Pro wrestling meets South Africa at new downtown Las Vegas bar

A professional wrestling-themed bar, named for a wrestling move, serving cocktails with South African ingredients, in a former sushi shop, with a vibrantly colored desertscape unfurling across the exterior, and owners who brought out the bar from Brooklyn — the concept seems wildly offbeat and, at the same time, so very Las Vegas, doesn’t it?

And so it is that DDT opened in September on South Sixth Street in downtown. Suzanne Tyson, who is South African, and her husband, Randall Tyson, launched the original DDT in Brooklyn, New York, in 2020, at the start of the pandemic.

The bar emerged from the pandemic, Randall Tyson said, but life in the Big Apple was hectic, and Suzanne Tyson wanted to live in a house with a garden.

“We loved New York City, but we decided that opening elsewhere could bring us even greater success,” Randall Tyson said. What about Vegas? Randall Tyson had lived here for seven years beginning in the late ’90s and had always wanted to return. The couple made two scouting trips the city.

“A light bulb went off,” Randall Tyson said. “A DDT would look good here.”

The couple closed up in Brooklyn in July 2023, then signed the downtown lease the next month. The smackdown was heading west.

A subtle theme; visiting fans

It goes without saying the Tysons are big professional wrestling enthusiasts. DDT (ddtbarlv.com) takes its name from a move in which a wrestler locks an opponent’s head and then falls backward to drive it into the mat. Jake “The Snake” Roberts, the famed pro wrestler, now retired, popularized the DDT.

The bar’s wrestling theme doesn’t piledrive visitors, though. “We want people to be comfortable, even if they’re not a fan,” Randall Tyson said. “We don’t want to ram it down people’s throats.” Back at the Brooklyn DDT, “a lot of our customers didn’t even know it was a wrestling bar,” Suzanne Tyson added.

In Vegas, hand-painted wallpaper depicts wrestlers (not apparent at first) performing the DDT to form a decorative pattern, almost an arabesque. Shiny luchadores masks, worn by Mexican wrestlers, occupy vertical niches at the ends of the back bar. A wrestling figure and a self-help book by The Rock peek from among the bottles. A title belt crowns the back bar.

Wrestling is increasingly becoming part of the Vegas experience, Randall Tyson said.

“There is a thriving independent wrestling scene here that we want to be a part of, and WWE is making Las Vegas a priority with Wrestlemania here next year. We hope to be a mandatory stop for any wrestling fans traveling through Las Vegas.”

An ingredient from traditional medicine

The beverage program at DDT showcases “things that we love, as with everything in the bar,” Suzanne Tyson said. “I try to focus on South African ingredients.”

She uses boegoe (pronounced boohoo), a plant employed in traditional South African preparations, to make a tincture essential to DDT mixology. This tincture takes up with apricot in an old-fashioned. “It brings an earthiness to it,” Tyson said.

Boegoe tincture also deploys in the Gorgeous George, a cocktail named for the famous wrestler, where it joins Icelandic London dry gin, grapefruit, lemon, soda and mint in lively communion. For The Chair, a name that nods to a favorite prop of pro wresting, boegoe tincture smooths out mezcal and tequila.

African chilis; sips with a meaty snack

Suzanne Tyson crafts another tincture from African bird’s eye chili (sometimes called piri-piri), pink peppercorns and black peppercorns. The tincture arrives, in a glass skull with a dropper, alongside a Dusty Old-Fashioned with rye, apricot and rooibos, a South African plant often used for tea

“We advise to taste the tincture as is, and then add little drops for more heat,” Tyson said.

The Crimson Mask mingles the chili tincture, whiskey, grapefruit and jabs of peppercorn. Slices of housemade biltong, a cured and air-dried meat similar to jerky, accompany the cocktail.

“It’s a very traditional South African snack,” Tyson said. “It pairs very well with what is essentially a whiskey sour.”

Amarula, the South African cream liqueur made from the fruit of the marula tree, is served on the rocks with fresh baked-to-order chocolate chip cookies. “So, adult milk and cookies,” Tyson said.

Killer bees and fishnets taste good

A sense of humor is also on the beverage menu at DDT.

The African Killer Bee name-checks the Killer Bees wrestling tag team from the 1980s and the African killer bee hysteria (the swarm is coming!) of the 1970s. Cruxland, a South African gin made with truffles from the Kalahari Desert, anchors the cocktail. The Cruxland bottle features a leather strap that snaps to the neck across the screwtop cap.

“If you’re in the bush, on a safari, that kind of feel,” Tyson said of the design. During Kalahari truffle season, harvesters locate truffles by looking for cracks in the earth caused by truffles growing after sufficient rainfall, Tyson added.

Wrestler in Fishnets honors Effy, the nom de headlock of professional wrestler Taylor Gibson, who sports fishnets paired with a thrilling expanse of chest hair. The cocktail blends South African chenin blanc with Capertif, a vermouth made by infusing the wine with botanicals. Bursting blueberry boba balls lie at the bottom of the red wine glass.

Tyson acknowledged many of the South African ingredients would be unfamiliar, even to seasoned imbibers. “Please ask me about anything,” she said. And if you’re feeling a mocktail, a good beer (domestic or international in 16-ounce cans) or just a classic cocktail? The bar can do that, too.

Upstairs, downstairs

DDT’s extensively renovated space at 124 S. Sixth St., Suite 150, encompasses 14 seats at the front bar, 14 in the lounge and, because the space previously housed Bocho Sushi, a kitchen that provides for a small bar menu.

Crisp chicken thighs await dredging in DDT sauce, a smoky mayonnaise. Classic fixings complete a char-grilled burger. Braai broedjie — South African-style grilled cheese — goes melty with fontina, Gruyère, Parmigiano and cheddar.

“What makes this particular grilled cheese South African is a staple: Mrs. Ball’s Chutney,” Randall Tyson said. “The sandwich starts on the flat top and finishes on the char-grill, so it has grill marks and smoky flavors.”

The DDT space also includes an upstairs, used at the moment to store wrestling memorabilia. What’s ahead for the second story? Perhaps more bar seating or private events or even live music. But that’s something for the owners to grapple with later. Right now, there’s a whole city downstairs to introduce to boegoe.

Contact Johnathan L. Wright at jwright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @JLWTaste on Instagram.