Name:Don The Beachcomber Las Vegas
Type:restaurant
Street:2535 Las Vegas Blvd S
City:Las Vegas
State:NV
Zip:89109
country:USA
Phone:
Status:defunct

Description:
The Don the Beachcomber location was built over the Convention center of the Sahara Hotel and Casino. A third floor was added to house the Restaurant and Bar and was scheduled to open on September 1, 1962. It was designed with a seating capacity of 300 for food and drinks. The restaurant lasted until somewhere between 1987 and 1990 (a year after Donn Beach's death). The site still stands today and the iconic arches are still recognizable as those from DTB Las Vegas. The Sahara closed recently and there are selling just about EVERYTHING and the future of the building is dim.
A woman named Ruth Maestas was the first hostess at Don the Beachcomber. An Accordianist named Sam Melchionne played for years at Sahara's 'Don The Beachcomber'
DTB at the Sahara was the place to be in the early 1960's, in the first week off January in 1964, Frank Sinatra hosted his mother a group of 21 guests for her birthday. It later housed at least one Mexican Restaurant and maybe eve nan Italian Restaurant.

This is the only Don the Beachcomber location that used the stylized beachcomber logo.

Seen here on a postcard.

And used on just about everything else from ashtrays

to matchbooks

to cups

to plates.

Some postcards showing the outside and inside of the restaurant.

DC

A few more images of the Don the Beachcomber at the Sahara from the DTB locations thread.

A menu

DC

It's a funny place. The interior decor is unlike any other DtB, the logo is different. If it weren't for the name, would you even know it was a Don the Beachcomber?

Not one hundred percent sure this was the same one we went to on our honeymoon in '88..look closely and you see some tiki in the bkgd..was there one at the Sands too?

they had the kooky CAMERA GIRLS there and i think for a ten spot this is what we got..damn fine portrait though..I remember it being kinda overpriced for food but terrif for atmosphere

Here is an OVERSIZED photo folder I just got-unfortunately, the photo inside was not original;

The included photo was a blow-up of a night shot

You can barely see the DTB neon sign out front!

Normally, I wouldn't post the same image that has already been posted, but.....

Inky and I were rummaging around the old DTB location at the Sahara, and a found a portion of a Soup and wine menu on the top of a shelf in an office in the kitchen. As we felt we had covered the place thoroughly (Pug and I turned the place upside down over a week ago) we were walking out ant I looked down and....FOUND THE PHOTO ABOVE ...just LAYING THERE IN PLAIN SITE! WHAT?!?!where did it come from ..why was it sitting there? how did it manage to be in PERFECT CONDITION!??? Oh well, it is ours now! Oh, the BEACHCOMBER Dymo Label is something I peeled of the Muzak station!
Here are both sides of the portion of that Soup and Wine menu;

Note Mexican Village is the name of one of the restaurants that opened in the Don's location!

I'm the most thirstiesterest of all!
TRADER VIC'S stuff for sale on EBAY 1957SPUTNIK
http://shop.ebay.com/1957sputnik/m.html
If you like it, it is ZAZZ! If you don't it is RAZZ!

[ Edited by: mrsmiley 2011-07-03 01:17 ]

On 2011-06-29 21:12, bb moondog wrote:
Not one hundred percent sure this was the same one we went to on our honeymoon in '88..look closely and you see some tiki in the bkgd..was there one at the Sands too?

they had the kooky CAMERA GIRLS there and i think for a ten spot this is what we got..damn fine portrait though..I remember it being kinda overpriced for food but terrif for atmosphere

Moondog, I don't know that the Sands had anything tiki, but my guess is your photo is from the Aku Aku at the Stardust. I don't think the DTB at the Sahara was that tiki. I guess you don't have the folder it came in anymore?

jeez, I wish I did...checked thru all my honeymoon pix and NOTHING...I SWEAR it was accessed by an elevator ride and was not a stand alone restaurant...we had breakfast at the Aku-Aku once and that was definitely not where we had dinner..where was the Trader Vics in Vegas? 1988..was there still one? This does resemble more of a Vics

I believe I overheard "Art Snyder" who owns & runs DTB in Huntington Beach, Calif.
say that he ran the Vegas DTB til it closed, I will have to confirm this info the next time I see him.

