Buddha Rising

The owners copied their trendy New York restaurant and lounge to a T -- down to the 20-foot golden Buddha. But it's the Vegasization of Tao that's responsible for its runaway success.

An adjacent nightclub, not found in New York, attacks the senses with blinding light and blaring sound controlled by a DJ suspended high above the dance floor. And while 10,000 square feet sounds cavernous, the club always seems as tightly packed as the 250 Buddhist monk statues surrounding its front bar.

In the three years since Tao opened, only Pure has eclipsed its popularity -- judging by its weekly celebrity sightings and the crowds standing both inside and, frustrated, behind its red ropes. In addition to regulars including Paris Hilton and Pauly Shore, this club is perpetually filled to its 1,300-person capacity with jiggly women and the popeyed men who, buzzed on $12 cocktails, gun mostly in vain for their phone numbers.

Make no mistake: Tao (which in Chinese means "the way" when it's correctly pronounced: dow) is a shrine not to Eastern mysticism but to shameless sensual pleasure. Any doubt is erased by the sight of the famous bathtub girls, female models paid to pose provocatively in tubs wearing only strategically glued rose pedals.

Tao is located inside The Venetian, 3355 Las Vegas Blvd. South. It's open from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, with admission varying from $10 to $30. Local ladies are always admitted free. For more information, call 388-8588.

Contact reporter Corey Levitan at clevitan@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0456.