Players can dine in neighborhood

Greektown Casino contains only one restaurant, but many more are steps away
Originally published November 10, 2000

BY SYLVIA RECTOR
FREE PRESS FOOD WRITER

Breaking the pattern set by other gambling houses, the Greektown Casino will open only one major new restaurant -- a high-end steakhouse called Alley Grille -- and won't offer patrons the traditional all-you-can-eat buffet.

But a combination of innovative business agreements and ambitious remodeling projects will give casino patrons a smorgasbord of food and beverage options, some of them accessible without ever leaving the old Trappers Alley building.

Greektown's existing restaurants "have become our buffet, and that's a really unique partnership and relationship in the entire casino industry," says Roger Martin, the casino's spokesman.

The new casino also offers seven themed lounges, including one -- Trappers Bar -- that has the potential to become a Greektown destination. It features a second-story open-air slate patio that overlooks Monroe Street and has music by a live combo.

Some of the lounges will offer a bar-food menu, and high rollers will have a separate 24-hour dining area off limits to other guests.

But the casino's restaurant centerpiece is clearly Alley Grille, a high-end steakhouse with a 1930s motif, live Sinatra-era music and a richly appointed interior featuring dark woodwork, brightly patterned carpeting and elegant lighting fixtures.

Steakhouse classics such as filet mignon and 20-ounce Porterhouses will share the menu with Chilean sea bass, rack of lamb, free-range chicken and other entrees, plus appetizers and salads.

Greektown officials -- like those at every other casino -- hope their top restaurant will become a destination even for nongamblers. Prices and food quality are designed to be competitive with other top steakhouses such as Morton's, Ruth's Chris and Capital Grille, Martin says.

At first, Alley Grille will be open 5-11 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays, for dinner only.

But casino patrons don't have to worry about being hungry or thirsty at other times. Without leaving the building, they can visit at least four other restaurants. One -- not yet open or named -- is expected to serve premium hamburgers and sandwiches.

The other three are old standbys -- Pegasus, Olympia and the Blue Nile -- that underwent extensive renovations this summer and now connect directly into the casino. To casino patrons, they appear to be a seamless part of the project, but they are still independently owned, and their Monroe Street entrances remain open for diners who don't want to go into a casino.

Olympia, which will be open 24 hours a day, is almost twice as large as before, with a fresh interior. Its ground-floor entrance from the casino looks like a streetside cafe, with a Greek-motif tile floor and cafe tables and chairs.

Pegasus' layout and style is unchanged, but its interior has been completely redone, from the rustic tile floor up to the beamed ceiling.

The Blue Nile, a longtime favorite serving authentic Ethiopian food, has also been refurbished and opens into the casino on the upper gaming level.

Casino club card gamblers will be able to obtain some free meals at Olympia and Pegasus, as well as the new Alley Grille. Usually, such club-card points -- earned for time spent at the gaming tables and slot machines -- can be redeemed only in a casino-owned establishment.

Martin says casino operators have told owners of other Greektown and Harmonie Park restaurants that, eventually, they would be willing to expand the club-card redemption program to their businesses, as well.