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JOHN-O's Las Vegas (& Honolulu pg 8) Thread |
JOHN-O
Grand Member (first year) 
Joined: May 16, 2008
Posts: 2489
From: Dogtown, USA
|  Posted: 2008-12-15 7:21 pm Permalink
[ This Message was edited by: JOHN-O 2008-12-21 08:47 ]
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hiltiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jun 10, 2004
Posts: 2792
From: Reseda, calif.
| Posted: 2008-12-15 7:31 pm Permalink
Sorry I meant Las Vegas.
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JOHN-O
Grand Member (first year)
Joined: May 16, 2008
Posts: 2489
From: Dogtown, USA
| Posted: 2008-12-15 8:47 pm Permalink
[ This Message was edited by: JOHN-O 2009-05-31 12:53 ]
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JOHN-O
Grand Member (first year)
Joined: May 16, 2008
Posts: 2489
From: Dogtown, USA
| Posted: 2008-12-18 6:00 pm Permalink
[ This Message was edited by: JOHN-O 2009-05-31 12:54 ]
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JOHN-O
Grand Member (first year)
Joined: May 16, 2008
Posts: 2489
From: Dogtown, USA
| Posted: 2008-12-28 11:46 pm Permalink
[ This Message was edited by: JOHN-O 2009-05-31 12:54 ]
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JOHN-O
Grand Member (first year)
Joined: May 16, 2008
Posts: 2489
From: Dogtown, USA
| Posted: 2009-01-01 12:32 pm Permalink
Also if any of you wondered what pre-Tiki Frankie's was like, here's a review that I found in "Las Vegas CityLife" dated 12/1/2005. Apparently it was a pretty cool dive bar in it's former life.
"People sometimes fall down, go boom. Go to University Medical Center, get laid up. And then, craving a drink, show up at Frankie's next door (1712 W. Charleston Blvd., 387-9256), complete with -- no shit -- IV bags, hospital gowns and oxygen tanks. Bartender Diana leaves 'em dry, though. "You don't know what kind of medication they're on," she explains. Among the wounded would-be drinkers she's rebuffed is even, she says, a certain former casino mogul who'd recently exited the hospital after a nasty motorcycle crash. But if you're well, Frankie's is a healing place to drink, offering that certain kind of atmospheric hug and frayed-collar swank that comes from rotting in a free-standing bar. It's a womb thing, I guess. The bar's historic by Vegas standards (born 1964), and Diana says the south wall, an alarmingly gorgeous slab of paneled wood, somehow came from the Golden Nugget. The specials are limited to select shots that rotate regularly (tonight, $2 blasts of ... Black Cherry Smirnoff?), but Frankie's is nonetheless a fine place to toast your health. And if Diana asks you to roll up your sleeves, don't freak out -- she's just checking for hospital wristbands."
This gives me an idea. If you can make a great tiki bar out of a dive bar, why not make a cool dive bar out of a bad tiki bar? This can be done to the LV Trader Vic's. To begin with, you can get LA street gangs to start dealing crack out of the place at night to make it edgy and dangerous. During the day, you can bus in patrons from the East Fremont motels and the Western Casino to provide additional authentic color. Rename the place "Atomic Vic's" and market it as a little slice of old East Fremont on the Strip. Now that would be interesting.
[ This Message was edited by: JOHN-O 2009-05-31 12:56 ]
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Big Kahuna
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 11, 2007
Posts: 1923
From: SoMass
| Posted: 2009-01-01 3:15 pm Permalink
I can't wait to go back! Thanks for all the great info! I'll definitely be using your posts to plan my trip this year.
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Ojaitimo
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 04, 2006
Posts: 1283 | Posted: 2009-01-05 08:44 am Permalink
John O,
Great to meet you and talk. Looking forward to more of your Las Vegas guide. How about the story of the Aku Aku and The Stardust?There it sits forgotten by most locals and almost hidden now.
Cheers to P Moss, Ben and all the great artists for Frankie's.
