Gordon Ramsay opening a pub in Atlantic City
"The location is mind-blowing," said Ramsay. Friday is the debut of Gordon Ramsay Pub & Grill at Caesars.
Gordon Ramsay says he was impressed last year when he and his people toured Caesars in Atlantic City to scout a location for a British pub bearing his name.
Mia, the casino-hotel's longstanding destination Italian, was on its way out.
"The location is mind-blowing," said Ramsay, the irascible Scot, star of such shows as Hell's Kitchen, MasterChef, Kitchen Nightmares, and MasterChef Jr. "You come off the escalator and it's lit'rally in the main lobby. You couldn't ask for a better location."
On Friday, Feb. 13, Gordon Ramsay Pub & Grill will open at Caesars. This will be Ramsay's second such pub with Caesars. In 2013. he opened one at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas - his midrange spot among the three bearing his name in the gambling mecca.
The Atlantic City restaurant is larger - about 250 seats - including a 28-seat bar and 37 beers on tap, Ramsay said by phone. Ramsay intends to be in Atlantic City in early March for grand-opening events at what will be his 25th restaurant worldwide.
How do you keep on top of 25 restaurants? "You'd be surprised how smooth and well-oiled this machine is," he said. Asked how many employees he had, he replied: "With this, 1,274."
Next up are pub & grills in Macao and Singapore.
This GRP&G also is not being viewed as a tourist destination, as is the one in Vegas. "The one thing Atlantic City has, it is a local community," he said. "People who visit [the] Las Vegas [location] aren't from Las Vegas. This will have a stronger local clientele. That for me is a little more important."
La Tasha McCutchen, winner of Hell's Kitchen's season 13, is chef. She's been working at Caesars' other restaurants in Atlantic City to tune up for the opening. Caesars has been on a bit of a celeb-chef bender of late, as it opened Guy Fieri's Chophouse at Bally's and Steve Martorano's Martorano's at Harrah's in the last year.
Ramsay suggests the bangers and mash, fish and chips, and London broil prepared on a wood-burning grill.
Figure on $15 to $25 for lunch (served Friday to Sunday) and $25 to $45 for dinner entrees (served Monday to Saturday). Lunch menu is here. Pub menu is here.