Jeff Olivieri, L’Auberge Casino

The ‘Tailgate Challenge” at the new L’Auberge Casino’s Stadium Sports Bar & Grill is a six-pound po’boy stuffed with a lengthy list of innards. Fried gator, fried shrimp, shaved ham, smoked sausage, tasso and pulled pork sit side-by-side in this monster sandwich, dressed with cheese, lettuce, tomato, jalapeno mayo and pickled peppers. If you can finish it in 45 minutes—along with a side of fries or tots, a tailgate apron and a comp’d ticket are yours. The dish, which neatly fuses the excesses of tailgating and casinos, was the brainchild of Executive Chef Jeff Oliveri, who says he’s been like a kid in a candy store designing and launching the $368 million casino’s three sit-down restaurants. The Stadium is joined by upscale eatery, 18 Steak, a reference to Louisiana’s order of statehood, and the Bon Temps Buffet, an expansive highway of food, most of it cooked on the spot, adjacent to the gaming room. Boiled Gulf shrimp, along with that requisite casino staple, Alaskan king crab legs, emerge from a steaming kettle routinely, and are joined by stations featuring Cajun-Creole fare, southern comfort food, Chinese stir-fry, tossed pasta and miniature desserts.

Oliveri says he wanted the new L’Auberge eateries to draw local customers in a town with fierce restaurant competition. Indeed, 18 Steak is a warm chop house with hints of a modern point of view. Wagyu beef from Louisiana rancher Marcantel Farms is on the menu, along with Pinnacle’s own line of prime. The chefs grill over an exclusively wood fire comprised of pecan, oak and hickory. There’s Berkshire pork belly on the menu, along with a house-made charcuterie board made by Chef de Cuisine Troy Deano that includes 18 samples of sausages, terrines, pickled fennel, beets and squash and hog’s head cheese made with pork cheeks and a hint of allspice. Oliveri’s background includes Disney Epcot and most recently, Lumičre Place Casino & Hotels in St. Louis, Mo., another Pinnacle property. “We’re trying to do what’s new and local, and what’s in season,” he says.