tahiti joe's las vegas

A basic review in the Las Vegas Weekly-

http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/content/nc/news/single-story/article/authentic-hokum/

Authentic hokum

August 23, 2007
by Max Jacobson

Tahiti Joe's is fake but fun

If you remember the ’60s, you probably remember faux-Polynesian restaurants like Don the Beachcomber, bastions of silly rum punches topped with umbrellas, charbroiled pork ribs and waitresses in grass skirts. The point was never really the food, although Trader Vic’s did bring the dishes crab Rangoon, potage Billi-Bi (a creamy mussel soup) and huli-huli chicken into the American consciousness.

Well, the Polynesian restaurant is being revived, with Trader Vic’s soon to open at Miracle Mile Shops, and Tahiti Joe’s already open in the Hawaiian Village complex just north of Warm Springs Road on the lower Strip.

Oddly enough, Vegas has almost a dozen authentic Hawaiian restaurants, where transplants from the islands can find the dishes they grew up with: spam musubi, lomi lomi salmon, loco moco (rice topped with a hamburger patty and a fried egg) and various types of sugary marinated meats, finished on a flat-top barbecue.

These dishes are nowhere to be found at Tahiti Joe’s and really have nothing to do with the concept. I guess you could call this Polynesian food as interpreted by the time-share crowd, although veteran chef Gerard Canales does seem to be having fun with it. If you don’t come here with an idée fixe, you’ll probably have fun, too.

The décor is nicely thought-out, if hokey in the extreme. Giant tropical plants fill the room, along with strategically placed bamboo staves, cane chairs, wall-mounted tikis and Polynesian lanterns carved from wood. Two giant statues that recall Easter Island and the book Aku-Aku by Thor Heyerdahl guard the entrance, which also showcases a souvenir case stocked with logoed T-shirts.

As soon as you’re seated, a cocktail waitress will approach you to see if you wish to get a drink such as the mereni mojito, flavored with watermelon juice, or an enormous punch meant to be shared. If you do, know in advance that she keeps a separate tab from servers responsible for the food.
You can try a few of the Tahitian pupus, or appetizers, by ordering the Joe’s Tiki

Torch Sampler for two, a wooden platter filled with fried calamari, spring chicken rolls, luau spare rib and crab Rangoon. If there was crab in these fried puffs, I couldn’t detect it, not that this is a complaint. I will say the calamari was fine, gently battered rings and tentacles served with remoulade sauce; the spring rolls were even better, nicely piquant and tasty when dipped in a sweet Thai chili sauce. The ribs were average, braised instead of charbroiled.

I also think that the satay item I tried, soy ginger chicken, would benefit from a visit to the charbroiler. Satay is Malaysian skewered meats, and this chicken, a generous eight wooden skewers of meat cooked on a flat-top grill, tastes best when dipped in some of the spicy peanut sauce.

From the Islander Soup and Salad section of the menu, choose Joe’s royal velvet corn soup, which lives up to the name. It’s a heavily pureed, smooth soup, and there are traces of the ginger, kaffir lime leaves and clam broth the kitchen uses in it. Joe’s shrimp sizzle au gratin, a hearty dip, needs more shrimp and less mayo. One of the more reliable first courses is Joe’s tiki wings, chicken wings offered with a multiplicity of sauce options.

Makai Fish, another menu section, refers to the Hawaiian word for ocean, and here the best dish is probably a macadamia-nut-crusted mahi mahi, with a crust that tastes like the stuffing that your Hawaiian grandmother used to make. Tahiti Village lobster stir-fry is a resolutely Cantonese dish, a pile of noodles, lobster chunks and veggies, all flavored with salty black fermented soybeans.

And Mauka Beef, using the Hawaiian word for mountain, is basically 100 percent Angus beef that is charbroiled. So is the Kobe beef meatloaf, a humongous portion with nice flavor that would be even better with less salt in the meat.

Sides include Tahitian sesame slaw (more sesame, please), nicely seasoned Islander fries and a terrific baked potato that they will serve you with all the trimmings. For dessert, there are real s’mores, for two, brought to the table for you to cook yourself (in one of those Sterno-based portable island fire pits) and my personal choice here, Joe’s original vanilla of Tahiti. The ice cream is made in-house using vanilla beans from Tahiti; this might just be the best vanilla ice cream in the city.

It’s certainly more authentic than just about anything else in this place.

