Rumjungle transitions from restaurant to nightclub for full night of entertainment

Plenty of nightclubs around town invite guests to have an evening out.

But perhaps nowhere is "an evening out" as comprehensive as it is at rumjungle at Mandalay Bay.

Each day, rumjungle opens its doors for afternoon drinks and bar food. At 5 p.m., and continuing until 10 p.m., rumjungle offers dinner service featuring its popular rodizio menu.

But then, at 11 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, rumjungle morphs completely from a restaurant into a full-tilt nightclub that offers all of the amenities even the most avid clubber could want.

Rumjungle opened in 1999 as part of the Strip's first wave of nightclubs. Today, the 26,000-square-foot club remains known for tropical-flavored features that include a waterfall, a 22-foot-tall wall of fire and multileveled banks of seats.

General Manager Gerardo Benitez estimates that about half of rumjungle's guests opt to take advantage of the restaurant-to-nightclub evolution by dining first and then sticking around for the party afterward.

Rumjungle's human amenities include go-go dancers and resident DJs, whose work is supplemented by visiting celebrity DJs. The music is mostly Top 40, hip-hop, R&B and mashups, although there's a healthy mix of music all the time.

Rumjungle has five bars and four rooms designated for bottle service. Those looking for libations that are a bit out of the ordinary can enjoy more than 260 rums, all categorized by region and other salient characteristics.

Rumjungle at Mandalay Bay, 3950 Las Vegas Blvd. South, opens as a full-scale nightclub at 11 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays (other nights, it transitions at 11 p.m. into a lounge). Cover charge is $10. For more information, call 632-7408.

Contact reporter John Przybys at jprzybys@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0280.