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Glitter Gulch Tiki: Downtown Las Vegas’ Tropical Oasis

We found time to check out one of Las Vegas’ newest tiki bars by visiting Glitter Gulch Tiki in downtown. Located a block from Fremont Street, Glitter Gulch features a very nice build-out by Bamboo Ben & Son including some cozy booths and glittery elements throughout the venue. Food is available, though we didn’t order any.

As you might expect, this venue leans touristy and so the drinks will be hit or miss for those looking for craft cocktails. Mrs Mai Tai’s Luau in Vegas was pretty good, but we’ve heard bad things from others and some of the tiki mugs appear to be borderline culturally insensitive. The nice thing was that our drinks were served along with a splash of dry ice that filled our table, a very nice touch.

I was not a fan of the Mai Tai, though not for the reason you might be expecting. Given the tourist vibes, we expected the Mai Tai to be island-style with pineapple and orange juices. The “Mai Hands Tai’d” was actually a 1944 style, though for some reason leans very heavy on Rhum Agricole and a light rum, meaning that without a strong Jamaican rum counterbalance that the grassy flavors will be quite divisive to many customers including this writer. After some dilution the Mai Tai was a bit more palatable, but still wasn’t great.

Mai Hands Tai’d

Glitter Gulch thus joins the rest of the Vegas tiki bars by having some significant upsides but also some noteworthy issues for hardcore tiki fans. We did find the vibe inside to be a nice respite from the craziness on nearby Fremont Street, so in that respect it is somewhat like a tropical oasis.

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Rum Curious Club at Zombie Village

The first event in a planned monthly series started this week at Zombie Village as “Rum Champion” Bryan Inman hosted a Rum Curious Club rum tasting event. Inman has been in the Bay Area several times over the past few years hosting events associated with his Rum Curious Club. This week’s was a ticketed event featuring (at least) six rums to taste, plus education about the rums and the spirit category generally. A specialty cocktail from Zombie Village was also available, though we stuck to ZV’s amazing Disco Banana.

Inman’s enthusiastic delivery was well received by the assembled crowed in the Voodoo Lounge upstairs at Zombie Village, and he brought some excellent rums from his personal collection including some very rare expressions. Perhaps most notable was Kulawai Rum from Fiji, a really wild rum that’s not yet available in the United States. Also notable was a Mainland Rum expression distilled in California from Hawaiian molasses and Full Circle 110, a rum blend that Inman participated in delivering to market. After the formal portion of the event closed, Inman pulled out a couple rare bottles for additional gratis tastings.

Assisting during the event was Nik Moser, the newly appointed Bay Area chapter head for the SoCal-based Rum Curious Club. Expect Moser to be the local point of contact for events and host when Inman doesn’t travel up north. The series is expected to be held at Zombie Village on a monthly basis, with upcoming event dates currently coming soon. Future events may involve a specific producer or cocktail theme, so keep an eye out to see if the upcoming events pique your interest.

We were pleased to see Zombie Village quite busy as we departed after 9:00 pm Wednesday, and midweek cocktails and rum tastings were totally worth the drive. Follow Zombie Village and the Rum Curious Club’s social media for announcement of future events.

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Best Mai Tai in Vegas at Viking Mike’s Alpine Yurt Bar?

Our weekend tour of themed bars and restaurants was highlighted by a visit at opening to Viking Mike’s Alpine Yurt Bar in Vegas’ Arts District. We arrived about 15 minutes before opening and a crowd started to gather, which was good news since being early meant we were able to get seated at the bar back in the yurt portion of the venue. The thematic elements are so well-done here, including the impressive carvings outside and continuing past the first bar with an aurora borealis effect. The round yurt section was breathtaking with seating ringing the exterior portion of the room and featuring stone, furs, and Scandinavian textures.

Once seated we received a small non-alcoholic welcome drink featuring compote and spices. The cocktail menu features riffs on a number of classic cocktails including the Mikkel-Tai with tequila, Rum Fire, hazelnut sage orgeat, and Kronan Swedish Punsch. Mai Tai purists wouldn’t consider this variant up to Trader Vic’s standards but in this writer’s opinion the cocktail was fantastic – very rich and nutty, with the tequila and Jamaican rum really working well together. This was easily one of the best new Mai Tai style cocktails I’ve had in a while – don’t skip it.

Mikkel-Tai

The other cocktails our party tried were similarly well-done, and there are some great beer and wine options as well. Some others even had the shared Shot-Ski for four, which the staff set up by ringing bells and shouting as if this was a Viking victory cheer. Mike’s also offers some good food options. One of our party ordered the sausage tower and I had filling chicken schnitzel sandwich and house browns. A “tin” of Swedish fish completed our meal. We found the food to be very authentic to items we’ve had in Europe and despite a venue-filling crowd the food came out promptly and was served piping hot.

