JMP sent in a trip report to Parx casino outside of Philadelphia, PA. I’ve heard that this place is beautiful, but still a racino. With no table games and no hotel I don’t see Parx in my future, but here’s a first hand review from someone that’s been there.
If any of you want to know the real reason behind “Snowmageddon”, it’s this: umpteen months after emailing TC and saying “Can I be your PA casino guy?”, I finally set foot in one: Parx Casino (formerly known as Philadelphia Park Casino) in Bensalem PA. I know, I know, I would’ve put money on it being Harrah’s Chester, as well, but the opportunity presented itself: my lovely wife gave me a day pass to head up to Edison NJ on Super Bowl Sunday to watch the game with some friends from back home and Parx is a few short minutes off of the PA Turnpike.
Parx is easily accessible by the PA Turnpike, Route 1 (aka ‘the Boulevard’) and 95 (aka “12 lanes of death”). When it was just Philadelphia Racetrack, it was home to the PA state fair for some years and also to Smarty Jones, who won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness back in 2004. The neighborhood on Street Road (yes, that’s what it’s really called) surrounding the complex boasts your typical strip malls, mid-level hotels and chain eateries (along with The Great American Pub, which wins the award for best diner year after year). Contrary to what casino critics believe, there has NOT been an increase in crime since Philly Park opened, nor have pawn shops, liquor stores and check cashing places moved in to take advantage of the ‘poor stupid gamblers’ whom the casino industry allegedly preys upon. Bensalem borders on the area of Philadelphia called “the northeast” and the complex is close to a large outlet mall called Franklin Mills (similar to AC’s The Walk, only it’s enclosed).
I originally checked out the original casino shortly after it opened in late 2006. Those of you who followed me on the tripadvisor.com AC forum may remember the following review: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g29750-i78-k923726-Philly_Racino_TR_12_29-Atlantic_City_New_Jersey.html. What’s especially pertinent, though, was the 2nd to last paragraph, in which I called the place as generic as generic could be and ended thusly: “Now, this is supposedly only Phase 1. I certainly hope so because they’re gonna need many more phases to get me to walk through their doors again.”
Of course, if you were following me, you’ll know I did walk through their doors again. Philly Park became ‘that annoying kid in high school who you hung out with b/c he could get into the liquor cabinet’. What I mean is, despite the flaws (genericism and poor ventilation) they were comping alcohol, while Harrah’s Chester wasn’t. What made it even more attractive was that their VP bar had 8/5 JoB, so you could play a decent paytable and get your drink in a timely fashion. Unfortunately, the paytables got lowered to 7/5 when they embiggened the bar. With that change, I stayed away…
On a recent trip to Harrah’s Resort in Atlantic City i was offered a handicapped room in the Waterfront Tower. I love the Waterfront Tower because it’s the newest tower at Harrah’s and prefer to stay there. I also don’t mind handicapped rooms as they are usually easy to get to and a little larger than normal rooms. Both cases were true.
First, I had to get to Atlantic City. I wasn’t sure how the trip would go because there was a “snowicane” which brought anywhere from 6-28 inches of snow to NY and NJ. As the day progressed the roads were tended to and there was clear sailing with a cup of coffee in hand.
The trip took about the normal 2.5 hours and with one pit stop for overpriced wiper fluid about halfway through the trip
I finally arrived at Harrah’s Resort at about 6pm. I love the lights on the outside of the Waterfront Tower. This is a pretty awesome feature.
The main area of the room was about the same size as other Waterfront Tower rooms. There may have been a little more space for wheelchair access, but I don’t think so. Excuse the dark photo, it was overcast much of the trip.
The sitting area was as tight and, somewhat, comfortable as the other Waterfront Tower rooms.
I’ve read quite a few good reviews about “Tyson“; the documentary about Mike Tyson’s life. Everything I read was about how this was a very “real” look at his life. As I watched the movie I realized that this was indeed very real and a raw look at Tyson’s life.
Listening to Mike Tyson talk about growing up as a kid that was picked on and watching him grow into a bully himself and a petty thug was a little uncomfortable, but interesting. Even more uncomfortable to watch was Tyson talking about sex, violence and his marriage to Robin Givens.
