Brothers bringing the colors of Rainbow to Las Vegas Valley

Michelle Swafford

Thursday, June 2, 2005 | 11:08 a.m.

A replica of a Hollywood legacy opens in Las Vegas on Friday.

The Rainbow Bar & Grill, famous for its rock 'n' roll atmosphere and celebrity patrons at its location along Sunset Strip in Hollywood, hopes to create a similar atmosphere east of the Las Vegas Strip.

Brothers Bob and Jerry Greenberg, well known in the music recording business, obtained a license from the California restaurant owner, Mario Maglieri, to open a similar restaurant in Las Vegas at 4480 Paradise Road.

The Rainbow Bar & Grill is scheduled to open its doors to the public at 8 a.m. Friday with a live broadcast from KOMP 92.3 and will be open 24 hours a day thereafter.

Breakfast, lunch, dinner and late-night meals will be available and original restaurant favorites chicken soup and pizzas will be served. Food prices range from $2.95 for a cup of soup or Italian house salad to $39.95 for a 12-ounce filet mignon with lobster tail and side dishes. Pizzas start at $8.95 for a 12-inch cheese pizza. Pastas, sandwiches, salads, seafood and veal dishes are also available.

Upon entering the restaurant, located across from the Hard Rock Cafe, guests have multiple seating options in spots with different atmospheres. The first option is the bar and lounge area that features a 30-foot by 10-foot mural of the original Rainbow Bar & Grill, along with Hollywood competitors the Roxy and the Whisky-a-Go-Go. Clustered around the mural and a fireplace are crushed velvet blue chairs with flame patterns and velvet leopard-print loungers.

Another option is the Rainbow room, which is a replica of the original restaurant down to the pictures on the wall. It features several red leather booths that are surrounded by multi-colored Christmas lights, artificial greenery and photos of famous rockers including Velvet Revolver guitarist Slash.

"We're most proud that we created the Rainbow room from the Sunset Strip here in Las Vegas," Jerry Greenberg said.

Nine plasma televisions are hung throughout the restaurant and a 10-foot wide high-definition projection screen will enable viewing of performers on the restaurant's stage as well as music videos. The sound can be adjusted for each area of the restaurant and mixed for live performances.

An outdoor patio also is available to seat some of the restaurant's patrons. About 300 seats are available in total.

Rainbow also has a Green room, named after the Greenberg brothers, that is filled with their personal photos and gold records from their 35 years in the music industry with record labels such as Atlantic Records where Jerry served as president and Bob served as vice president and general manager of its West Coast division. The brothers formed their own record company, Mirage Music Entertainment, in 1980.

The brothers' room is available for VIPs and features items from Michael Jackson, Foreigner, AC/DC, the Blues Brothers, Ray Charles, Crosby, Stills & Nash and Alice Cooper.

Jerry Greenberg said he expects many musicians will hang out at his restaurant when they come through town as well as many Californians who know the original restaurant. But, he also wants to be a place of choice for Las Vegas Valley residents, he said.

"I want the cabbies in the morning to stop and eat breakfast; I want limo drivers to know they can recommend this place," he said

Rainbow Bar & Grill may sound like it targets the same crowd as the Hard Rock Hotel, but Jerry Greenberg insists the places are very different and can actually complement each other.

"The Hard Rock is big," he said. "We're not a hotel and we're not a casino. We are not competing with them with live music -- maybe on a Tuesday we'll have a live band. We want to work closely with the Hard Rock."