By Chuck Darrow
In days of yore, Prime Place, the steakhouse at what used to be called Bally’s Park Place (now Bally’s Atantic City) was a personal favorite.
One reason was the wonderful view that encompassed, among other sites, the Boardwalk, Brighton Park, Claridge Hotel-Casino (now the Claridge Hotel) and the gone-but-never-forgotten Sands Hotel & Casino. Another was what I truly believe was the greatest salad bar ever devised by humankind. It was a large, circular, stainless-steel-and-glass affair that, at least in my memory, contained pretty much everything one could ever want in a salad.
A decade ago, Prime Place morphed into Guy Fieri’s Chop House. But the deal the “Mayor of Flavortown” had with the midtown gambling den expired earlier this year. Instead of recruiting another celebrity-chef to put their name on the dining room, Bally’s reclaimed the second-level dining room as its own, rechristening it as Park Place Prime–obvious nods to both the property’s location and its past. And while I am saddened that the Prime Place salad bar was not resurrected, I can report that Park Place Prime is a worthy successor to that long-gone carnivorium.
The refurbished dining room—whose view remains unique among local-casino eateries–is elegant without being stuffy. And during a recent visit, I had a perfectly cooked (medium rare), 14-ounce Prime Dry Aged New York Strip Steak that can rightfully claim a spot among AyCee’s best.
It’s not unusual for a casino to close a restaurant, rearrange the furniture, slap a new name on it and start serving meals. But that’s not the case here, as the folks at Bally’s have made a concerted effort to separate Park Place Prime from its predecessor.
“I would say the difference between the Chop House and [Park Place Prime] is it’s definitely more ‘fine dining,’” offered Chris Carmany, the beefeteria’s youthful general manager.
“The service is more detail-oriented; the food is much more refined, more modern and it’s a higher quality.” Carmany added the atmosphere has been adjusted as well.
“It’s not like that casual, high-paced feel that [Fieri’s place] had,” he said. “This is more of a slow, meticulous type of table service. So, you’re not eating now, you’re dining.
And here’s a dining tip: If you do go, try to be seated at a table attended to by Lou, an old-school kind of server whose friendly, welcoming demeanor made a superb meal even better.
Carmany’s “must-have” item will surprise no one.
“It’s definitely the steaks,” he insisted. “We are a steakhouse, and it’s easy to say that. But I would say what makes us different than a lot of steakhouses is our wood-fired grill in the back. It is not gas; they’re loading wood in there. And that’s how they’re making the steaks, and it makes a world of difference. It adds flavor to the steak. You get a more earthy tone to your steak.
“You get that nice char on the outside. It’s not overbearing, like if you’re using a coal oven or coal grill. And with gas, you don’t get that earthy feel to your steak. Here, you get it.
“It’s like you’re outside at a barbecue, but you’re in a high-end restaurant.”
While any casino steakeria is, by definition, traditional, Park Place Prime is of its time: The operation recognizes—and embraces–the place social media platforms hold in the contemporary dining scene.
“You’ll notice it when you see the food come out; it’s definitely an ‘Instagrammable’ plate,” offered Carmany. “Before you eat it, you just want to see it because it’s just so nice looking. People say they eat with their eyes before their stomach, and it’s absolutely true.”
Which is why, he added, “We like to say it’s [the steakhouse experience] lifted to a modern level.”
Borgata welcomes Maceoo for men
Maceoo, a high-end men’s clothing emporium, is now doing business at Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa. What makes this particularly significant is that the outpost at the Big B is the first for the chi-chi Las Vegas-based retailer in the northeastern United States.
Maceoo has carved out a successful niche in the clothing industry by offering threads custom-fitted via an algorithm written by an MIT engineer. While dress shirts are the company’s bread-and-butter, the Borgata outlet, which is located in the retail corridor that connects the casino with the parking garage, also offers suits, shoes and sneakers, as well as a fragrance station at which patrons can create their own custom scents. Other amenities include an ice cream bar and an art collection.
Custom appointments can be booked via m-ac@maceoo.com.
Chuck Darrow has spent more than 40 years writing about Atlantic City casinos.
