Tao Restaurant\nWe had reservations on a Friday night at one of the hottest restaurants and nightclubs in Vegas. The renowned NYC hotspot and celebrity hangout is now at the Venetian hotel. This restaurant specializes in asian-fusion food and it was fabulous. I've been to both (NYC and Vegas) and would go back again and again if I could afford it. In Vegas, we were seated VIP style in a booth so that we were able to view everything that was happening. We shamelessly ate everything in site in a matter of seconds to include Chilean Sea Bass, Crispy Tuna Sashimi Roll with Edamame, Pork Spring Rolls, Satay of Chicken with Peanut Sauce, Squab Lettuce, Black Pepper Sizzled Filet Mignon with Udon Noodles, Five Plus Five Ingredient Fried Rice and dessert -- Chocolate Raspberry Wontons with Tahitian Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. I guess we were hungry... (BTW, our waiter was great even though he thought us a pig)\n\nI Want It That Way\nWhile we were having dinner at Tao, we spied someone famous walking around. Figured he was famous cause he had that aire about him. Finally it clicked --- it was that guy from the Backstreet Boys. What's-his-name. He was seated next to the ladies room so we got a good look at him. Maybe he wasn't so famous as he had to sit near the ladies room... hmmm. Anyway, found out his name -- Kevin Richardson.\n\nDMV experience at the Tao\nDining at Tao has its privileges. We were able to get front-of-the-line passes (via stamped wrist) to the nightclub. Nice. However, the stamp didn't waive the $25 cover charge. Not so nice. We were able to overcome that hurdle because we had VIP passes that were given by the one of the nice bellman/valet guy at the Venetian. As an aside, don't ever buy VIP passes from a taxi cabbie. You'll get totally gypped. You can always get them from a nice bellman or concierge or even at a boutique shop. Of course, you have to look like us to get them...\n\nSo after dinner, we went upstairs to the club. But we were told that we had to go back downstairs, outside to get a stamp to get back in. Huh? So the stamp that we were given during dinner allowed us to be in front of the line outside. Then the VIP passes allowed us to waive the fee to get another stamp to go inside that club. With me so far? As SFJ mentioned, this is just like the DMV. Sheesh --- all this to get into the fricken place where we were already in (albeit downstairs in the dining area)\n\nIt's Getting Hot in Here\nThe Tao Nightclub was hopping! It was so packed that SFJ decided to jump on the big speakers and dance ala gogo dancer. We peons were on the floor dancing and moving along with the sea of people like a rip current in the ocean. I swear, I was going to beat someone up. In these kind of settings, I'm not the most jovial person because I hate to be jostled, pushed, shoved, elbowed, etc. I guess I wasn't drunk enough too! It surely was an experience though.\n\nIn summary, the restaurant get 4 stars and the club gets 2 for an average of 3 stars.
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