Your Weekend at TAO

You haven’t been to TAO? Seriously, you’re headed to Las Vegas for the weekend, you’re looking for a good nightclub, and you say you haven’t been to TAO? Well, then that makes it an easy decision. The Venetian’s legendary megaclub/lounge/restaurant wasn’t the very first modern nightclub in Las Vegas, but it was definitely the first serious one, the one where the VIP tables had real VIPs and the one that you heard about in the tabloids. If you haven’t been there, you really haven’t been nightclubbing in Vegas.

And even if you hear about other nightclubs down the Las Vegas Strip now—your XSes and your Marquees and your Hakkasans—the futuristic, sensual, ancient and earthy TAO still gets the VIPs, still gets the superstar DJs, and (here’s what you really care about) still has the hot girls and guys packing the dance floor. I mean, you’ll be there, right?

Now here’s the cool thing about TAO, and it’s a concept they practically invented: you can spend virtually your whole evening there. As I mentioned above, downstairs, TAO is a sultry lounge with cool cocktails and a dramatic pan-Asian restaurant with a massive authentic Buddha and museum-quality collection of vintage opium pipes. The food is pan-Asian (some sushi, some Szechuan, some Singapore) but don’t be afraid to move away from the things you recognize. Some of the most fun on the menu here comes from dishes you can share.

Now, if you’re in a big party (especially if that party is mostly ladies), there’s a good chance your server can help you figure out how to go straight upstairs to the club from here. Of course, if you’ve got some time to kill, you might want to sneak back outside to the Grand Canal Shoppes, buy something to augment your outfit or just check out the trippy Peter Lik gallery.

In fact, if you wanted a different experience before TAO, there are plenty of alternatives close at hand—Rockhouse and the Bourbon Bar for more All-American good times, several Italian restaurants in the Grand Canal and downstairs on the casino floor, not to mention Emeril’s great Delmonico steakhouse, Mario Batali’s B&B and fancy seafood restaurant Aquaknox. And if one night of clubbing is enough, you could check out the 80s metal musical Rock of Ages on your next night out.

Something to always remember about Las Vegas: there’s a new experience around practically every corner.