Harrah's Rincon Casino Buffet

1319 reviews of Harrah's Resort Southern California 'Since this place is run by Harrah's its AS close to vegas as you can get without actually being there. The casino is big, bright, and clean. But the location is very tough to get to. Even with a navigation system in your car this place may be a bit hard to find. With a full casino, buffet restaurant, comedy and music shows, and lazy river, the resort offers all the fun of Las Vegas without the same level of partying commitment.

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Harrah's Resort Southern California (formerly Harrah's Rincon) is an Indian casino and hotel in Valley Center, California. It is owned by the Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians^[3] and operated by Caesars Entertainment.

Hotel rooms[edit]

The hotel has three towers: Dive Inn (formerly Garden Tower, opened in 2002 and renovated in 2004), Resort Tower South (formerly Spa Tower, opened in 2004 and renovated in 2015) and Resort Tower North (opened in 2014). There are 662 rooms in the Resort Tower South and Dive Inn and there are 403 rooms in the Resort Tower North. The casino consists of 1600 slot machines and 51 tables, including eight poker tables. The architects for this casino were the Steelman Partners of Las Vegas, NV, providing interior and lighting design.^[4]

The resort also includes a spa and nearby Woods Valley Golf Club. The North and South Towers includes non-smoking and smoking Luxury rooms, as well as the La Jolla suite (2 rooms on each floor of the South Tower and the majority of the rooms on the 20th floor of the North and South Towers), 4 Coronado Suites total on each floor which includes a balcony with a table and 2 lounge chairs facing east (South Tower) and north or south (North Tower), Catalina suite which is exclusive to the renovated South Tower and features 1 king and 2 queen beds, extra space and 2 lounge chairs and a table on the private balcony facing west and the 'Mayoral Suite' located on the top floor of the South Tower. In 2017, the resort introduced 'Resort Wellness Rooms and Resort Wellness Suites' located on the 2nd floor of the North Tower which has Vitamin C infused showers, bathrobes and slippers as well as exercise equipment in each room. The rooms are also in close proximity to the fitness center on the 2nd floor of the South Tower. Dive Inn includes non-smoking and smoking Deluxe rooms with a small balcony. The Palomar Suite is the smallest suite in this tower while the larger Laguna and Malibu suites include a private small heated pool outside the room. Rooms on the first floor facing the pool also have a private balcony with lounge chairs.

Expansion[edit]

On November 1, 2012, construction began on a $160-million expansion that included a new 403-room hotel tower and a 23,000 square foot convention center, which can be converted for meetings, concerts, and other uses. The project also consisted of many other expansions, including a renovation of the pool area featuring a lazy river and swim-up bar, a food court comprising Earl of Sandwich and the reopening of Pink's (now Smashburger), a Starbucks location, Corked (featuring regional premium craft beers), Spiked, and Rita's (an indoor/outdoor Mexican restaurant). The lazy river, swim-up bar and pool restaurant were completed during the summer of 2013, while the convention center and the bar Corked were completed by December. Starbucks opened in early 2014. The new hotel tower was partially opened in March and fully open by April 2014, bringing the resort's total room count to 1,065, making it the largest Indian casino resort by room count in the state of California at the time. Spiked and the food court also opened in April. The entire project was officially completed on April 18, 2014.^[5] Upon its grand reopening, the resort was renamed Harrah's Resort Southern California.^[6] In 2015, after the expansion, the south tower was modernized to mimic the newer north tower.

History[edit]

The land on which Harrah's Resort Southern California^[7][8] sits was officially and unanimously renamed by the Rincon Band of Luiseño Mission Indians^[9][10] to Funner on August 1, 2016, with the public unveiling of this change occurring on May 5, 2017. Together with the Tribal Council, Harrah's Resort Southern California management stands firmly committed to promoting 'Fun' as the underlying operation guide for business practices.^[11]

Climate[edit]

According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Funner has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated 'Csa' on climate maps. Temperatures range from 100+ degrees Fahrenheit to 32 degrees and below.^{[citation needed]}

Local government[edit]

On May 18, 2017, Funner, California introduced its first official mayor: David Hasselhoff.^{[12][13][14][15][16]}

On May 15, 2019, Funner, California introduced its second official mayor: Rob Riggle.

