Las Vegas Weekly

October 24, 2009 · 8:18 PM

Read it and weep: Mist Lounge closes at TI

By Xania Woodman

Photo: Courtesy of Mist

“Mist has had a really good run,” says a source within Light Group who confirms that, at the ripe old age of six—old for Vegas, that is—Mist Lounge, Light Group’s diminutive jewel box hot spot just off the Treasure Island casino floor is closing for good following a “Drink Mist to Death” party on October 31.

Since opening its doors in December 2002, the lounge-cum-petite nightclub has served as a springboard for countless nightlife industry careers; Mist would have turned seven in two months. Former staff members are invited to a reunion party on Sunday, October 25, and locals and industry members can toast to Mist’s life with a party on Wednesday, October 28, according to multiple Facebook invites that went out this weekend saying, “We were always glad you came.”

The lounge is being sold back to former Frontier owner, now TI owner Phil Ruffin, says the source. There has been speculation that Ruffin would resurrect his sawdust-on-the-floor country nightclub Gilley’s somewhere at TI, maybe in the Mist Lounge space but as it is, Mist is likely too small.

Of course, that’s nothing a sledgehammer couldn’t fix.

UPDATE (10/27/09): TI Vice President of Hotel Sales & Marketing Don Voss confirms that as the Weekly predicted, petite Mist will indeed become home to the rebirth of Gilley’s Saloon … with a little help from its friends. Neighboring Pizzeria Francesco's will also be closed down, sometime by the end of November, after which it and the former Mist space will be demolished, combined and renovated. In that new space, says Voss, “We will be building a new Gilley's Saloon & BBQ restaurant.”

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