Sam's Town Hotel & Gambling Hall adds draft beer and craft beer to its popular Tunica restaurant

Craft beer, more now on tap at Smokey Joe's

by David Grisham

TUNICA RESORTS, Miss. — Smokey Joe’s has added a variety of draft and craft beers to its lineup at Sam’s Town Hotel & Gambling Hall. The restaurant, which opened last fall in the renovated and expanded space that once housed Snacks N’ Stuff, is giving beer lovers a lot to be happy about. Located on the ground floor near the entrance to the casino, Smokey Joe’s is open 24 hours a day and is now serving up frosted mugs of Bud Light, Budweiser, Miller Lite, Redd’s Apple Ale and craft beers Fat Tire from New Belgium Brewing and Ghost River Golden Ale, brewed at Ghost River Brewing in Memphis, Tenn. Draft beer prices run from $3 to $5.50.

“Whether you’re coming in off the golf course, dropping in for a late night dinner or grabbing a snack, Smokey Joe’s is a great place for a sandwich and a beer,” said Alan Handler, food and beverage operations manager.

It’s location near the casino entrance also makes it convenient for families. Diners don’t have to go through the casino to enter Smokey Joe’s.

In addition to adding the draft beer, Smokey Joe’s has also updated its deli meats to the premium Boar’s Head brand. 

The menu at Smokey Joe’s is posted above the order counter and near the entrance to the resturant and provides a big selection of breakfast items, sandwiches, apps and sides as well as salads and sweet treats.

Everything from fried shrimp to chicken wings to barbecue to pizza is available. Popular sandwich offerings include a turkey club, a Philly cheese steak, chicken salad and chicken tenders. Ready-made salads are also available.

For those who haven’t visited the new Smokey Joe’s, you will be interested to know that the dining space was expanded from 44 seats to 72 and redesigned for a more open, inviting atmosphere when it was redone. Sam’s Town increased the space, opened it up and now offers a better seating area. The diner counter at Smokey Joe’s surrounds the hostess/cashier station as well as the cooking area and provides seating for a dozen diners. Sports fans will enjoy the wall-mounted flat screens on two of the restaurant’s walls. A glass display case near the entrance of Smokey Joe’s connects to the counter and showcases the work of Sam’s Town’s pastry chefs. Cheers!

New Delta Blues Buffet set to open June 28 at Resorts Casino Tunica

By David Grisham

TUNICA RESORTS — Things are changing at Resorts Casino as the gaming destination nears completion of its multi-million dollar renovation - which has been titled the “Resorts Reboot” at the property. 

A total renovation of The Buffet at Resorts is progressing nicely and a rebranding of the dining space will complete the transformation. The Delta Blues Buffet is scheduled to open Friday, Saturday, June 28, said Resorts General Manager Tony Scudiero.

The GM said the Delta Blues Buffet will feature new flooring, chairs, tables, countertops and serving areas. Fresh paint on the walls and ceilings and new artwork will add fresh new update look.

New buffet coming to Resorts Casino Tunica

“The artwork will support the culture of the Delta and we will feature food from the region – home cooking,” Scudiero said, as he led a tour of the ongoing construction. He said that food quality will be emphasized, saying, “We will be offering items like crab legs, other seafood, and desserts prepared by our pastry chef for an unprecedented dining experience at Resorts.”

In the meantime, a temporary buffet remains available in Meeting Room A, across from the permanent buffet. The room has the capacity for 300 people and has been set up and decorated to provide a pleasant dining environment for guests while the Delta Blues Buffet is being readied. 

Resorts’ TJ’s Steakhouse is also being rebranded. It will soon be known as “Highway 61 Grill.” The new Highway 61 Grill will open to the public on Sunday, June 28. A new menu and a more casual approach to fine dining are just some of the changes on tap for the restaurant. 

A new chef de cuisine is in the house. Anglius Thompson joined the F&B team a few weeks ago. His has worked at the Fitz and at Horseshoe Tunica - where he was a part of the opening team. Chef Thompson said he is eager to provide guests with a new dining experience. 

Another area of change: the casino floor. Hundreds of new games are in place and new machines arrive regularly. “We’ve rearranged the slot floor and have more carousels than before. It hasn’t looked this good in 15 years,” Scudiero said.

Resorts began rearranging the casino floor in mid-March and starting adding new penny slots at that time. New machines include such titles as Roman Tribune, Dynasty Riches, Bear Mountain, Fortunes of the Orient, Dragon’s Law, Roman Chariots and Mystical Pharaoh. Look for more new arrivals every week.

Along with the new slots, Resorts continues work on a new player tracking system, and it is supposed to be in place by June 27 as well. “It will have all of the bells and whistles,” Scudiero said. 

The people at Resorts are getting a makeover of sorts, too. A regional director of Service Excellence is in the house, emphasizing customer service through employee training. On the latest visit, the food and beverage team was preparing for a training session.

