 |
Taboo Cove, Venetian, Las Vegas, NV (bar) |
delphiniumangel
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Nov 30, 2004
Posts: 46 |  Posted: 2004-12-22 5:39 pm Permalink
Name:Taboo Cove, Venetian
Type:bar
Street:
City:Las Vegas
State:NV
Zip:
country:USA
Phone:
Status:operational
Description:
The Taboo Cove is open at the Venetian. We heard conflicting rumors - but christiki295 and I confirmed it was in fact still open.
[ This Message was edited by: hanford_lemoore on 2004-12-26 22:20 ]
|
christiki295
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 09, 2003
Posts: 3616
From: LA-2547 mls east Hawaii &5500 Easter Is
| Posted: 2004-12-22 10:54 pm Permalink
The issue of whether Taboo Cove remains open seems to have reappearead some of the luckiest of us are going to Sin City for New Year's Eve.
Venus, the nightclub, dance spot is closed (although is represented to be open by New Year's Eve).
However, Taboo Cove was unaffected.
I called myself today and confirmed.
(Someone should probably merge these posts with the others. Mahalo.)
|
Tiki Lee's
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 23, 2003
Posts: 772
From: Las Vegas
| Posted: 2004-12-23 01:38 am Permalink
Well folks, looks like all of the speculating and hypothesising, and yes, even the phone-calls to the place have turned out to be all for naught. TABOO COVE and VENUS lounge as we know them are GONE. Yes, I said GONE!
How do I know, you ask? Well, pull up a chair, folks, and I'll tell you a little tale...
I live here in Vegas, and have the Tiki Room at The Red Rooster Antique Mall, as well as a space at the new Flamingo Road Antique Mall (Flamingo & Pecos... Thanks For Askin'!), and I have feelers out all over the place to get the heads up on where to find stuff. I also happen to be a Gondolier at The Venetian, and I am CONSTANTLY in that gosh dern bar with friends after work. At least I was, until a few months ago. I haven't been in a while. Just a few days ago, I got a call from a buddy of mine who WORKS IN THE BAR. Not around it, not at the front desk, but actually is employed by the company that owns the two places and physically works inside of the establishment. He told me the horrific news: "They've torn everything out and are throwing it away. There's a big pile of Bosko's stuff & more in the kitchen and they don't know what to do with it. They want to throw it away because it's in the way." Dear God, what a shock. I asked him why they were getting rid of it, and he said they were going to totally re-do the whole place. It'd still be a Tiki Bar & Retro Lounge, but "all new". Panic set in immediately. The dealer in me wanted to run down there and cry, beg, & grovel for it all, and the Tiki-Phile in me wanted to go down there and try to talk some sense into the Manager and tell him why it NEEDS to be re-assembled and kept as Bosko designed it. My friend said to chill for a while & he'd try to get me a meeting with the Manager, and that was the last I heard from him.
Flash Forward to today, when I went in to work. I went early so I could see if I could get in and talk to the Manager. The outside looked normal; everything in place. And then I noticed the windows all covered up with black from the inside. I tugged on the door, & it opened.
I don't even know how to describe the feeling of sickening loss that I felt as I walked in to see that what was once glorious, was now stripped completely bare. There is absloutely NOTHING left in that place. Thatching: gone. Bamboo: gone. Carvings: gone. Framed menus, art & records:gone. Lights: gone. Mugs: gone. Shag's Art & all the posters: gone. Believe me when I tell you that the place is completely devoid of any and all decor what-so-ever. I looked in the kitchen where the stuff was supposed to be piled up, and it was not there. I hope to God that it's in storage, waiting to be re-instated and not wasting away in the Las Vegas Landfill.
So, the definitive answer for that burning debate as to whether or not Taboo Cove & Venus are closed is: NO. They WILL be open for New Years Eve. However, they will not be the same Taboo Cove & Venus as before. Bosko's Taboo Cove is gone forever. It's life was short, but that torch burned oh so brightly. I know a lot of you out there didn't like it much, but it's all we had here in Vegas. For all it's shortcomings, I will miss it tremendously.
[ This Message was edited by: Tiki Lee's on 2004-12-23 01:39 ]
|
Futura Girl
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 01, 2002
Posts: 933 | Posted: 2004-12-23 03:45 am Permalink
first of all - great to hear from you lee... i'm just sorry to hear it under these circumstances.
and NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
those F***ING G*D D*MN complete idiots!
so you didn't get to salvage anything at all?
it makes me sick to think of what they did - but even sicker if no one dumpster dived and retrieved anything.
now i am glad i stole a taboo cove menu.
|
Benzart
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 09, 2004
Posts: 10306
From: Port Saint Lucie, Florida
| Posted: 2004-12-23 06:24 am Permalink
Boy what a SAD Story. It really leaves an Empty hole in your heart.