Viking Mike’s is one of the best themed bars in Las Vegas and compares favorably to the other destinations in the burgeoning Arts District bar scene.

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The Sex Panther at Prowl

Prowl is a jungle themed lounge in Las Vegas’ arts district, next door to Stray Pirate and co-owned by the some of the same crew. We landed early evening on Friday to find a small mixed crowd and one bartender holding court. The thematic elements include some LED screens, plenty foliage, and a stone idol on one wall. There are a variety of seating areas and booths, plus some great looking lamps that’ll give you retro vibes.

The menu has all kinds of fun nods, including “For a Good Time, Call 1-888-87-PROWL” (call it, it works), Monstera Mash, and Mustache Ride. As a fan of the Anchorman movie back in the day, I was immediately were drawn to Sex Panther and then very intrigued by the Mai Tai meets Margarita ingredient list that includes Mexican rum, tequila, pepita orgeat, and of course “bits of real panther.” This was a good cocktail, though I would have preferred it over crushed ice rather than served up.

Our bartender Jacklyn did a great job checking in with our party and we all seemed to enjoy the vibe and the cocktails. There are a variety of merch options including glassware designed by McBiff, hats, and more. The Arts District is really booming with great cocktail bars, with Prowl being another recent fun addition.

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Rock Candy Mystery Solved

Our trip to Vegas started at the San Jose Airport with some dinner and drinks at the Trader Vic’s Outpost. Our flight was delayed two hours so this wasn’t a bad place to spend some time (and turned out to be our only tiki bar visit that night due to the delay). Following Atlanta and Emeryville, this was our third Trader Vic’s location in 27 days – all on U.S. soil with three other stateside locations in development in Kona, West Hollywood, and Oakland Airport.

Navy Grog

The Mai Tai was good here as usual, as was the poke bowl. I decided to go a little off script by ordering a Navy Grog for the first time in forever. I like my Navy Grogs a little sweeter, so asked for extra Grog Mix syrup and it was really delicious and had a rich mouthfeel.

There’s some sort of story that the rock candy stick that comes with the Trader Vic’s Navy Grog can use used to sweeten the drink. Well, I stirred that thing for five minutes straight and it didn’t dissolve any appreciable amount. The reason Vic’s uses a rock candy stick for a garnish is because it takes five seconds to prepare vs. the Don the Beachcomber traditional ice cone garnish which takes considerably longer. But from several feet away they have the same sort of look. That tricky Trader!

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The Tiki Bar at Excalibur Las Vegas

Excalibur recently renovated their show lounge into a tiki theme, which was met with skepticism by many in the tiki community. Indeed, a tiki bar seems to be a poor fit for a resort themed around Medieval knights, though it isn’t any further off theme than the Johnny Rockets or Australian “Thunder from Down Under” show already on property.

The Tiki Bar features a rectangular bar, plus a very large lounge that features a stage and some TV screens that were playing The Creature from the Black Lagoon during our visit. We arrived around noon and during this time the bar is the only part that’s officially open, but the bartender kindly let our party of five sit at a cozy table in the lounge. We felt very far away from the casino floor, as the lounge sits in a corner and features good sound-proofing. Music was vintage exotica; I for sure didn’t have Les Baxter on my bingo card! The thatch walls feature artwork from various contemporary artists and the “clown tiki” elements are fairly minimal.



Overall, our party was impressed by the space and felt it was actually pretty nice. The twin peacock chair was a great capper and photo opportunity.

We have less kind things to say about the cocktails, which are priced at around $18 and definitely not great. There are some cocktail flights on the menu, but the bartender told one of us that it wasn’t a good deal and to stick with cocktails. I had the Mai Tai (orange-forward) and Tropical Tai (pineapple forward) and neither was really very good. The Sweet Surrender was a bit better, balancing juices and spicy mango syrup. The Cucumber Melon Splash is a Daiquiri with watermelon syrup and is probably the best option for craft cocktail snobs looking for balanced flavors.

Mai Tai and Tropical Tai


Happy hour runs from 5:00-7:00 and cocktails are only $8, so this is the best time to visit if you can. We think the average Excalibur guest will love the sweet cocktails, but it is too bad there isn’t maybe one or two for serious cocktail fans, such as a Rum Old Fashioned. Nonetheless, The Tiki Bar at Excalibur truly is a nice relaxing option on the South Strip.

Sweet Surrender