The hotel is also getting a lot of attention. The renovation of the inn’s third and fourth floors have been completed and work on the remaining floors is progressing nicely as new carpeting, paint, sheers and drapes are being installed. Hallways will feature new carpeting and tile, too. When all is said and done, all 201 rooms will receive a makeover. Scudiero said all rooms are scheduled for completion by June 27.

The guest restrooms on the casino floor have also been completely redone. Guests can expect to see new countertops, flooring, dividers, paint and more when they visit now. The largest of the first-floor bathrooms was the first one targeted and features a wood-like ceramic tile plank and an attractive blue and gray color scheme.

“We are proud to be a part of the Tunica casino market and thrilled to be able to invest millions to provide an exceptional experience for our guests,” said Scudiero. “It’s important for our future and really, a very positive note for the future of the overall Tunica market.” 

Tunica's Hollywood Cafe becomes latest site for a marker on the Mississippi Blue Trail

TUNICA RESORTS, Miss., May 20, 2014 — The iconic Hollywood Cafe became the latest site to be recognized with a Mississippi Blues Trail marker this month. The marker unveiling was unveiled at the cafe on 1585 Old Commerce Road in Tunica Resorts, Miss.

Hollywood Cafe

The Hollywood Cafe, both at this site and its original location in Hollywood, Miss., earned fame as a Delta dining institution but has also shared in the area's musical history. Pianist Muriel Wilkins performed at the restaurant for years, and she and the Hollywood were immortalized in the Marc Cohn hit song, “Walking in Memphis.” Legendary bluesman Son House also performed at this site when the building housed the commissary of the Frank Harbert plantation, where House once resided.

The Hollywood Cafe had neither live music nor a kitchen when Bard Selden opened the business as a bar in the summer of 1969. But over the years the café began to offer dinnertime music as the menu expanded to steak, catfish and the Hollywood’s signature dish, fried dill pickles (a specialty of Bard’s brother, Tait Selden). Muriel Wilkins (1923-1990), an African American schoolteacher from Helena, Ark., entertained customers with a wide repertoire ranging from standards to spirituals both at the original Hollywood, seven miles south of Robinsonville just off Highway 61, and at its new location. After singer-songwriter Marc Cohn joined Wilkins in singing “Amazing Grace” and other spirituals one night in 1985, he wrote about the inspirational experience in “Walking to Memphis,” which became the hit track from his 1991 debut album.

In June 1973, BBC television used the Hollywood as the setting for blues performances on its program, “The Friendly Invasion.” The show featured a trio from the Clarksdale area with Robert “Bilbo” Walker (billed at the time as “Chuck Berry Jr.”), Big Jack Johnson and Sam Carr, and a Memphis group led by Joe Willie Wilkins with Houston Stackhouse, Sonny “Harmonica” Blakes, Melvin Lee and Homer Jackson. Bob Hall, who purchased the Hollywood from Selden, brought in Muriel Wilkins and also offered music by the Turnrow Cowboys. After the Hollywood was destroyed in a fire on August 27, 1983, the Owen family bought the business from Hall and reopened the Hollywood in Robinsonville. John Almond and Michael Young acquired the Hollywood in 2006.

Both Hollywood buildings had originally been plantation commissaries. The first Hollywood was on the Tate Place and had also once been used an antique store. Delta blues icon Son House was living on the Tate Place at the time of the 1940 census and also once resided on the Harbert Place. Robinsonville resident Phoebie Taylor recalled that House performed at the B. F. Harbert commissary, as well as at various houses, stores and filling stations in town. The commissary became the new home of the Hollywood Café in 1984. House often played together with guitarist Willie Brown, his closest musical associate, and the local blues circle also included Robert Johnson, Howlin’ Wolf, Fiddlin’ Joe Martin, Leroy Williams, Woodrow Adams, Willie Coffee and Sol Henderson. Wolf sometimes played at his aunt Lula Prince’s house on the Harbert plantation, according to Taylor. Nolan Struck, a Louisiana-born blues and soul singer, moved to Robinsonville in more recent years.

Another blues event of note at the Hollywood was attended by B.B. King on November 9, 2007, when AT&T presented a $500,000 donation to the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center. Jackson guitarist Jesse Robinson and the young Tupelo blues band, Homemade Jamz, performed at the ceremony.

With over 175 markers, the Mississippi Blues Trail, a program of the Mississippi Development Authority’s Tourism Division, is a museum without walls taking visitors on a musical history journey through Mississippi and beyond. The trail started with the first official marker in Holly Ridge, the resting place of the blues guitarist Charley Patton, and winds its way to sites honoring B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Son House and others. Out-of-state markers are located in Chicago; Memphis; Los Angeles; Muscle Shoals, Alabama; Ferriday, Louisiana; Helena, Arkansas; Rockland, Maine; Grafton, Wisconsin; and Tallahassee, Florida. The first international marker was erected in Notodden, Norway in 2012.

B.B. King announces major donation for construction of his museum at Hollywood Cafe.