Jazz Fans Rejoice: Downtown Grand to Get Fat Cat Jazz and Blues Lounge

By Scott Roeben, on June 05 2023
2 min read 7 comments
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We’ve got some exclusive scoop about a new venue coming to Downtown Grand. Located downtown. Seriously? It’s right there in the name. Your attention span has really declined since the advent of TikTok.

Anyway, Downtown Grand is getting a venue called Fat Cat, featuring “jazz, booze and blues.”

Fat Cat comes from the folks behind Red Dwarf Pizza, a popular Las Vegas eatery and live music experience.

“Plus-sized cat” just doesn’t have the same ring to it.

The tagline for Red Dwarf is “booze, music, pizza,” so they eliminated the best part for Fat Cat. Then again, the close proximity to Pizza Rock would be intimidating to anybody.

Fat Cat will sit at the north end of Downtown Grand (facing the Mob Museum), the space has gone through several iterations, most of them not particularly successful.

At various times, the space was devoted to entertainment (shows paid to use the space). At one time the room was dubbed The Spare Room.

Most recently, it was Club Delirious, a stand-up comedy and magic club. A source from the club says the rent was jacked up and Downtown Grand decided to go in a different direction.

Our friend Matt Donnelly, of the “Matt & Mattingly’s Ice Cream Social” podcast, was the last performer in the room with his “Mind Noodler” show. Which might explain why Downtown Grand decided to pivot. We kid because we love! We always made this dumb joke when we performed improv with a group called The Mandatory Friends at the Bourbon Street casino. Which was demolished. After we performed improv there. Which is why it’s funny. Just play along.

Originally, the room was the Mob Bar. Due to the location, the entrance facing the Mob Museum were locked (to prevent vagrants from ambling in), which may have impeded the venue’s success a smidge.

Mob Bar was whacked awhile back. We’re jazzed to hear about this new offering.

The idea of a jazz bar seems a vast improvement over previous endeavors, as we constantly get questions from locals and visitors about where to go for jazz and blues.

While the chances of success of Fat Cat still feel slim given the challenging location, it has a fighting chance for several reasons.

First, a shiny new promenade just opened from Fremont Street toward Downtown Grand and the Mob Museum. Formerly sketchy, the path is now well lit and feels safer. This is huge for the businesses in the neighborhood.

Second, Hot N Juicy Crawfish just opened, and while we haven’t heard how it’s doing, it’s another reason to venture in that direction.

Third, Downtown Grand just launched a new program featuring throwback deals and discounts. The deal includes some of the lowest table minimums in town ($5 roulette, $5 craps, $1 blackjack), no resort fee for locals, free parking and a $2 Nathan’s hot dog and PBR deal, along with other perks. This seems likely to draw new bodies to the casino, and a jazz lounge could get them to hang around.

The new venue hasn’t been announced yet, but when has that ever stopped us?

It’s expected the Fat Cat jazz and blues bar at Downtown Grands still two to three months away from opening, so we’ll keep you in the loop on any progress.

We’ll also let you know how the $2 hot dog and beer deal is, despite the fact we have never had a beer and never will. Beer smells like feet, all due respect. To feet.