As a boxing fan I was more interested in his relationship to Cus D’Amato. D’Amato was Tyson’s trainer and seems to be the person that saved Tyson from life in the hood. Tyson seemed to look up to D’Amato as his savior and a father figure. As he said “Cus broke me down and rebuilt me as a new person.”
Sure Tyson won the heavyweight championship after D’Amato died, but it seems as if Tyson began his downward spiral on D’Amato passed away.
In the latter part of the movie Tyson goes into graphic detail about getting whooped by Evander Holyfield, then biting Holyfield’s ear and the bad people he surrounded himself with. As the movie went on, it got more and more brutal.
The movie had a lot of quick cuts, which made it easy to watch and digest. This is definitely a well done movie that is easy to watch. This probably isn’t a movie I’d watch too often, but I don’t watch many movies more than once. I was happy to see the end of the movie because it started to get a little depressing. I’ve lived through most of this movie and it was great to see everything I’ve seen on the news in 90 minutes.
I was able to get a few more reviews from my trip to Las Vegas up. I’m almost done! I can’t believe that I didn’t get to gambling earlier. That’s not my nature. I think I was excited to use the pictures I took. Here’s the week in review.
Happy to say that this is my first post from my new MacBook. It’s going to take a little getting used to, but I love the way everything looks and works. Here’s my favorite video of the week from ECG.
I visited Carne Vino on my spring trip to Las Vegas and had a fantastic steak dinner. I loved it and spoke so highly of it that my friends wanted a return visit. I shared this video with people all year around. Excitement was HIGH.
Our table was in a little room off the main entrance. The table was a huge square. The privacy was fantastic, especially when one member of the party gets the giggles. There was a beautiful chandelier high above the table.
The waiter was fantastic. He knew the menu very well and was able to answer every question and help guide us on a tour of flavors which was a great tour.
Generally, Carne Vino is an expensive restaurant but I found a way around that this trip. The table shared an appetizer and salad. This worked nicely as we treated the appetizer like the tease it is supposed to be. The Prosciutto Di Parma and Insalata Romana went very well together.
I was with 5 others and sharing a bottle of wine and appetizers was a great way to start the meal. The vino may have been the star of the night…but it was time for the main course…
While the wine may have been the star of the meal, but steak should have been the co-star. Unlike my last time at Carne Vino the steak was not the highlight of the meal.
The steak you see in the video above is the steak that I shared both times I’ve been to Carne Vino – the Dry Aged Bone In Rib Eye. The steak was cooked a perfect medium and drizzled with sea salt, pepper and olive oil.
Sounds pretty good. The steak was good. It just wasn’t great like it was the last time. The steak was a little dry this time. When I sit down for a $100/person meal I want perfection. The rest of the table experimented with non-steak main courses and thoroughly enjoyed everything. The sides were also very good.
Everyone at the table had enough food and didn’t need or want dessert. The waiter treated us to some kind of nougat like dessert and an after dinner liquor. I’m not sure what I was drank, but it was a nice sipping drink and a nice way to cap off a good meal.
Overall, this time a Carne Vino was good – not great. The service was fantastic and most of dinner was very good, but the main course left a little to be desired. Having experienced a fantastic meal at Carne Vino before I think I might hold off on a return trip. There are so many great steakhouses in Las Vegas that there’s no reason to limit myself. I’d still recommend Carne Vino because the service, atmosphere and most of the food are all fantastic.
On most trips to Las Vegas I like to take in at least one dinner from a locals type restaurant. This trip I ended up at Casa Di Amore which had great recommendations on both Yelp and the Las Vegas Trip Advisor Forum.
Casa Di Amore is located about 15 minutes from the strip (on Tropicana) and since I didn’t have a car the offer of a free limo ride was enticing and helped seal the deal for this being a dinner selection. The limo was an older, (very) worn and essentially an extended town car. The free ride was nice as my group would have needed two cabs, so we saved a few bucks there.
