June 29 , 2007
“It makes people nervous to see someone running. I know that when I see someone running on my street, my instincts tell me to let the dog out after him.” – Mike Royko
COLORADO IS BLESSED (OR CURSED) WITH lots of limited stakes gambling venues. The city of Central, Black Hawk and Cripple Creek attract gamblers from all over Colorado and nearby states. For the most part, the people of Colorado benefit to the extent that a large portion of the proceeds go to the state for public benefits.
Now if you’re related to G, or have ever met her, or know how to spell her name, it is probably a curse rather than a blessing. Cuz you ain’t gonna come home with cash and with what you spent you cudda built a 90-acre park around your house with a pool replete with lifeguard and maintenance person.
Now those cities have good places to eat as well, so there may be other reasons to go.
G and I enjoy the casino life. She plays the slots and I people-watch. She plays the slots and I eat. She plays the slots and I turn in early soes I can get up for the breakfast buffet. Did I mention that G luvs the slots?
We usta go to the City of Lost Wages several times a year, but with six grandkids running, walking and crawling, all age six or under, we don’t travel that much. But we do periodically trundle up to Black Hawk or Central City via the gorgeous new Central City Parkway, usually early am before the smokers arrive en masse. G’s game of choice is the penny slot machines – she’s a cheap date – while I search for decent food. Until last weekend, I really didn’t find much that I’d go back to. Maybe the Mid City Grill at the Century Casino (102 Main St, Central City, 303/582-5050) or the hot dog stand at the Gilpin Hotel.
Several weeks ago, G and I were at Fortune Valley in Central City. There’s less smoke and the food isn’t bad; it just ain’t good. Ceptin for the chocolate cake. Some folks I met told me that the Ameristar in Black Hawk had a terrific buffet. So I called Auntie Betty to join us the following weekend and asked if she had been to Ameristar for grub. ”Yes”, she replied, “The food is terrific”. So the three of us drove up early Sunday morning. Without Uncle John. The food was terrific.
There was another, perhaps diabolical, reason to feast on the buffet at the Ameristar. I had been to see Dr. Stan for a periodic checkup of my diabetic condition. One of the items he tests regularly is my cholesterol level, which usually runs pretty normal considering my lust for beef, ice cream and a few other food essentials. I also take a mild dosage of meds to keep it on the low side of normal. Dr. Stan recently switched my cholesterol meds to a new drug and wanted to see how it was performing. Well, you can call me Super Star. At least for a few days. My total cholesterol was an unbelievable 79 and my LDL was 20. LOL. I rolled on the floor with glee. But then I could tell Dr. Stan wasn’t laughing with me. No, I was to come back in for a re-test. Something about he didn’t believe the lab results. Ugh. So my mind started wondering. It does that sometimes...
I decided I had a duty to make sure that my cholesterol wasn’t too looo, so a trip to a yummy buffet was probably in order. After all, I had five days before I was going in for the re-test, and I had to get my cholesterol level higher. So back up the hill. G was ecstatic.
Ameristar (111 Richman St, Black Hawk, 720/946-6673; www.ameristar.com) is on Hwy 119 just before you get into Black Hawk. I’m told that the Ameristar riverboat in Kansas City, MO, serves an unbelievable crab pan roast, and I aim to try it someday. The dining choices here are several. I won’t mention the Charbucks coffee place y’all seem to like. I don’t like ‘em at all. Just my opinion, but the coffee sucks and corporate management is disdainful.
The Timberline Grill is an upscale dinner-only steakerie, serving a traditional steakhouse menu. Steaks, seafood, prime rib, rack of lamb, reeebs and more. Prices are typical. The room is gorgeous.
The Waypost Deli is what it sez it is. A deli, but with an extensive menu. It’s open all day, serving everything from grilled buggers to salads, soups and subs, pizza, and of course, desserts. G and Auntie B had super-size, very yummy sangies. Both took home half a sangie.
The Centennial Buffet. Oh, my. It’s reminiscent of the first terrific buffet at the Mirage Hotel in Vegas many moons ago: nice, super clean, comfortable room with food everywhere. If you can think of something you really want, they got it.
I started at the buffet, worked the buffet, and succumbed to the buffet. Forget the salad bar. I don’t have a clue what’s on it. Everything. A dozen dressings and all the foo foo and grass you can handle. Yeah, I do salads. I even like a salad now and then. But when there’s all I can eat of the Good Stuff, I ain’t going near the salad bar. Suffice to say it was huge. But no tuna salad so I could care less.
If I told you they had a soft serve ice cream machine with your choice of Dreyer’s real chocolate raspberry or real vanilla ice cream, would you want me to tell you more? Thought so.
After eating all I could consume in two hours, I walked the large floor with a tape recorder. There’s a seafood station, Mexican station, and Italian, Asian, American, Carving and Hot Bread stations. And the Lavish Dessert stations. And the salad bar.
There's so much of everything, I really can’t list it all. There ain’t enuf room in the entire newspaper. So here are the highlights, as I tasted them.
I started with breakfast. It was all there. The link sausage was spicy and terrific. The spuds with onions and the scrambled eggs were very good. The bacon was salty and lousy. But it looked lousy so there was no surprise.
I had buffalo meat loaf that was maavelous altho abit heavy on the spicy BBQ sauce. The carved round of beef (they carve prime rib at dinner) was as expected, overdone and dry. The carved ham was yummy. The fried chicken was very good as was the glazed carrots. The variety of rolls and croissants, which I sampled extensively, were good. I loved the Asian pork and the pot stickers. The pepper steak was good
At the American station, they were grilling what they called sliders, but were really just standard-size buggers. I asked for two of ‘em rare and the cook complied. Yummy.
I thought about trying the quiche but my fork accidentally slipped onto a chocolate fudge brownie 75 feet away. Maybe the best damn fudge brownie I’ve ever had. Had a couple of spoonfuls of chocolate pudding and a hunk of apple pie. All I really wanted was a slice of quiche. Darn.
I had so much food before noon, I didn’t even bother with lunch or dinner. OK, I had a teeny-weeny dish of ice cream before heading to bed later that nite. I did dream about lots more food I cudda eaten but didn’t. Dinnertime sees additional high-end dishes: Prime rib, salmon, snow crab legs and more.
I suspect Dr. Stan would prefer me to pass on any future visits to the buffet at Ameristar, and that’s OK with me. That steakerie menu looks awful good.
Did I tellya that the buffet is a champagne brunch? Yep, that bubbly stuff is included.
What didn’t I like? The beverages are Coca Cola®. Oh well, can’t have everything. Just one more fudge brownie would be real nice.
There are several other restaurants in town that serve good food and more are opening. Now that the smoking ban will include casinos, G and I will spend more time in all three cities, she at the slots and me feeding my fat face. Come up and join us, after January 1st.
Cya.
In his real life Jay Fox is a CPA. He offers all kinds of good tax planning advice, financial calculators and the latest in tax news at his website: www.jayfoxcpa.com. He just writes this column for the money.