Skeptical is putting it mildly. A nightclub in the V Theater? Really? Haven’t we been through this before? And isn’t there already a nightclub in a theater in this very same mall? If you were one of the eight people who went to Sevilla, then we are on the same page. So I was ready for bevertainers plucked from Popovich’s pet show, or perhaps a thawing Nathan Burton, but not bottle service.
Granted, they still have some work to do, but after checking out the joint this past week, I think the Latin-flavored Mamis will be worth checking out again. Opening June 1, the two-level club is teetering on over-ambition, with the possibility of 40,000 square feet, but if taken slowly it could work. While a Latin night once a week at other clubs has people lining up, since the short-lived 3121 displaced Club Rio there has been no real dedicated Latin nightclub presence. According to the ad, you don’t have to be Latin to party, but it can’t hurt.
“This is something the young Latino professional does not have,” said managing owner Robert Zavala from 2 Hott Entertainment, a concert and special events company. “We want to fill that niche. We are creating an upscale environment that hasn’t been done before within the Latin market. The parties you hear about at clubs overseas? The Ibizas, the Brazils? We are bringing it to you—you no longer have to go to it.”
Thankfully, once the tables are cleared it doesn’t look like the theater. The main seating area morphs into the dance floor, and on the day I was getting my sneak peak, Zavala was holding an open casting for dancers who presumably will fill up the stage. Black hair, brown eyes, aye mami.
And that in essence is what the club is founded on—the mamas. Not your MILF or cougar types; apparently not all mamis require a nine-month waiting period.
“We are building this concept around the mamis,” Zavala said. “There is just something about a mami you can’t describe. You see one and she just glows. She’s just sweet. It is that beautiful and perfect woman that just demands attention. We are catering to that beautiful woman, giving her a place to relax and enjoy herself.”
One place the mamis can unwind is the first-floor VIP room. Nestled in the back behind the stairs, the dim space has about a dozen tables and meets all the standards of exclusivity.
Wandering up, tables line the area overlooking the dance floor—the selling point for Zavala, apparently. He visited the theater last year and started to see the potential.
“That’s why I fell in love with it. I felt like I was in a really nice mansion in the middle of Vegas. The space has everything you could want and then some.”
He will gut what used to be a kitchen to make another VIP nook, and he plans to turn the patio area outside, overlooking the mall, into a lounge. However, all that is pending on what the remodeling does to the “outside,” as every other tenant in the place is eager to see how the Miracle Mile will remain open as the current desert décor is ripped out. Inside the club, though, the Persian elements will remain, the stairs being the only thing changing from the original room.
“We are just taking it one thing at a time right now,” Zavala said. “We know the construction is going to change things, so we just want to be smart about what we do. We are here to stay, so there is no rush.”
The club will be open Thursday through Sunday, just after the shows finish up, and depending on the exterior revamp, the lounge could be open longer.
Esta Loca is the ladies night, which kicks things off for the crazy broads on Thursday, and Legendary Fridays has old-school salsa and meringue. Giving us gringos some hope, the club will also offer free dance lessons on Fridays before it opens.
Fiesta Saturdays is a party. While there will be four different sounds in four different rooms, Spanish music will be the foundation for any and all music. Chasing such influences as the Copacabana and the Latin Quarters, the guys are serious about the Hispanic flavor. Panic, Arty and Sobe will launch things as the resident DJs.
“This ain’t your daddy’s nightclub,” Zavala smiled. “We all came from different places, but we all have one place we can now come to and party right.”
Justin Jimenez firmly believes we should draft beer, not people. And he always sees better through the bottom of an empty glass. The associate editor for Las Vegas Magazine, he can be reached at [email protected].