Tahiti Joe’s
7200 Las Vegas Blvd. S. 440-6950. Open 24/7. Suggested dishes: Joe’s spring chicken rolls, $7.95; Joe’s royal velvet corn soup, $3.95; mahi mahi, $18.95; Joe’s original vanilla of Tahiti, $4.95.

I'm fairly new to the TIKI Scene. So I hope I'm replying to the right post. I just found this site online doing some Tahiti Joe's Las Vegas research. WOW!!! I'm simply amazed with how this has grown outside of the Local area. Glad to meet everyone and looking forward to keeping in touch.

my inlaws just purchased a time share at tahiti village, so it looks like ill get to check this place out!....cant wait

If it's really a quality place..."Tiki Farm" will be the mug makers....any word on it's splash in the colltiable market...

On 2007-10-19 10:09, Tropical_Icebergs wrote:
If it's really a quality place..."Tiki Farm" will be the mug makers....any word on it's splash in the colltiable market...

They do indeed serve their libations in Tiki Farm mugs, some of which are also for sale.
They do also have a mug of their own design which is not tiki farm. I think it's supposed to look like the logo, but.....ummmmm.....

& their drinks are better - not stellar - but drinkable and better than most places in Las Vegas - except Trader Vic's & the place in the MGM that has the "Hinky Dinks Mai Tai" (can't recall the name of the spot at the moment).

We are flying into Vegas tomorrow....looks like it's a good place to stop for a couple of drinks and new mugs....

Hopefully it will be a fun place to get lit and lots of Tikis

I really liked Tahiti Joe's! The food was really good!price was right.The parking had me confused for a minute,But after that it was cool!haha. They were under staffed when I went,But the lady at the front desk was pulling 2 or 3 jobs trying to help out!That was great to see.I liked how they did not go overboard with the tiki theme.I will go back for sure!I took pics also,But at the momnet I can not find them to post.:)

will be there next week. cant wait!

We are going to Vegas in April. I will add this place to my list, behind Frankie's! 2009- the year of tiki vacations!

This place looks great, and it's great to see Bosko, Diablo, and OA represented in the decor.

The music on that video on the website tho' is vomit inducing. Bad Caribbean steel drum music is NOT tiki.

They need an Exotica intervention !!!

Looks like I'll be sending them a CD in hopes that they give it a spin.

When I go to Frankie's I'll definitely check this place out. The food looks pretty yummy.

On 2007-10-18 15:05, hala bullhiki wrote:
my inlaws just purchased a time share at tahiti village, so it looks like ill get to check this place out!....cant wait

"...
Vegas timeshare company to close sales operations
Published Tue, Jun 23, 2009 (6:29 p.m.)

Real Estate in Crisis

A Las Vegas timeshare company has shut down its sales and marketing operations
and is planning to seek bankruptcy.

Consolidated Resorts Inc., which owns

• TAHITI,
• TAHITI VILLAGE and
• Club de Soleil
  in Las Vegas, made the announcement today.
  Tahiti Village is on Las Vegas Boulevard near the I-215 Beltway while Tahiti
  and Club de Soleil are on Tropicana Avenue, west of Decatur Boulevard.

"As a result of the dramatic changes in the economy and the shrinking timeshare
lending environment, Consolidated Resorts, Inc. has shut down its sales
and marketing operations in Las Vegas, Orlando and Hawaii and will file for
bankruptcy protection," company spokesman Ken Chupinsky said in a statement ...
..."
http://lasvegassun.com/news/2009/jun/23/vegas-timeshare-company-close-sales-operations/

Do you know if this bankruptcy includes Tahiti Joe's? Their ribs were awesome.

Just because the company is going into bankruptcy doesn't mean they'll be closing down Tahiti Joe's (or any of their operations for that matter). It does mean the they will be looking to cut whatever isn't profitable, so please go show your support and keep Joe's in business. It's not as good a bar as Frankies but unlike Frankies they have (damn good) food. I'd suggest hitting it for dinner and a drink or two, then finishing the night up at Frankies.

p.s. I guess it might be independently owned, but the same point still holds. Tough times for the Tahiti resort means tough times for Tahiti Joe's

We went there in April--it was right down the street from the condos we were at-only made it there for lunch, but I thought the food and service was great--it's def more of a restaurant- so it's not dark and "over" decorated for more for the masses--but not cheesy at all--very nicely done.

shameless photo...lulz

I saw this tread and was also going to post that we were there in April and enjoyed our visit. Looks like Honey beat me to it. :wink: The drinks we had were strong and the food was pretty good. We even got their silly mug.