As we drove up into the strip mall I knew this place was going to either be awesome or awful. The restaurant was next door too a gun shop, so this kind of set the tone. I don’t think the insides have been updated in about 30 years and I think that was by design. The restaurant had photographs of the old Las Vegas casinos and performers.
The photo above is where the 2-man band performed holiday and cover songs. We were treated to a couple of sets by George Bugatti. Normally I hate live music when I’m trying to eat, but the volume wasn’t too intrusive and the selections were fun enough not too bother me.
If you couldn’t guess by the name Casa Di Amore is an Italian restaurant. Everything tasted as if it was made by a friends mother. For my main course I shared a fantastic Chicken Piccata and Gnocci Bolognese. Sharing is not only fun, but it’s a good way to sample the flavors and not to overeat – something that happens a bit too often.
Casa Di Amore was a very wholesome type dinner. It’s another nice off the beaten path Italian restaurant in Vegas. The last time I went a little out of the way for Italian was to Nora’s, which was phenomenal. Nora’s is pretty popular and crowded since it’s been featured on the Travel Channel.
If you’ve been there and done that and want another local Italian joint Casa Di Amore is another good option. The food was very good, but not the best ever. The decor was nothing fancy, but everything was good and fun. I’d rate this above average but not great.
On my first night of this trip to Las Vegas I had dinner at SW Steakhouse at Wynn. I went into this dinner with plenty of excitement based on feedback from others, but I had a little apprehension as well.
My only visit to Wynn wasn’t very fun as the casino felt stuffy and boring. When I called to make reservations I was told that if anyone didn’t show for my reservation I would be charged $50 a person. I felt somewhat threatened by this, but I understood why that policy might exist. When I called back to adjust my reservation I was told that policy was never used. Very nice.
When my friends and I walked in we were greeted with smiles and had a drink at the bar while we waited for a table. I had a 9:30 reservation because I wanted to make sure I had plenty of time to wash up and change after the Thursday night football game (which paid for dinner). I’ve found that a late reservation can be hit or miss with food preparedness. Dinner was a hit on this night and was the beginning of a turnaround on my feelings about Wynn.
Dinner started with fantastic bread that is baked fresh daily on the premises. I don’t like to fill up on bread because I like to try as many different foods that come to the table, but it was difficult to stop eating. I’m happy to say that I stopped at one piece. Even though it was highly recommended I didn’t have a bacon cheddar muffin. The bread was a great sign of what was to come.
The others at table shared a variety of seafood appetizers and they all seemed to like it. I stuck with a Caesar salad that was excellent. We each also had a slice of bacon. I don’t think this is on the menu and it was damn good. A nice salty way to move the evening forward.
I almost always get a NY strip when I’m at a steakhouse for the first time. Because of the lack of fat strips are usually pretty easy to compare.
My strip was fantastic. In fact, it was one of the best I’ve had in a while. The steak was perfectly cooked. There was a nice amount of char on the outside of the steak and the inside was soft and pink as I wanted. I believe the steak was seasoned with just salt and pepper. The salt stood out, but wasn’t overbearing and the meat tasted fantastic.
I don’t recall all of the sides ordered, but the photo above shows that we had parmesan creamed spinach. I’m pretty sure that we also had the truffled creamed corn, butter roasted fingerling potatoes, and steamed asparagus. All of the sides were excellent.
If there was a down part of the meal it was our choice of wine. It didn’t have the body and full flavor I enjoy with steak.
SW Art(?)
One of the things you’ll read about Wynn is that their service goes above and beyond and the service at SW proved that to be true. Service was fantastic. We had two waiters that handled different parts of service and their work blended seamlessly.
Dinner at SW was fantastic and I would definitely go back again. The food, the service and the vibe were all really good.
If you’re on twitter I recommend following WynnLasVegas for info and tips on dining and everything at Wynn.
I’m a gambler from the east coast, but gamble wherever I may have the chance. East Coast Gambler will chronicle my research on gambling and news about Atlantic City, Las Vegas and Sports. Occassionally there will be a trip elsewhere, but this is where most of my gambling occurs.
