Casino manager's wife opening restaurant with video gambling

The wife of a top executive at Grand Victoria Casino in Elgin is planning to open in South Elgin a new restaurant with video gambling machines, which the casino industry has decried as eating away at revenues.

Wok n' Hot at 464 Redington Drive will offer contemporary Chinese and Asian fusion cuisine with an eye toward fine, family-friendly dining, said Carrie Thomason of St. Charles, whose husband, Jim, is the general manager of the Grand Victoria Casino.

Wok n' Hot will seat about 100 inside and 28 people on the outdoor patio, and will offer a full service bar, she said. The restaurant might open as soon as mid-March if all the necessary plans and permits are approved, she said.

The Thomasons owned two Chinese restaurants in Las Vegas before they left the state in 2005, said Carrie Thomason, who is a chef and pastry chef.

The menu will include fun appetizers like "lord of the onion rings" and "shrimply cheese wraps," and customers will be able to request variations on dishes, such as if they don't want battered chicken, she said.

"Every restaurant is risky, but I feel very confident," she said. "We've had many, many people over for tastings, and we've had nothing but good reviews."

Jim Thomason said his bosses have OK'd his involvement in the restaurant and its plan to install up to five video gambling terminals there.

"(Video gambling) is strictly (about) revenue, as a novelty and an additional thing," he said. "For us, it's just about the food. It's one of those things, like a pinball machine. It's all about the food and the beverage and the dining experience."

The restaurant is his wife's endeavor, Jim Thomason said.

"She's going to be running the restaurant, I'll still be working here," he said. "I'll help her out with reading the financial statements, looking at this and that as far as being in the restaurant business."

The South Elgin building used to house Manor Restaurant until it closed about three years ago.

Jim Thomason appeared Monday on his wife's behalf before the South Elgin village board's committee of the whole, which gave its approval to increasing by one the number of liquor licenses in the village.

South Elgin's liquor control commission is scheduled to discuss granting a liquor license to Wok n' Hot at its meeting Monday; such a license is needed in order to get a video gambling license from the state.

There are 11 establishments with 46 video gambling machines - including two at Amici's Clubhouse next door to the future Wok n' Hot - in South Elgin, and 15 establishments with 60 machines in Elgin, according to information from the Illinois Gaming Board.

Jim Thomason talked about Grand Victoria losing future revenues to video gambling at an Elgin City Council meeting in July, when the council approved reducing the casino's lease payments. At the time, the casino also agreed to continue its efforts to promote summer concerts at Festival Park.

Mayor David Kaptain said he was "speechless" about the plan to install video gambling machines in the Thomason restaurant.

"A restaurant doesn't need all that to be successful. I'm sure they're looking at revenues, and it's a matter of their choice," he said. "It doesn't put Mr. Thomason in a too good (of a) light, being the manager of the casino."

Grand Victoria Casino didn't oppose video gambling coming to Elgin when the city council approved that in early 2013, Jim Thomason pointed out.

"We support slots in Elgin with bars and restaurants," he said. "It's available and it's a way to offset your rent and your expenses."

Carrie Thomason said video gambling is just an ancillary component of the restaurant, which she considered opening in suburbs like Geneva that don't allow the practice.

"It's all about the food and the atmosphere and what we offer," she said. "That's all that matters."