Chuck, that was a completely different location in Vegas, opened by Art much later, after he had gotten the rights for the name.

On 2011-07-04 08:40, bb moondog wrote:
jeez, I wish I did...checked thru all my honeymoon pix and NOTHING...I SWEAR it was accessed by an elevator ride and was not a stand alone restaurant...

You are correct, Moondog, the restaurant was accessed by a Plumeria-scented elevator (one step further than elevator muzak!). You got out on the 3rd floor and crossed footbridge, which was guarded by two large Tikis. We are seeing the back of one in Moondog's photo. They were carved and "polychromed" by Oceanic Arts. This is the term they used for applying faded, aged-looking colors. Here's a good example of an O.A. carving I own, polychromed in the same old style:

This way of painting a carving made it look authentic, not clownish.

Many Many years ago (early 90s) after the Beachcomber closed, these two big Tikis, together with a couple of cool Cannibal and Cook Island Tiki-topped posts, were re-acquired by Oceanic Arts (together with anything else resembling classic Tiki decor), leaving that Beachcomber location looking even more un-Tiki than it already did to begin with.

Unfortunately, at some point, O.A. decided to re-paint their re-possessed Sahara Beachcomber Tikis ("due to popular taste"), and this is what they look like now:

But I bet you if someone would go to O.A. and photograph the backs of these two, we would be able to identify the head crest of one of them as the one in the photo. My guess it's the one on the right:

In order to be able to look at these for a longer time, I de-saturated them, and now we can count the same layers of eye brows on the front of the right Tiki - from the bottom: 1 straight, 1 ribbed, 2 straight - than in the back of the one in Moondog's photo:

Thanks BigBro for the correction.

Nice detective work Sven. I was thinking that Moondog's photo couldn't possibly be from the Sahara Beachcomber. Never heard about the bridge with the Tiki guards before. Very cool. Need some more photos of that.

And, Let's not forget about Eli's outside bar at the Sahara Beachcomber posted by Bamboo Ben.

DC

wow..that is some fine SLEUTHING being done...see, the wife ( Lori) & I both agree it was DEFINITELY Dons! Admittedly, its been well over 23 years and I am pretty sure I used to have a matchbook and the photo jacket...we have non-digital ALBUMS of this stuff, though, so finding anything is well...a LABOR. I do recall the bridge being by far the most TIKI-ish part of the experience and the photo-girl added a certain Dr. No/James Bond quality to the entire thing..that said, even for then the prices were $$$ and the drinks a LOT better than the FOOD. We also gambled at the Sands a year before it came down and the experiences were similar..we enjoyed both spots a lot but were the youngesr people in both places by FAR. Sands used to give out free coffee mugs so I have about a dozen of those.

This is great t ohear of more Tiki in this Don's. I didn't know about the elevator tikis!
I hope Ben and others have more interior shots-I'd love to see more interior shots and the old interior bar, too!

This is the only pic that I have that has "Don the Beachcombers Las Vegas"
written on it with Eli's writing. I wonder who the other people are in that pic?
Eli is wearing the hat on the left.

Here is an item I got about a month ago. It is from the July 1962 issue of magazine for the Sahara Hotel. It talks about the scheduled Autumn 1962 opening of this Don The Beachcomber.

I'm the most thirstiesterest of all!
TRADER VIC'S stuff for sale on EBAY 1957SPUTNIK
http://shop.ebay.com/1957sputnik/m.html
If you like it, it is ZAZZ! If you don't it is RAZZ!

[ Edited by: mrsmiley 2011-08-01 20:22 ]

Good to know exactly when it opened. For that early date, it was way "ahead of its time" with its design concept. Does the article mention anything about who perhaps might have been responsible for that purple pupule-ness? :D

No mention about the design team, Bigbro.