At least when I carved all the tikis for the Tropicana Hotel, they Told me up front they were changing it all in 4 years and tikis would be no more and at Least they auctioned them off so they didn't end up in the dumpster.
Sad Story.Now o start fixin the hole in my heart...
_________________
FACEBOOK
|
PolynesianPop
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 2341
From: Corona, Ca
| Posted: 2004-12-23 08:34 am Permalink
Man, what a shame. I too, really liked this place. I only hope the carvings weren't trashed in the process.
_________________
Poly-Pop *
Bartender, make mine a glass of WATAHHH!!!!!
|
delphiniumangel
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Nov 30, 2004
Posts: 46 | Posted: 2004-12-23 11:06 am Permalink
What?? We called the other morning and were told by the Venetian that it was in fact still open. Okay - who is telling the truth here? Hmmm - conflicting stories again!
Will have to check it out after the New Year!
|
bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10561
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2004-12-25 7:48 pm Permalink
That is, in fact, terrible news for x-mas. Although we all felt it was just a mattter of time, to now hear that there is not a shred left in the place, walls/floor/ceiling are blank, and all of Bosko's carvings and vintage artifacts were thrown in a pile and dumped, lets one cry out "Sacrilege!" in despair.
[ This Message was edited by: bigbrotiki on 2004-12-26 15:58 ]
|
Atomicchick
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 08, 2003
Posts: 577
From: Southern California
| Posted: 2004-12-25 9:46 pm Permalink
WHAT!!!??? Thrown in a pile and dumped? What is this world coming to??? Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
|
TikiTrevor
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 15, 2004
Posts: 203
From: Portland, OR (originally
| Posted: 2004-12-26 7:26 pm Permalink
When I was there in the summer, they told me they were shutting the doors. I asked what they were doing with everything and the manager told me that most of the stuff was up for grabs by the employees. I gave them my contact info to try to get some stuff but I never heard back. So hopefully it made its way into someones home and not buried in the desert with all the other dead bodies.
|
tikibars
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 11, 2002
Posts: 2014
From: Aku Hall, Chicago
| Posted: 2004-12-27 10:42 am Permalink
I have this sickening and depressing image in my head of clueless busboys taking turns tossing all of those new and vintage Tiki mugs from behind the bar into a dumpster and listening to them smash, laughing and having a good time with it all...
Hope someone can still rescue the Boskos!
_________________
- James T.
My new book is "Destination: Cocktails": www.destinationcocktails.com.
Get "Big Stone Head: Easter Island and Pop Culture" at: www.bigstonehead.com.
See www.tydirium.net for Tiki Road Trip, global travelogues, and more!
|
sinner
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 17, 2003
Posts: 127
From: Los Angeles
| Posted: 2004-12-27 10:44 am Permalink
Whoa, that really sucks. I never even got a chance to visit the place.
|
OceaOtica
Grand Member (8 years) 
Joined: Sep 29, 2003
Posts: 869
From: la, home of Tiki Ti
| Posted: 2004-12-31 12:26 am Permalink
I went there in the beginning of 2002.
What a waste of a lot of great Bosko carvings and vintage mugs, they could not have been stupid enough to throw all that away. The bartenders, barbacks and bar manager all seemed to have a lot of respect for Bosko. We ended up speaking to all of them about the Bosko bowls they served one of the drinks with. I am surprised that any of them would just disregard the decor and dump it.
I was warned about the place not being up to snuff, but lucked out when I went there that they were playing exotica instead of techno. The Cove was well worth visiting, the drinks were soso but the decor was great. It was good timing when I went because I was able to buy the last two Bosko bowls they had. Chips and 151 scorch marks aside, they are huge and beautiful.
Sad to see it go.
|
tikitortured
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 08, 2004
Posts: 329
From: Huntington Beach Ca.
| Posted: 2005-01-02 9:43 pm Permalink
That so badly blows I can hardly stand it! I thought the REEF in Palm Springs would go first. Everytime I try to go to that damn place it's closed! It really cheese me off! Uhh, Saturday night...10:00pm...closed? Business must be boomin'! So I end up goin' up to the Toucan "TIKI" lounge, and I'm not even gay (not that there's anything wrong with it). Well everybody, let this be a lesson to us, patronize the joints we got (Lucky Tiki here I come).
|
nicktiki
Grand Member (3 years) 
Joined: Jun 05, 2004
Posts: 361
From: San Diego, CA
| Posted: 2005-01-03 12:29 am Permalink
This is really sad news. Bosko did a great job with that place. I went there a year ago with my wife to check it out. I can't say that I'm surprised. They were playing heavy metal and rap music. When I asked the bartender about the decor, they had no idea what I was talking about. They just didn't get it. Sad.
|
