Canada’s Tastiest Casinos: Where Every Bite is a Win

Whether you’re fueling up for a big day of gambling, or dining is the main reason for your visit, it’s almost guaranteed that you’ll try out one or two casino restaurants during your stay.

Casino restaurants are as diverse as… well, as diverse as slot machines, shall we say. If you’re taking in a show, you might want to head to a nice steakhouse to enjoy dinner and a glass of wine; if you’re staying in the casino’s hotel overnight, you might want to kick things off with a hearty breakfast - and let’s not forget the highlight of many people’s casino experience: the buffet. Although they’re a little harder to find since COVID, they represent classic casino cuisine, if such a thing exists.

But casino restaurants come with their share of horror stories, we can assure you. From cold, under-cooked food, to suspiciously dirty dishes and servers who seem to disappear into thin air, some restaurants can make you feel worse than you did when you just missed out on the progressive jackpot for the fourth time in a row. 

So, if you’re a big foodie, which casinos should be at the top of your list, and which ones should you straight up avoid? We checked out Tripadvisor reviews, to see which casinos were rated highest for their dining options. We looked for certain keywords like “buffet”, “steakhouse”, “amazing food”, and “delicious”. Based on the number of keyword mentions, we were able to rank the casinos on our scale, from top-notch, to terrible. 

Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Ottawa ((Rideau Carleton Raceway & Casino) was way ahead of the competition, with a huge 132.03% on our scale. How does that happen? Well, some reviews mentioned more than one of our keywords! In fact, there were 338 keyword mentions across 256 reviews. “Brunch”, “lunch” and “dinner” were all mentioned regularly, but it seems like the buffet was the star of the show, with more than 130 callouts. So, let’s bite into some of the reviews. 

_{The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Ottawa replaces the former buffet with fresh casual dining options, including the pictured Mr. Lucky’s and the upscale Council Oak Steaks & Seafood.}

Sadly, it looks like the buffet never reopened post-COVID, but in general the reviews of the food were still positive. One said “What really made the brunch extra special for me was that the dining room overlooks the Carleton raceway. Several harness racers with their horses were taking trots around the track, perhaps practicing for races later in the day. Interesting to watch!” while another said “We really enjoyed the fine dining while watching the races”.

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Starlight Casino Point Edward also did really well, getting a score of 114.12%. 70 people mentioned the word “restaurant”, while “breakfast” came up 22 times and 11 reviews even mentioned “quality food”! All sounds good so far. 

_{The Match Eatery & Public House at Starlight Casino Point Edward offers riverfront views, outdoor seating, and a lively atmosphere. (Image: The Match Eatery & Public House)}

One person complimented the casino’s main restaurant, the Match Pub, saying “The Match restaurant is beautiful and the river views are breathtaking! Lots of seating, Caribbean style bar outside on the patio with lounge sofas, fire pits and outdoor TV. The food and service have been awesome! I love the atmosphere”. Not everyone was equally impressed though, with one unhappy reviewer making a totally hilarious joke that we definitely haven’t heard 500 times before: “Bet on the slots, not the food”.

In third place, Cascades Casino Kamloops got 103.57%, with “dinner”, “buffet” and “restaurant” being the most popular. 

_{Atlas Steak + Fish at Cascades Casino Kamloops serves up classic steakhouse fare in an elegant setting, earning praise from diners for its food, service, and atmosphere. (Image: Atlas Steak + Fish)}

One reviewer was particularly impressed with the food, saying “We had dinner at the sports bar at the casino and it was amazing, the food was sensational, the waitresses were very polite and their service was great, would love to go back for the meal just loved it”, while another said “Had dinner there last night and once again did not disappoint. Nice friendly employees (always) and a clean environment”. That’s all you can ask for really, isn’t it?

Fourth on the list and sticking with casinos that scored over 100%, we have Great Blue Heron Casino & Hotel, with an impressive 102.38%. That’s 215 keyword mentions out of 210 reviews! The casino offers a few dining options, like Quickbites (sandwiches and snacks - the clue’s in the name), and the more upscale Water’s Edge restaurant. But what did our friends over at Tripadvisor have to say?

One person said, “Restaurant is clean and service is excellent and ever so friendly”, but also noted that despite the name, there’s no view of the water. 

As for the buffet, just like some other casinos, it appears that it hasn’t reopened since COVID. So, are there any casinos where the food just isn’t up to scratch at all? Unfortunately, the answer is yes.

If you’re a big foodie, the first place to avoid is Quebec’s Casino de Charlevoix. But with Le Saint-Laurent serving up local delicacies and St-Hubert offering signature dishes and cocktails, how can things have gone so wrong? We didn’t see a single mention of the words “cuisine”, “delicious” or even “tasty”, which is really not a good start. 

One unhappy reviewer said, “On the way out, I saw the half-hearted attempt at a restaurant. It sells rotisserie chicken, looks like a fast food place, and smelled greasy & acrid. The restaurant merely served to hasten my retreat to the hotel”. Did you hear that? It hastened their retreat to the hotel. Hastened, I tell you!

Moving on. Diamond Tooth Gerties Gambling Hall didn’t do very well either, which is a shame because it sounds like a really fun, quirky casino. Unfortunately, with a rating of only 9.47%, mentions of pretty much all of our keywords were sparse, with the exception of “dinner”, which came up 15 times. The bare minimum, if you ask us. 

_{Diamond Tooth Gerties Gambling Hall may charm visitors with its quirky vibe, but reviews suggest its dining leaves much to be desired. (Image: Diamond Tooth Gerties Gambling Hall)}

One review in particular caught our eye, saying “Ordered the chicken Parmesan and was given a pager to come back to pick up our meals when it’s ready. Went to pick up and the dinner wasn’t even served on a plate! It’s a take out container with the garlic bread in a plastic bag and disposable wooden cutlery that doesn’t cut through the chicken”. Ooh. Now, that doesn’t sound appetizing at all!

Third from the bottom - so still firmly on our list of casinos to avoid - is Casino Moose Jaw. The rating here was significantly better than Diamond Tooth Gertie’s or Casino de Charlevoix, coming in at 20.91% on our scale. Absolutely no one called out words like “delicious” or “fine dining”, but at least five people referred to the food as “tasty”. That’s better than nothing. 

One review which took us quite a while to decipher said “we usually have a great meal but when we received our meal we noticed that our French fries were very over cooked we were going to return fries but we were hungry and decided to eat fries next time I will certainly complain”. Which we think means that the fries weren’t great. Other reviews commented that the casino and attached restaurant were small, with one dressing it up as “quaint”. 

Casino de Mont-Tremblant got 20.91%, with a total of 124 keyword mentions out of almost 600 reviews. The first red flag was that we did a quick check of their website and there’s only a mention of a "restaurant" rather than “a selection of restaurants”. 

One reviewer was pretty sharp, noting, “Casino was great except for restaurant, I have a sneaky suspicion that shrimp was bought in grocery store and poured frozen out of bag as I ordered it!” You’d have to be up early to catch this guy out! “The food was excellent but the ambiance, service and decor were very mediocre”, said another review, while a third summed things up in French: “Désappointement”. And you don’t need to be fluent to understand what they meant. 

Methodology 

Casinos.com utilized Tripadvisor reviews to do an in-depth analysis of phrases associated with food to determine the casino with the best foodie experiences in Canada. We calculated the percentage of mentions in the total Tripadvisor reviews.

Keywords tracked: restaurant , buffet, steakhouse, dining, breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, fine dining, cuisine, delicious, tasty, gourmet, michelin, perfectly cooked, quality food, amazing food, best food, foodie

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