Downtown’s Nacho Daddy Relocates, Glitter Gulch Tiki Bar to Replace It

By Scott Roeben, on March 27 2024
4 min read 3 comments
Las Vegas Las Vegas Bars Las Vegas Restaurants

So much downtown news, so little time.

The popular Nacho Daddy, just off Fremont Street, has moved. Thankfully, fans won’t have trouble finding it, as it only moved a dozen feet to the north.

In the works in the former Nacho Daddy space? Glitter Gulch Tiki Bar. We popped in for a construction update.

It’s not just nachos. Or daddies.

Nacho Daddy has been a downtown favorite for years, perhaps best-known for its scorpion shots, flaming fajitas and hangovers.

Nacho Daddy says it has sold more than 50,000 scorpion shots since the restaurant opened in 2010.

When we find pests in our home, we gently relocate them outside. Scorpions are exempt from the gentle relocation policy.

The new location is bright (with tons of skylights) and airy, and the booze is still the star of the show. Nacho Daddy is near Fremont Street, so it’s the law.

The new address is 121 N. Fourth St., Las Vegas, NV 89101. We should probably should’ve made that link to Google Maps or something, but you’ll figure it out.

The new Nacho Daddy looks great, and we were thrilled to see the hard-ass wooden chairs survived the transition.

There are other Nacho Daddy locations, including in Miracle Mile Shops, Summerlin and Henderson. The chain’s first restaurant, in Henderson, closed to make way for a Chick-fil-A, but another Nacho Daddy returned to Henderson four years later. The restaurant’s success had led to locations outside Nevada, including Duluth and Salt Lake City. A Nacho Daddy was also announced for Miami, and the Nacho Daddy menu touts another location opening in Nashville in 2024.

The move is so recent, Nacho Daddy hasn’t updated its Web site yet. Check out the Nacho Daddy menu online.

Downtown visionary Tony Hsieh was a longtime silent partner of Nacho Daddy prior to his tragic death in 2020. The ownership has always been a little murky, but Las Vegas doesn’t really do journalism or ask too many questions, so bygones. Tony Hsieh subsidized a good number of small businesses in downtown, but Nacho Daddy is one of the self-sustaining ones.

Today’s evidence neon is high maintenance.

The new location appears to be doing well, and was bustling during our recent visit. The move has pushed the vagrants (who often sleep along this stretch of sidewalk) farther north, so there’s that. Here’s a look at what this part of the street looked like prior to Nacho Daddy’s move.

One of the best things about the new Nacho Daddy is it eliminated blight, and by “blight” we mean a cigar shop.

Which leads us to what’s going into the previous Nacho Daddy space.

Specifically, the aforementioned tiki bar, Glitter Gulch Tiki Bar.

“Glitter Gulch” and “Tiki Bar” don’t intuitively mesh, but who cares? It’s two things everyone loves smushed together.

Nacho Daddy’s out, Glitter Gulch Tiki Bar is next, new Nacho Daddy is up the block a smidge.

Glitter Gulch, of course, was the nickname for downtown back in the day, due to all the neon. And it’s hard not to love tiki bars. Frankie’s Tiki Room and Golden Tiki are two of the more beloved establishments in town.

We stuck our head into a window at the under-construction Glitter Gulch Tiki Bar and met a tiki bar legend, “Bamboo Ben.” Ben Bassham is a renowned designer of tiki bars, and we can attest to the fact he and his son, Blake Bassham, are weaving some serious tiki magic in the new downtown bar.

The Nacho Daddy main bar remains, but pretty much everything else has been transformed into a tropical wonderland. We always expect tiki bars to be kitschy or cheesy, but Glitter Gulch Tiki Bar doesn’t feel ironic. It’s just sort of cool, and it hasn’t even opened yet.

In Polynesian culture, Tiki created the first human by mixing his blood with clay. You know, science.

Wikipedia has more sexy information about Tiki: “In one story of Tiki among the many variants, Tiki was lonely and craved company. One day, seeing his reflection in a pool, he thought he had found a companion, and dived into the pool to seize it. The image shattered and Tiki was disappointed. He fell asleep and when he awoke he saw the reflection again. He covered the pool with earth and it gave birth to a woman. Tiki lived with her in serenity, until one day the woman was excited by an eel. Her excitement passed to Tiki and the first reproductive act resulted.” That’s hawt.

Tiki bars have long been associated with reproductive acts.

“Bamboo Ben” has longtime Vegas ties, as he’s the grandson of Eli Hedley. Hedley was responsible for the statues that once adorned Aku Aku, a Polynesian-themed restaurant at the Stardust. One of the statues is still on display at Sunset Park in Vegas-adjacent Henderson.

The tables are topped with actual glitter.

It sounds like Glitter Gulch Tiki Bar could open in April 2024, but we haven’t heard an official opening date yet.

You can check in on Bassham’s progress on Instagram, where he posts frequent updates.

There’s a lot more downtown news, but we’ve been very busy winning hand pays at Ellis Island and stirring up crap on Twitter. Thanks for understanding.