Jazz Club You’ve Never Heard Of, Fat Cat, Closes at Downtown Grand

By Scott Roeben, on July 03 2026
3 min read 0 comments
Downtown Las Vegas Las Vegas Las Vegas Bars

A little-known jazz and blues club located inside a commercial Bermuda Triangle at Downtown Grand, Fat Cat, has closed.

Fat Cat opened in fall 2023 (we broke the story, naturally) and surprised everyone by staying in operation as long as it did, a smidge less than three years. Prior to Fat Cat, the no-man’s-land location was home to the Delirious Comedy Club. Before that, it was Mob Bar.

The official announcement of the closure included the line, “As the neighborhood continues through a period of transition and uncertainty, we’re committed to keeping the spirit and music of Fat Cat alive.” Translation: Downtown Grand is in receivership and the ongoing shitshow is making an impossible task even more impossibler.

The owners of Fat Cat seem like such nice folks, we almost feel guilty for pointing out the fact their aggressively amateurish Fat Cat logo looks like someone with tremors lost a fight with Microsoft Paint.

Fat Cat was operated by husband-and-wife team Russell Gardner and Natalie Burge, the folks behind Red Dwarf (a tiki-inspired dive that serves a popular pizza) and Grey Witch (a weird, theatrical bar/music venue in Vegas-adjacent Henderson).

They shared news of the closure on Instagram. (Instagram’s slogan: “Still cheaper than distributing a news release.”)

The message said, “It is extremely bittersweet to announce that after three incredible years, our Fat Cat location has closed its doors. To our Fat Cat team, thank you. Your dedication and care brought this space to life and gave every night its spark. To our musicians, guests, and neighbors, thank you for embracing Fat Cat. The sense of community, exceptional cocktail programming, and extraordinary musicianship that defined Fat Cat were truly something special, and we’re incredibly proud of what we built together. As the neighborhood continues through a period of transition and uncertainty, we’re committed to keeping the spirit and music of Fat Cat alive. We’re excited to combine Fat Cat’s music programming with our sister locations, @greywitch_lv and @reddwarf_lv and we hope you’ll continue this journey with us. With gratitude and love, Russell & Natalie.”

When it first opened, the venue was criticized for body shaming, but the politically correct name Gravitationally Gifted Cat just didn’t have the same ring to it.

The reviews of Fat Cat were generally positive, especially given Las Vegas isn’t exactly known for being a jazz and blues town.

A New Orleans/French Quarter-inspired bar in the Grand Bazaar Shops at Horseshoe, Bourbon St. Parade, closed after one month.

Fat Cat’s intentions were good. It was billed as a throwback lounge, an intimate space for jazz, blues, funk and cocktails with live musicians playing actual music rather than a DJ jumping around like an idiot behind a laptop.

Fat Cat was arguably cool, but that doesn’t translate into profitable.

There were rumblings Fat Cat had used up its nine lives when it was listed as being for sale in 2025. There were no takers.

Fat Cat faced an insurmountable obstacle: It was at Downtown Grand.

Despite being a stone’s throw away from Fremont Street, it’s been a Herculean task to draw people away from the tourist corridor. Which is why Downtown Grand is in receivership, as we were the first to report. It defaulted on its loans. Yes, this is still frowned upon.

As Downtown Grand goes, so go its tenants.

Downtown Grand has tried a lot of things: the former Lady Luck was renovated and reopened as Downtown Grand in 2013, a new hotel tower opened in 2020 and the place now has more than 1,100 rooms, a small, quiet casino, Pizza Rock, Triple George, a pool deck, a sportsbook and a center bar.

They booted a rent-paying tenant, Hogs and Heifers. The rowdy bar has a pop-up at Plaza.

Another tenant, Hot N Juicy Crawfish, is holding on by a thread, with a reported 20 covers a day.

Downtown Grand has always battled a visibility problem, a challenge that’s proven to be even more difficult than convincing people to voluntarily listen to jazz.

Props to Fat Cat for hanging on as long as it did.

The bank that repossessed Downtown Grand was asking $80 million for it. The Siegel Group was in due diligence, but recently bailed as so many others have, as we reported exclusively on the Twitters.

Our over-under for the eventual sale price for Downtown Grand is $50 million. Everyone involved is getting a haircut except the lawyers.

Stay tuned for more in the Downtown Grand saga, and we trust the owners of Fat Cat will lick their wounds and land on their feet.

You know, like cats.

Please try and keep up.