Post #38054 by woofmutt on Mon, Jun 9, 2003 8:59 AM

I just got back fro Las Vegas where I spent a good amount of time looking for Tiki...

Tut's Hut, the bar at Papyrus restaurant in the Luxor, still exists but it's not really worth going out of your way for. It's a generic casino type bar with 4 medium sized Tikis and some Scorpion bowls they might use to serve drinks in...Though I don't know what drinks as the disinterested bartender said there was no drinks menu and pointed to the wine and beer list. The restaurant itself is really swell looking, thatch covered booths and fake plants in a dim perpetual twilight atmosphere. They were even playing classic lounge music. Open Wed-Sun 5-11.

Tiki Torch slot machines...A video slot machine with a graphic of three Tiki images (two from mugs) and some Polynesian images on the video display. I didn't scour the town but I only saw three of these machines.

The Emperor's Buffet in the Imperial Palace has a pretty cool Tiki decor. The dining area looks very much like an uncluttered Polynesian restaurant from the 60's with high vinyl booths, split bamboo and grass cloth wall coverings, tropical foliage murals, bamboo trim, and thatched roofs over most the booths (the roofs are high, so it's not too intimate). There are a couple dozen masks on the walls, carved panels, and Tikis...All of these have paint highlights, but not horribly so. The best place in the restaurant is at the very back (near the entrance), where the booths have a timber bamboo trellis over them and the walls are covered in the split bamboo. If the lighting were lower and they served drinks The Emperor's Buffet would be an excellent Tiki environment. (I can't vouch for the food, I had breakfast there some years ago and it was adequate).

As mentioned by other TC-ers, Noodles in the Belagio really does have excellent tropical drinks and a neat little drink menu with an introduction that reads "The magic charms found within are guaranteed to bring your party to life...Order one and let your fantasies flow." (Pics of the menu were posted by Luckydesigns in a previous post). Noodles is all bright light and light wood decor, there's no bar but there is a sort of counter you can be seated at.

I went to Taboo Cove twice but it was closed, so I left some some handprints all over the window from staring in. It looked like the photos posted here by TC peoples. My heart wasn't aching to get inside though as it also looks like a movie set/store. The place is listed under Venus in the phone book. Ask about the dress code when you call. They don't allow shorts on men (which is a brilliant idea for a Las Vegas casino establishment as it'll keep out those crass tourists). It's also not hard to find in the Venetian if you enter at the walkway bridge from the Mirage/Treasure Island.

Seem they might be Tiki but aren't:

Castaways...A recently remodeled casino on Fremont St (not downtown) that has a notion of a tropical theme but no decor to back it up.

The Tropicana...Almost entirely lacking in anything tropical.

Kahunaville...A restaurant in Treasure Island that looks sort of cartoon like (think Rain Forest Cafe style).