I was able to hold the Blueprints from the 1959 Hi-Rise Tower addition in my hand for a few minutes. Here is the architect who did that job (in case they did mor work). A possible lead...

He did a few jobs for the Sahara and other casinos and is noted for his 3 Googie Ships Coffee Shop designs.

Here is a new photo to look at!

Nice clothes!

Now THEY look like they fit in well under those leaf pods! That's what I meant with
"For that early date, it was way "ahead of its time" with its design concept"

Here is a partial timeline of the space;
New Construction finished in 1962 with Don's opening in fall of 1962
Don's closed 1990 ish
Pacific Rim replaces Don's and is open until 1994 or 1995.
Pacific Rim is replaced by various Italian and Mexican Restaurants like Mexican Village.

Here are a couple items I found in the "ruins";

From a fridge in the kitchen;

And here is what I believe to be an original Don's chandelier over the bar;

And I found a couple more relics;

Here are a couple images I came across;

WTF ?? That's Porn star Harry Reems and Olympic Gold medalist Dorothy Hamill together !!

Got this one a while ago
Just noticed I forgot to post it

Got this one today

On 2011-12-17 19:49, JOHN-O wrote:
WTF ?? That's Porn star Harry Reems and Olympic Gold medalist Dorothy Hamill together !!

Those were the swingin' sixties man.

Working on something SWEET
Stay posted and cross your fingers with me
:)

Jon

Worst sound ever, slurp of an empty tiki mug through my straw!!!

[ Edited by: hang10tiki 2014-02-05 09:26 ]

Getting close.........

:wink:

Great day...
As stated above Ruth Masteas was the first hostess at the Vegas location.
I have had several great conversations with her recently.
It was a pleasure listening to many fond memories she had at DTB.
She passed on to me an awesome keepsake.
It was an honor to receive it and I knew I had to share it here.
:)

This was her personal scorpion bowl

More to come...

On 2014-03-18 19:34, hang10tiki wrote:
Great day...
As stated above Ruth Masteas was the first hostess at the Vegas location.
I have had several great conversations with her recently.
It was a pleasure listening to many fond memories she had at DTB.
She passed on to me an awesome keepsake.
It was an honor to receive it and I knew I had to share it here.
:)

This was her personal scorpion bowl

More to come...

Hang10,

Wow, great score on that historical artifact from the Vegas DTB. Look forward to hearing more of the story from Ruth.

DC

[ Edited by: Dustycajun 2014-03-19 17:57 ]

She said they also had a place for VIPs to store their chopsticks....

She was also kind enough to pass on a photo and it's folder
:)
What an awesome lady

Her and her family

From an article in LV weekly

Ruth Maestas

I was the first hostess [at Don the Beachcomber]. I had lived in Hawaii and I had just moved here. Being very tan, I went to the culinary union; he looked at me—and all my clothes were Hawaiian—and he just said, “You go to work at Don the Beachcomber.”

It was wonderful just being part of all of that. Every day was electric; every day was exciting. Dean Martin came and Jane Russell and the stars were all out in their ermines and their minks. The Sahara was a very warm hotel. It was a wonderful, beautiful time back then. Everybody was beautiful; it was absolutely glamorous.

My husband owned the barbershop. We were married in 1965. Eldon Dotson was a good friend of ours, and he actually gave him the barbershop. In those days they gave the businesses to each other, and then they would pay a percentage to the hotel. But the owner of the barbershop wouldn’t say, “I’ll sell it to you for $200,000.”

His nickname was Louie the Blade. Anyone in this town who was alive at that time had heard of Louis the Blade. He was the one who cut the hair with a razor blade. He was doing the razor blade cuts before anyone else was doing it and the waterfall look where it flipped over. Elvis had the flipped-over look. Anytime you see that in a movie, that was his—that was his style; that was his cut.

I was one of the first licensed manicurists in the state of Nevada. I was the 318th ever licensed. I had to become a manicurist when we owned the barbershop in the Sahara because I had to work in it. Shecky Greene was my client. In those days when they came in, they’d be rehearsing their stage thing right there in the chair.