Caesars Palace Champagne lounge Fizz—opened in 2014 and co-designed by Elton John’s husband David Furnish—left a glamorous void when it shuttered last December. Bravo TV reality star and West Hollywood restaurateur Lisa Vanderpump is set to replenish that glam when Vanderpump Cocktail Garden debuts in early 2019 in the Caesars casino space between the Forum Shops and the Colosseum.
The animal activist and former actress is best known as an original cast member of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, but her soap opera-esque spinoff series Vanderpump Rules shares the spotlight with the super dramatic staff members of Sur, Pump, Villa Blanca and the new Tom Tom, the bars and restaurants owned and operated by Vanderpump and husband Ken Todd. The couple has been creating London and SoCal hot spots long before Bravo came calling, so the new Vegas venue is expected to be a success. “Vanderpump Cocktail Garden will combine the sexy atmosphere of our other establishments injected with the Vegas energy that brings millions of guests who visit year after year,” Vanderpump said in the announcement earlier this month.
The only question is whether Vanderpump Rules, which begins broadcasting its seventh season on December 3, will bring its crazy cast to Caesars Palace. The show has frequently visited Vegas over the years, including for an infamous birthday party fight at Marrakech on Paradise Road and for last season’s Tom Tom research trip, which turned into a Fireball Whisky-fueled blowout.
A few cast members have carved out Vegas gigs beyond club appearances, too. James Kennedy and Lala Kent performed at least one memorable DJ set at Rehab at the Hard Rock Hotel, and Scheana Marie (formerly Shay) starred in Sex Tips for Straight Women From a Gay Man for a few months after another reality star, Kendra Wilkinson, opened the show at Paris Las Vegas. I also bumped into Tom Sandoval (a junior partner with Tom Schwartz on Vanderpump’s newest bar, Tom Tom) at this year’s Nightclub & Bar Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center, gearing up for his bar’s opening and checking out the latest industry trends. Whether it’s about wild reality TV antics or creating cool cocktail spots, Vegas and Vanderpump are clearly a match.
