Seventeen restaurants, bars announced for EG casino

EG Citizen
 
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Hungry or thirsty customers will have 17 options when the Sky River Casino opens its doors in Elk Grove this late fall.

There will also be a food hall-style plaza that features 12 small bars and restaurants that include Fukuro, which is a sushi bar created by Billy Ngo of Sacramento’s acclaimed Kru Contemporary Japanese Cuisine restaurant.

“It will provide guests a phenomenal Japanese experience with an emphasis on the best quality ingredients, outstanding flavor, and sustainably-focused techniques across all of our offerings,” Ngo said about his upcoming restaurant in a press statement.

Ales and lagers concocted by breweries across the Sacramento region will also be tapped at the Thirty-Two Brews Street gastropub. Breweries include Sky River’s neighbor across Highway 99, Tilted Mash Brewing.

“We secured a permanent tap handle so there will always be Tilted Mash available there,” the brewery’s co-founder Jonathan Martinez told the Citizen.

The casino is a joint venture by the Wilton Rancheria and Boyd Gaming who are opening the complex that will include a 110,260 square-foot gaming space, 2,000 slot machines, and 80 game tables. This $500 million facility is being built near Highway 99 and Kammerer Road in southern Elk Grove.

Chris Gibase, Sky River’s president and chief operating officer, told the Citizen that the slot machines were delivered to the casino site.

“Now is the process of hooking them up, which takes pretty long for each one,” he said.

The Sky River staff announced their restaurant lineup on June 29 and listed it on their website. They are heavily promoting The Market at Sky River food plaza where diners in a 400-seat area can use their smartphones to order from any one of 12 restaurants or bars, and then have their orders delivered to their tables.

Gibase described the experience of visiting The Market as akin to walking through a city street and seeing restaurants at every corner.

“It’s not like anything here in Northern California at all, it’s a completely new concept,” he said.

Gibase mentioned that his staff has worked with Ngo on his Sky River project after they began talking three years ago.

“I’m sure it’s going to be one of the most popular ones we have at the Market,” he said about Ngo’s Fukuro restaurant.

Unlike many casinos, Sky River will not have a buffet restaurant. Gibase noted that The Market will take the place of a buffet.

“It gives you all the variety, but with higher quality food,” he said. “Quite frankly, it’s a safer environment, given our recent history.”

The casino executive said that Sky River is overall a “restaurant-centric” place, and he added that the casino’s advertising will focus more on its dining experience than gaming.

“This place is set for traditional diners and foodies around the region,” Gibase said. “If you like food, wine, and beer, then this is the place you want to go.”