Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Celebs pack Vegas nightspot for 3rd anniversary

Tao Turns Three

Denise Richards arrives at Tao's third anniversary party. Launch slideshow »

Sun coverage

One of Vegas’ hottest hotspots celebrated its birthday this past weekend and marked the occasion by doing what it does best: throwing a big, fun and star-studded party.

Tao Las Vegas opened its doors in the Grand Canal Shoppes at the Venetian three years ago and is now a definitive destination on the international party scene. Its main floor eatery is the top-grossing restaurant in the country and the second-floor nightclub is also exceedingly popular, with partiers lining up and willing to pay as much as $30 per person just to walk in the doors.

The three-floor megaplex has come to embody its name, which translates from Taiwanese into “that in virtue of which all things happen or exist.”

The anniversary festivities began Thursday with an enhanced version of the nightclub’s longstanding locals night, Worship Thursday. The club’s gates swung open to provide all locals, male and female, with free cover and gratuit cocktails of their choosing from 10 p.m. until the clock struck 12.

Club promoters manage a stable of Vegas beauties privy to front-of-the-line service and select cocktails from 10 p.m. until midnight on Thurdays. The club waives its cover charge and opens the bar for all to enjoy, which is rare at a nightspot like Tao.

The anniversary celebration got off to a good start.

Adding to the party Thursday was Jane’s Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro. He grabbed a VIP table by the dance floor and spent the night drinking water and chatting with fans.

Navarro’s “Rock Star: Supernova” co-star, Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee, stopped in the following night and dined on kobe beef shabu-shabu in the bistro.

The real party got underway Saturday when a parade of Hollywood stars dined and danced the night away. While it’s not uncommon to see celebrities at the nightclub, Saturday was made extra-special with a larger-than-usual VIP guest list.

“Dancing with the Stars” beauty Stacy Keibler, “24” star Roger Cross and a cheerful Amanda Bynes were among the first to arrive.

It was Bynes’ second visit to Tao. The 22-year-old actress hadn’t been to the club since celebrating her 21st birthday there last year.

The “Hairspray” star was all smiles as she danced until the wee hours of the morning, singing along as she went.

Ellen Pompeo and her hubby, Chris Ivery, made their entrance at midnight, celebrating Tao’s anniversary and the couple’s first wedding anniversary -- and Pompeo’s birthday, as well.

Once inside the “Grey’s Anatomy” beauty reunited with her former small-screen co-star, Kate Walsh, who was partying with her “Private Practice” co-star, Taye Diggs, and her husband, Alex Young.

Walsh hadn’t visited the nightspot since having her bachelorette party there last year.

She told reporters on the red carpet she and her husband, who is an executive with 20th Century Fox, were excited to hit the dance floor. “(We’re) ready to dance our tails off,” she said.

Jenna Fischer, who plays Pam on “The Office,” looked anything but business casual as she and a girlfriend arrived for a late-night dinner.

After their meal, Fischer said she was looking forward to checking out the nightclub.

“I’ve never been upstairs,” she said.

She and her friend arrived at 12:30 a.m. after the Madonna concert at the MGM Grand.

“The show was amazing,” Fischer said. “The energy of that woman is insane.”

While Fischer was only in town for a short time, the 34-year-old actress said she had a lot planned: In addition to the concert and a visit to Tao, she planned on having some luck at the poker tables before hitting the spa Sunday morning and jetting back to L.A. later in the day.

Denise Richards arrived shortly after Fischer, at 12:40 a.m., after she and her sister also watched Madonna perform.

The “It’s Complicated” reality star said the Material Girl gave her and her sister a good excuse to escape to Vegas for a “mom’s weekend” getaway, while Tao’s birthday festivities – and “amazing” Chilean sea bass, she said – were the icing on the cake.

“I came to Vegas to see Madonna,” Richards said. “She’s amazing. I love her.”

Also walking the red carpet Saturday were celebrity gossip blogger Perez Hilton, “CSI: Miami” star Hill Harper and “The Hills” starlet Holly Montag.

Lindsay Lohan arrived after 1 a.m. but skirted reporters and photographers outside and entered the restaurant by the back staircase instead of the red carpet.

The embattled diva refused to talk to reporters Friday, too, and appeared annoyed as she posed for photos on the way inside Pure nightclub at Caesers Palace.

Lohan dined without her DJ girlfriend Samantha Ronson, who was in Vegas the day before to play at Pure but left town Saturday to play another show. Lohan ordered kung pao chicken, lobster wontons, sushi and fish in Ronson’s absence, then ducked out to finish the night elsewhere.

Most of the other stars made their way upstairs after dinner at their fully stocked VIP tables at the center of the action.

Crowds of dressed-to-impress party-goers flooded the second-floor nightclub and the rooftop terrace while house DJs Vice and Reach kept the party going.

Large red “3”s were hung from the ceiling to commemorate three years of nightlife nirvana, and as the party continued below, partners Jason Strauss, Rich Wolf, Noah Tepperberg, Marc Packer and managing partner Lou Abin celebrated the success of their venture with a big red cake shaped like the number “3.”

Tao’s flagship New York location opened its doors on East 58th Street in 2000. The 60,000-square-foot Las Vegas hotspot, which includes a restaurant, ultra-lounge, nightclub and rooftop pool deck, is the sister of the franchise’s newest venture, Lavo, which opened in September at the Palazzo.

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