The North Fork Mono Casino officially opened its doors last week, and brings more than gaming to Madera residents.
Not only does North Fork Mono Casino have 2,400 slot machines and 40 table games, they bring a new menu of dining choices.
Along with eight choices in the food court, the Casino features two sit down restaurants Madera residents haven’t seen — a big sports bar and high-end steakhouse.
Clubhouse 99 is the place to go for down-home bar-type food, featuring burgers and sandwiches while also viewing the 56 big-screen TVs in the venue.
Meanwhile, the cornerstone of North Fork Mono Casino is Manzanita Steakhouse that features some of the best meats from around the country.
“Our concept is fine dining, but we wanted it to be comfortable, a place that anyone and everyone feels welcome,” said Connor Jessop, Manzanita Steakhouse General Manager. “It’s a beautiful, fantastic space for celebrations. It’s a great place to come for birthdays or holidays. It’s also a great place where a group of friends can come for dinner or have a nice business meeting. We have something for everybody.”
Jessop said Manzanita pays homage to the Mono Indian Tribe in the Sierras.
“Manzanita is a type of tree that grows in the Sierra foothills where the Mono tribe is from,” he said.
While the casino features natural outdoor lighting and bright lights in the evening, the atmosphere dims a bit in Manzanita.
“We have some dim, somewhat fog lamps on the tables, and some stone lamps on the bar to make the place a little more intimate. We have some big, beautiful window to let natural lighting in. It’s not a typical casino,” Jessop said.
However, what Manzanita strives to be known for is its prime steaks.
“We are getting some nice steaks from Omaha,” Jessop said. “We also like to feature local ingredients with farm to table. Our spinach salad is a great example. We have local Central Valley almonds in the salad. We have some goat cheese from Rocky Creek. The chef makes his own persimmon vinaigrette, and that comes from the Valley. There’s a lot of local themes going into one dish.”
The Steakhouse also features many seafood dishes with ingredients from all over the world.
“We are doing a great job sourcing some of the finest seafood, from our scallops from Japan to our tuna from Hawaii. We are getting kumamoto oysters from Tomales Bay, another great California offering,” Jessop said. “We have beautiful big shrimp from Mexico. We have lobster tail and crab legs.”
Don’t forget about the salads and soups for those that want to go in a different direction.
“We have many great salads and some great soups like a corn and crab chowder and a French onion soup with three cheeses. We have a lot of beautiful sides that complement our steaks like Yukon gold potatoes and broccolini,” Jessop said.
Jessop was brought in about two months ago, and has hit the ground running training the staff. He comes into North Fork Mono Casino with 10 years of fine dining in luxury hotels in Salt Lake City, rooftop lounges in New York City and a few great spots in Southern California.
“Fine dining is not taught overnight. You would think seven weeks is a long time, but it’s really not,” he said. “The dedication and effort all of our team members have put into it, to be able to execute this level of service, everyone is going to be impressed. As soon as I got here, it was training time. It’s been great. We’ve been working hard with long hours with the team members. We are very excited to show all of the hard work that we’ve done.
In addition to training from within, Jessop brought in a team from Las Vegas to help coach the team members.
“This is a gigantic, beautiful casino,” he said. “This has been something that has been in the works. This is something no other casino is doing. We are ready for this. The team and I are ready to have everyone come experience this.”
Manzanita Steakhouse is open Sunday-Thursday, from 5-10 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, from 5-11 p.m.
For those that want a little less on their plate, Clubhouse 99 is the opposite of Manzanita. The restaurant is bright and welcoming, highlighted by the big screen TVs with sports from all over the world.
“We offer a more elevated sports bar environment,” said Alejandro Alvarez, Front of House Supervisor/Assistant Manager. “We also have a good variety menu like burgers, flatbreads, higher-end entrees and some steak options. We will have some wine, from bubbles, whites to reds. We are most excited about our beer. We do have imports, as well as local. We have Riley’s to Oaktown in Oakhurst.”
Clubhouse’s specialty will be their burgers and specialty cocktails.
“We will have our Breakfast of Champions. It’s our twist on an espresso martini with tequila. We will have six specialty cocktails,” Alvarez said.
Alvarez was hired a little over a month ago, and has been able to watch Clubhouse 99 come together from the start.
“I’ve seen this from the bones to now. We’re very excited to get everything together,” he said. “It gives us a great base line to get our team to the standards we want. That’s what we focused on during training. As management, we want to be approachable to the team, and we want them to be excited to come to work. We always want feedback and want to make sure our guests are happy. Any improvements we can make, or experiences, that is what our focus is.”
Clubhouse 99 is open Sunday through Thursday, from 10 a.m.-11 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, from 10 a.m.-12 a.m.