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JOHN-O
Grand Member (first year)
Joined: May 16, 2008
Posts: 2489
From: Dogtown, USA
| Posted: 2009-01-05 6:04 pm Permalink
Actually here's a pretty comprehensive history of the Stardust.
http://www.earlyvegas.com/stardust.html
http://www.earlyvegas.com/stardust_two.html
I understand there's a Tiki curse on the property unless the Aku Aku moai is returned back to it's original location. Don't believe me?, take a look at the shuttered half-completed Echelon Place. If Boyd Gaming ever wants to get that project off the ground again they better get a moving truck on down to Sunset Park !! (I think there was a Brady Bunch episode based on this).
[ This Message was edited by: JOHN-O 2009-01-05 22:26 ]
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catmomma
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 14, 2007
Posts: 264
From: San Diego
| Posted: 2009-01-08 10:18 am Permalink
I am heading to Vegas next week for 4 days. I look forward to checking out a lot of places listed in your article. I will for sure be hitting Frankie's, it is on the "to do" list.
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Kila
Member
Joined: Mar 23, 2008
Posts: 8
From: Santa Cruz, NorCal
| Posted: 2009-01-19 3:07 pm Permalink
Thanks for this post! This is just the info I was hoping to find somewhere. I'll be going to Vegas for the first time next month.
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brokeassbuilder
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Jan 16, 2007
Posts: 48
From: delta b.c
| Posted: 2009-01-28 9:51 pm Permalink
great guide we will be visiting frankies and said aft formentionned bars this has takin a toll on are gambling budget and now have to find more money for drinkin and gambling !!!!see ya'll there mon 6pm feb 09
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JOHN-O
Grand Member (first year)
Joined: May 16, 2008
Posts: 2489
From: Dogtown, USA
| Posted: 2009-02-08 1:49 pm Permalink
Here's some interesting articles I found on Las Vegas CityLife. They're written by this really cool writer, Lissa Townsend Rodgers. I'll bet she's a TC poster.
This first article was written in 2007 and focuses on the state of Las Vegas Tiki (pre-Frankie's).
http://www.lasvegascitylife.com/articles/2007/06/21/eats_and_drinks/crawl/iq_15017121.txt
This next article is her review on Frankie's.
http://www.lasvegascitylife.com/articles/2008/12/11/eat_and_drink/crawl/iq_25647690.txt
Here's her article on Hunter Thompson's Vegas which includes my beloved Circus Circus.
http://www.lasvegascitylife.com/articles/2008/03/06/eats_and_drinks/crawl/iq_20122592.txt
Here's her article on several of the LV bars I listed in my original post.
http://www.lasvegascitylife.com/articles/2006/11/10/eats_and_drinks/crawl/iq_10681635.txt
Enjoy.
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Kolohe
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Jul 15, 2007
Posts: 18
From: East Frisco Bay
| Posted: 2009-02-21 9:56 pm Permalink
I couldn't have described Las Vegas any better than this thread. Good JOB!
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JOHN-O
Grand Member (first year)
Joined: May 16, 2008
Posts: 2489
From: Dogtown, USA
| Posted: 2009-03-24 5:16 pm Permalink
Time to bump up my original post in anticipation of Viva Las Vegas.
http://www.tikiroom.com/tikicentral/bb/viewtopic.php?topic=30590&forum=1&22
So you might ask yourself "Which is the coolest place in Vegas?" I'll tell you one thing, it's not Pure or Tao so don't waste your time and money. I submit my opinionated top three from lowest to highest.
In third place we have a tie between the Double Down Saloon and Frankie's Tiki Room. Thank you P. Moss !!
In second place we have Atomic Liquors, the only remaining link to Vegas's Rat Pack and Mondo Atomic past. The seedy area ensures the hipsters won't ruin it.
Here's my first place choice as described in a recently written article.....
http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/news/2009/feb/19/merry-face-fear
Anyone disagree? 
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