolly McNearney.)

Down Memory Lane

Main entrance of Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.LVCVA

LVCVA

“It kind of feels like home and I wind up running into a lot of people that I know,” he says of the hotspot located on the famous Las Vegas Strip.

Less than a ten-minute walk from Caesars Palace isJimmy Kimmel’s Comedy Club, which heopened in 2019atThe LINQ Promenade. While he loves comedy clubs in general, Kimmel says he’s always stopping at his own whenever he’s in town because obviously, “we always have some funny people there.”

Adventuredome theme park at Circus Circus Las Vegas.Circus Circus Las Vegas

Circus Circus Las Vegas

Growing up, he enjoyed going toCircus Circusto experience the thrilling rides at the theme park, but acknowledges it’s perhaps not the most obvious hotspot these days.

“Circus Circus is a very weird place,” Kimmel recalls. “I remember on a rare occasion when my parents would take us out, they would take us to Circus Circus. You can see people walking on trapeze and playing all the Midway games. That’s a lot of fun when you’re a kid.”

Hidden Gems for First-Time Visitors

Downtown Container Park in Las Vegas.Downtown Container Park

Downtown Container Park

A “hip” place he says first-time visitors should definitely check out is theDowntown Container Park— a unique open-air shopping center that includes boutiques, restaurants and entertainment options.

“The Container Park is very cool,” Kimmel says. “They have really good restaurants and antique stores and the kinds of things that you wouldn’t necessarily think about doing when you’re in Las Vegas.” He adds that exploring the city’s downtown area, which is located just off the Strip, is a must to experience some of Las Vegas’ most underrated places.

Jimmy Kimmel at Jimmy Kimmel’s Comedy Club in Las Vegas.The Vox Agency

The Vox Agency

Another downtown location he recommends isThe D Hotel, specifically for a unique experience they offer there.

A Restaurant for Everyone

The view from Vetri Cucina at Palms in Las Vegas.Clint Jenkins

Clint Jenkins

As for dining options, Kimmel has no shortage of recommendations that include both luxury and budget-friendly finds.

“Some of the restaurants I like areVetri, which is at the top ofPalmsand an incredible Italian restaurant with a great view. There’sCarbone, which is a New York restaurant and they opened a branch in Las Vegas.”

As for his hometown favorites, “There’s a place I used to go growing up calledFarm Basket. That’s way off the Strip, but it’s a fried chicken sandwich place that is very important to my family.”

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The Las Vegas Strip.LVCVA

Kimmel tells PEOPLE that he was excited to take part in Las Vegas’s Excessive Celebration Encouraged campaign and spread the word that the desert oasis is “nothing but fun” as the city prepares to host the Super Bowl for the first time ever.

To learn more about the Excessive Celebration Encouraged movement and sign the petition, visitchange.org.

source: people.com