Eight Best Bets for Casino Dining and Wine, Beyond Las Vegas

Gambling has never been easier. Today, you can bet on anything from college basketball to election results to podcast appearances, all from your phone. But does mindlessly scrolling through prediction markets come with premium wines and a lively atmosphere? It’s time to get off your phone and back into an old-school casino.

Dozens of Wine Spectator Restaurant Award winners offer top wine experiences in casinos across the globe. These eight restaurants, from Niagara Falls, Canada, to Biloxi, Mississippi, are some of the best. With stellar wine lists and standout dishes, these restaurants show why casinos remain go-to destinations for dining and entertainment.

For more world-class casino dining, see our guide to the top spots in Las Vegas!

Eight Top Restaurants for Casino Dining

• Bistro Napa (Reno, Nevada)
• Charlie Palmer Steak (Reno, Nevada)
• The Pines Modern Steak House (Highland, California)
• Ponte Vecchio (Niagara Falls, Ontario)
• Thirty-Two (Biloxi, Mississippi)
• Vic & Anthony’s Steakhouse (Atlantic City, New Jersey)
• Amada (Atlantic City, New Jersey)
• Jia (Biloxi, Mississippi)

Bistro Napa

Best of Award of Excellence

Wine Strengths: California
Wine Selections: 445
Wine Pricing: $$ | Food Pricing: $$
Cuisine: California

The taste and ease of California wine country comes to Reno at Bistro Napa, inside Atlantis Casino Resort Spa. The dining room is decked out in copper and marble, with a sprawling open kitchen where chefs prepare dishes such as elk chops with a pink peppercorn crust, Colorado lamb chops and butter-poached Maine lobster with saffron rice. The wine list, curated by sommelier Christian O’Kuinghttons, specializes in California selections. Highlights include wines from Paul Hobbs, Rombauer Vineyards and Plumpjack.

Bistro Napa features hearty mains, including these Colorado lamb chops. (Courtesy of Bistro Napa)

Charlie Palmer Steak

Best of Award of Excellence

Wine Strengths: California, France
Wine Selections: 325
Wine Pricing: $$ | Food Pricing: $$$
Cuisine: American

Chef Charlie Palmer brings his signature style of American dining to Reno with Charlie Palmer Steak inside the Grand Sierra Resort. The restaurant serves chop house classics—think Caesar and wedge salads, tomahawks and Wagyu filets—as well as other mains including garam masala chicken with a mustard barley pilaf and braised short ribs with a sherry reduction. The wine list is filled with classics from France and California, particularly bottles from Sonoma—where Palmer has made his home for over 20 years—from producers such as Flowers and Seghesio.

Charlie Palmer Steak offers a wide selection of beef from the United States, Japan and beyond. (Courtesy of Charlie Palmer Steak)

The Pines Modern Steak House

Best of Award of Excellence

Wine Strengths: California, Bordeaux, Champagne, Italy, Burgundy
Wine Selections: 2,000
Wine Pricing: $$$ | Food Pricing: $$
Cuisine: Steak house, Seafood

Just an hour’s drive east of Los Angeles in Highland, California, the Pines Modern Steak House inside Yaamava Resort and Casino offers an expansive wine program, with more than 15,000 bottles in the cellar. Wine director Robert Rodriguez’s list includes California bottlings as well as top wines from France and Italy, including verticals from Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, Louis Roederer Cristal and Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia (dating back to 1985).

The Pines Modern Steak House is a stylish reimagining of a classic chop house. (Courtesy of the Pines Modern Steak House)

Ponte Vecchio

Best of Award of Excellence

Wine Strengths: California, France, Canada
Wine Selections: 500
Wine Pricing: $$ | Food Pricing: $$
Cuisine: Italian

Overlooking Niagara Falls, Fallsview Casino Resort offers two Best of Award of Excellence winners under food and beverage director Mario Prudente: 21 Club Steak House and Ponte Vecchio. Named after the iconic medieval bridge in Florence, Italy, Ponte Vecchio specializes in Italian dishes such as gnocchi in roasted butternut cream and a boneless Cornish hen with mushroom risotto. The wine list, with 500 selections, specializes in wines from California, France and Canada—including local Niagara wineries and beyond. Standout Canadian producers include those from Flat Rock Cellars and Peller Estates.

Big California reds are a highlight of Ponte Vecchio’s wine program. (Courtesy of Niagara Casinos)

Thirty-Two

Best of Award of Excellence

Wine Strengths: California, France, Italy, Washington, Oregon, Germany
Wine Selections: 740
Wine Pricing: $$$ | Food Pricing: $$
Cuisine: Regional

Located inside the IP Casino Resort Spa in Biloxi, Mississippi, Best of Award of Excellence winner Thirty-Two offers a robust wine program to pair with a regional menu. Expect to find blends of Southern and global flavors: baked Brie with pecans and shaved country ham, crab cakes with remoulade and a sugar cane slaw, sweet tea–brined pork chops with caramelized onion grits. The wine program, with over 700 offerings, spans Europe and the United States, with star bottles from Joh. Jos. Prüm, Gérard Bertrand and Martinelli.

Vic & Anthony’s Steakhouse

Best of Award of Excellence

Wine Strengths: California, France, Italy
Wine Selections: 670
Wine Pricing: $$$ | Food Pricing: $$$
Cuisine: Steak house

Inside the Golden Nugget Hotel, Casino & Marina, Best of Award of Excellence winner Vic & Anthony’s Steakhouse offers steak house classics alongside hard-to-find wines. The Atlantic City location is one of several Restaurant Award winners operated by Landry’s Inc., one of the largest hospitality groups in the United States, which also operates Grand Award winners Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse and Mastro’s Steakhouse at the Post Oak Hotel. In the cellar of over 3,500 bottles, expect to find labels from the likes of Kosta Browne and Château de Beaucastel.

Vic & Anthony’s serves classic steaks and wines in Atlantic City. (Courtesy of Golden Nugget)

Amada

Award of Excellence

Wine Strengths: Spain
Wine Selections: 85
Wine Pricing: $$ | Food Pricing: $$
Cuisine: Spanish/Tapas

A taste of Spain hits the boardwalk at Award of Excellence winner Amada, inside the Ocean Casino Resort overlooking the ocean. Tapas classics comprise the bulk of the menu, making Amada ideal for a snack between rounds of cards. Look for the Spanish omelet served with chistorra sausage, gambas al ajillo (sizzling shrimp with garlic) and albondigas (lamb meatballs) in a Sherry–foie gras cream. On the wine list, look to the diverse selections from across Spain and Portugal, including Listán Blanco from the Canary Islands, Tempranillo from Ribera del Duero and Godello from Ribeira Sacra.

Amada offers a wide spread of classic Spanish tapas. (Courtesy of Amada)

Jia

Award of Excellence

Wine Strengths: California
Wine Selections: 320
Wine Pricing: $$ | Food Pricing: $$
Cuisine: Asian

Overlooking the Gulf of Mexico in Biloxi, the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino offers a taste of Asia at Award of Excellence winner Jia. The menu is expansive, with several pho variations, a dozen sushi rolls, a section dedicated to wok cooking and mains ranging from fried soft-shell crab to fire-licked Korean galbi (short ribs). The wine list specializes in California offerings, but also look to Jia’s diverse selection of sake, including Fukucho “Moon on the Water” Junmai Ginjo and Takatenjin “Soul of the Sensei” Junmai Daiginjo.

Jia features dishes from across Asia, including Vietnamese pho and Korean poke. (Courtesy of Jia)

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