I can't believe I missed this.
But I'm very glad others posted their reviews!

Tahiti Joe's in Vegas is alive and well! Or at least it was as of late February 2012 when I visited! This was my last visit before moving away from Las Vegas. We had some amazing pizza (I know, not very "tiki"), and soaked up the tiki atmosphere. Unfortunately, I could not drink alcohol at the time (due to medical reasons), so no review of the drinks. I really like this tiki oasis! It's not "kind of" tiki, or pseudo tiki... It's a straight-up tiki restaurant (IMHO). The restaurant is in the Tahiti Village time-share complex, but it's totally open to the public (and no, you do not have to sit through a time-share presentation, ha ha!). It's in the same complex, but has a separate entrance. I snapped some pics with my phone. It doesn't take good pictures in low light, but you can at least get a general idea of what the place looks like. Enjoy!

Part of the main dining room

Tiki!

Another tiki!

Men's bathroom sign

Exit door

Is a giant moai head with a nose ring and back-lit with red neon cheesy? Who cares?! :wink:

Yes, even the elevator was themed!

My father soaking up the tiki-ness in front of the building.

[ Edited by: ToddVegas 2012-03-29 15:39 ]

My son and I visited recently hoping to get the tiki mugs they display and advertise on their menus but they didn't have any and said they didn't think they would get them at all.
So we went to the hotel gift shop and were surprised to find tiki mugs there!

On 2012-05-22 06:31, beachytikichristine wrote:
My son and I visited recently hoping to get the tiki mugs they display and advertise on their menus but they didn't have any and said they didn't think they would get them at all.
So we went to the hotel gift shop and were surprised to find tiki mugs there!

What mugs do they carry at the hotel?

On 2012-05-22 19:47, mrsmiley wrote:

On 2012-05-22 06:31, beachytikichristine wrote:
My son and I visited recently hoping to get the tiki mugs they display and advertise on their menus but they didn't have any and said they didn't think they would get them at all.
So we went to the hotel gift shop and were surprised to find tiki mugs there!

What mugs do they carry at the hotel?

I'm going to have to ask my son tomorrow because looking at our Tiki mugs now I can't remember which ones they were...lol

On 2012-05-22 19:47, mrsmiley wrote:

On 2012-05-22 06:31, beachytikichristine wrote:
My son and I visited recently hoping to get the tiki mugs they display and advertise on their menus but they didn't have any and said they didn't think they would get them at all.
So we went to the hotel gift shop and were surprised to find tiki mugs there!

What mugs do they carry at the hotel?

I'm going to have to ask my son tomorrow because looking at our Tiki mugs now I can't remember which ones they were...lol

They need to do a little dusting
Had a drink at a table under the thatch bar
A big chunk of "Fuz dust" about the size of a small lime fell on our table off the thatch roof
Just missed my drink
:(

This is all they have...

Thanks! :)

Interesting that they had Island Heritage mugs so recently. I bought these three tonight at the bar (Poolside Pineapple?) it's all they have right now. Beware if they pack them, two of three were broken and I had to go back!

[ Edited by: Zinctiki 2013-08-14 23:09 ]

[ Edited by: zinctiki 2013-08-14 23:49 ]

I am glad it is persevering. The menu is basic, although very cost effective, and while I am the opposite of a Mai Tai connoiseur, theirs was lacking. Nevertheless, the Tiki decor reigns supreme and I am glad I chose Tahiti Joes over Tommy Bahama Tropical Cafe.

However, some modifications have been made. Pool, ping-pong and air hockey tables have been added, along with a pair of video type games. My 3-year old loved it. I was less enthused, but if that keeps families at the time share coming, it is well worth it to keep the doors open.

Another one gone....

Closed Monday

On 2014-05-30 18:07, hang10tiki wrote:
Another one gone....
Closed monday

Hey Jon, that’s Too bad, TikiVato , me, and our wive’s had a blast there a few years ago.
Later

Very, very upsetting!
I was there last summer and thinking about returning this summer.

[ Edited by: christiki295 2014-06-02 07:48 ]

I was there a couple year's ago. Not exactly The Mai Kai, but a decent little place. Always sorry to see any Tiki place bite the dust.