Baldini's Sports Casino and Restaurant Guide and Review
For those drawn to the gaming aspect, Baldini's offers some positives. Reviewers have noted appreciation for food comps and free play, indicating a willingness to reward loyal patrons. Opportunities to participate in drawings and win have also been mentioned, adding to the excitement for some visitors. The casino is the primary draw, and it seems to deliver on typical casino amenities.
Dining at Baldini's: A Closer Look 🍽️
The restaurant at Baldini's, particularly the Brickyard Grill, receives a wide range of feedback, swinging from highly positive to severely negative. This inconsistency is a recurring theme.
The Good: Glimmers of Culinary Success
One reviewer lauded the restaurant for its generally above-average to excellent food, service, staff, and quality, based on multiple visits. Specific dishes that have received praise include:
- The pastrami burger (though some prefer vegetables on the side).
- The taco basket.
- Chicken strips.
- Sweet potato salad.
- The chef salad.
- Most soups (though they are not homemade, and clam chowder on a Saturday was specifically advised against).
The new remodel of the bar/eating area is described as nice, with plenty of TV options, and lines for food typically move quickly.
The Bad & The Ugly: Significant Concerns
Unfortunately, several recent reviews paint a much bleaker picture of the dining experience, highlighting serious issues:
- Food Quality & Safety:
- One alarming review explicitly states food poisoning and sightings of roaches, leading to a warning against eating there.
- Other complaints include undercooked or frozen food.
- The "Awful Awful" burger, once a Reno staple, is reportedly no longer freshly made, using a frozen patty with a "dirty flat top" taste and incompletely cooked fries.
- The meatloaf special was criticized for being "double starchy" (meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn) and unimpressive, with unexpected carrots in the meatloaf.
- Overall, food is frequently described as "mediocre," "gross," and "terrible."
- Cleanliness & Hygiene:
- Beyond roaches, specific hygiene concerns were raised about a ketchup pump dispenser that was broken, had old ketchup sitting out, and appeared uncleaned for weeks, with staff handling it unhygienically.
- Service & Staff Interactions:
- Slow service and long wait times (e.g., 30 minutes for orders) have been reported.
- A manager, Daniel Weiss, was described as "possibly unintentionally rude" when addressing customer issues.
- Some cashiers were reported as indifferent and uncaring when informed of hygiene issues, even making light of the complaints.
- There's an implication that the business's response to negative reviews might reflect poorly on how they treat employees.
Overall Impression
Baldini's Sports Casino and Restaurant appears to be a venue with a significant dichotomy. While the casino side seems to offer a standard and sometimes rewarding experience for gamblers, the restaurant consistently falls short for many. The stark contrast in reviews, from "above average to excellent" to reports of food poisoning, roaches, and unhygienic conditions, suggests a severe lack of consistency and potentially serious issues with quality control and customer service in the dining area.
Prospective visitors should be aware of these varying experiences. If the casino is the primary draw, Baldini's might suffice, especially given the potential for comps and free play. However, those planning to dine should proceed with caution and manage their expectations, given the severe negative feedback regarding food quality, cleanliness, and service in the restaurant.
Thought about docking one or two stars bc I didn't get called at last night's drawing 😥🙂 but have been in the past a few times. I've appreciated food comps and free play at different times.Re: the restaurant. We've eaten there many times and the food, service, staff, and quality have all been above average to excellent.Couldn't decide between pastrami sandwich or a burger so I chose the pastrami burger, which was very good. The veggies were already on it and I would have preferred for them to be on the side, my only complaint. I was surprised to recently learn that the soups aren't homemade, but they are often tasty.Normally the brickyard grill has good options, though I don't like their burgers much. My favorites are the taco basket, chicken strips, potato salad is sweet how I like it, chef salad is pretty good, and most soups, except I wouldn't order clam chowder on a Saturday. Sometimes there's a line, but usually moves quickly. New remodel of bar/eating area is nice with plenty of TV options to watch.
Ate here got food poisoning and saw roaches running around. Do not eat here.Edit: Weirdest response I've ever gotten from a business. I wouldn't complain to you, I went to the health district after my stay in the hospital which is not your business per HIPPA. Maybe you should have listened to your employee instead of replying to my review in the matter you did. Who would want to work for a company who talks about their employees the way you do in these reviews anyways? Also maybe address the other 20 people complaing about getting undercooked and frozen food.
Tried the restaurant and won't try it again!! Gave it a shot! Tried the meatloaf special which came with mash potatoes and gravy and a vegetable (could not substitute) so it was corn!! Double starchy foods, sigh and definitely was not impressed, I mean carrots in meatloaf??? Erm!!! And service was a bit slow as well!
We waited over 30 minutes for our orders (5 of us) so nit horrible, but they “tried” to out the messed up burger on a rush. After seeing 3 other people who were seated after we ordered get their food before us, we talked to a manager, Daniel Weiss. This gentleman was, possibly unintentionally, rude with conversing with one of my table mates regarding fixing the issue. We also had seen multiple others who had issues with their food who just got up and left. Base line is Food was mediocre, service was just worse. Up to you.
Went to try the Awful Awful, cause the original in the Nugget was awesome. Terribly disappointed! The burger is no longer freshly made, it's clearly a frozen patty origin. The taste of a very dirty flat top was all I tasted with each bite, I mean it was overwhelmingly pungent tasting! The fries were not cooked completely, either. Now the weeks old ketchup pump dispenser was not pumping and needed refill. The cut open bag of ketchup was just sitting there on the counter, who knows how long? There was ketchup all over the counter and dripping down the gallon jug. I let the 2 cashiers know, neither the old lady nor the big black man cared. In fact, the man repeated what I said "it's broken can you fix it?" back to me, laughed and turned around and ignored us. The lady finally tried to refill the nasty gallon jug with the ketchup bag that had just been sitting out from the counter. She took off the pump and set it on the nasty counter and then put it back in. I'm like, uh, no thanks. Smelly ketchup and a jug that looks like it hasn't seen a wash in weeks. What an Awful experience! Gross, terrible burnt old food flat top taste, mush fries, what a waste of time and money. Don't bother! Not even close to the original.