BUZZ CLUBS - Los Angeles Times
Advertisement

BUZZ CLUBS

Share via

A Velvet touch among the neon

La Velvet Margarita is bringing its Tijuana-in-hell motif to Sin City. Owner Big Daddy Carlos says his Cahuenga Boulevard supper club, a favorite hang of Robin Williams, Vince Vaughn and ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, has been so successful that he’s opening one on the Vegas strip in 2006. It’s synergy: The secret to La Velvet Margarita’s success is the combo of hotblooded Latin music, the spirit of velvet Elvis and burritos the size of Jimmy Hoffa.... Jay-Z threw a private party for marketing guru Steve Stoute at the Cabana Club, the soon-to-be-open nightclub at the former Sunset Room. Among those who made the scene were Will Smith, Nikki Hilton, Michelle Rodriguez, Mary J. Blige and Will.I.Am.... Chatted up entrepreneur Heidi Fleiss, who was kicking it next door to Beauty Bar at the Little Shop of Sex, a new adult shop on Cahuenga stocked by Fleiss (with merch from her old store on Hollywood Boulevard) and owned by her pal Jessica Steindorff. Vogue.... And speaking of vogue, rumor has it Madonna purchased a building on Cahuenga (cabala, anyone?).... And Big Wangs is aloft. The new sports bar -- it’s the place bearing a logo of a tattooed fowl at Cahuenga and Selma -- is packing ‘em in on its karaoke Wednesdays, when contestants vie to become “Lord of the Wings.†Whoever eats the most wings gets a $53 bar tab for the night. Nothing to squawk at.

*

Free beer. Need we say more?

Big night downtown: The Golden Gopher celebrates its first anniversary tonight with free Pabst Blue Ribbons all night. And co-owner Cedd Moses has even more reason to celebrate. His latest gem, Broadway Bar near Broadway and 8th -- an old-school gangster saloon that conjures up the ghost of Tony Montana -- is now open, and the Lucha VaVoom burlesque troupe is having an after-party there tonight (they’ll be jiggling at the Mayan Theatre with masked Mexican wrestling performances earlier in the evening). Broadway Bar’s grand opening is July 20.... Big Boy, the Power 106 FM DJ, was among the first to belly up to Hugo’s Tacos, the latest venture from the folks behind Hugo’s and Highland Grounds. The week-old NoHo shack is already a grub hub for the Valley set.... Captain Sean Doe, who’s bringing his band Throw Rag to the Troubadour in WeHo on July 13, says he’s pleased as punch Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead joined him on a cover of Merle Haggard’s “Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down†on Throw Rag’s new album, “13 Ft. & Rising.†You can also catch Throw Rag at Saturday’s Hootenanny in Irvine.

Advertisement