References[edit]

1. ^'California Casinos'. Indian Casinos of Southern California. Retrieved October 9, 2011.
2. ^Hotel and restaurant design, Issue 2. Visual Reference Publications. 2005. p. 284. ISBN1584711078. Retrieved April 20, 2013.
3. ^Levine, Andrew. 'The Curious Case Of Funner, California'. Forbes.com. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
4. ^'Center for Gaming Research'. University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Retrieved April 19, 2013.
5. ^'The Resort Tower North Opens at Harrah's Resort Southern California'. Hotel News Resource. April 7, 2014. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
6. ^Forgione, Mary (March 5, 2014). 'San Diego: Harrah's casino-resort changes name, adds 403-room tower'. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
7. ^Faw, Larissa. 'Harrah's SoCal Resort Is now called 'Funner''. MediaPost. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
8. ^Graves, Brad. 'As Competition Heats Up, Harrah's Says It's 'Funner''. nbcsandiego.com. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
9. ^'Welcome'. Rincon Band of Luiseno Indians. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
10. ^Boman Coates, Sanna. 'David Hasselhoff Puts the Fun in Funner, California The tiny North County town gets a fun-loving new mayor'. San Diego Magazine. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
11. ^Coffee, Patrick. 'David Hasselhoff Plays the No-Rules Mayor of 'Funner, California' in This Wacky Campaign'. Ad Week. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
12. ^Coffee, Patrick. 'David Hasselhoff Plays the No-Rules Mayor of 'Funner, California' in This Wacky Campaign'. AdWeek. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
13. ^Levine, Andrew. 'The Curious Case Of Funner, California'. Forbes.com. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
14. ^Bell, Diane. 'David Hasselhoff is here to put Funner on the map'. San Diego Union Tribune. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
15. ^Lake, Heather. 'David Hasselhoff named mayor of Funner, California'. Fox 5 San Diego. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
16. ^Boman Coates, Sanna. 'David Hasselhoff Puts the Fun in Funner, California The tiny North County town gets a fun-loving new mayor'. San Diego Magazine. Retrieved 1 June 2017.

External links[edit]

• Official website

Harrah’s Resort Southern California in Valley Center has turned a portion of its former buffet into a quick service Italian restaurant.

Che Bello opened Friday, July 3, and features pizzas, pastas and lasagnas in a space that’s been redecorated with its own look and feel. It’s intended to be a long-term replacement for the former buffet space, which casino officials have decided not to reopen.

Buffets, once an alluring element of the casino experience, have mostly shuttered — at least temporarily — because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Agua Caliente Casinos in Palm Springs and Rancho Mirage; Augustine Casino; Fantasy Springs Resort Casino; Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa; Pala Casino, Spa & Resort; Pechanga Resort Casino; San Manuel Casino; and Spotlight 29 Casino are among the other casinos that have closed theirs. Those casinos have not announced reopening plans for those venues.

One casino buffet, at neighboring Valley View Casino & Hotel, has come back online. The casino recently announced via social media that the buffet had opened with a new format that had servers bring food to guests’ tables rather than having them get the food themselves.

Buffets are currently not allowed in guidelines issued by Gov. Gavin Newsom for restaurant reopenings during the novel coronavirus pandemic, but because Southern California’s casinos are often on tribal land they have sovereignty to make their own decisions on buffets.

At Harrah’s, casino officials said they don’t foresee buffet style dining returning to the property in the near future. Harrah’s Food and Beverage Director Abigail Jestis said the resort’s choice to not reopen the buffet and instead replace it with something else was based on a multiple factors.

“It’s very difficult to physically distance people and keep everything in such a massive space up to the standards of health and safety that we would like to achieve,” Jestis said. “And then as we reopened, we recognized that there were two things we needed — an Italian restaurant and an additional venue that would relieve some of the pressure put on the other restaurants because the buffet obviously was able to handle a large capacity of guests.”

Why Italian? Jestis said the resort looked at what customers asked for “and pizza was it.” There was already a section of the buffet dedicated to Italian food with a pizza oven and an area to saute pastas, so it made sense to turn that portion into its own venue, she said.

Though Harrah’s high end steakhouse Fiore (which means flower in Italian) has some Italian-inspired items such as pastas and risotto, Che Bello’s menu is dedicated to Italian food.

The new restaurant, helmed by former Buffet Chef Keith Cody, will feature pizza by the slice for people who are looking for a quick bite before heading back to the gaming floor, but it will also have specialty and build-your-own pizzas made to order, small batches of ready-made pasta and lasagna. Prices for entrees range from $10-$28.

A section of the restaurant that’s not open just yet is what used to be the Mexican section of the buffet. There will be a make your own salad bar — composed by a restaurant employee — and also made to order Piadina sandwiches, which will be pressed with a metal weight and available on house-made focaccia or flatbread.

Jestis said Che Bello serves beer and is looking into serving wine in the future.

Harrah's Rincon Casino Buffet

Whether the restaurant remains a long-term addition will depend on how successful it is, Jestis said.

She said she believes it will do well because of its central location in the casino and because people will be able to come in and out quickly.

Asked what will happen with the remainder of the buffet, Jestis didn’t have an answer just yet.

“Hey, there’s plenty of space,” she said. “You never know what will happen.”

Che Bello

Where: 777 Harrah’s Rincon Way, Valley Center

Harrah's Rincon Casino San Diego Buffet

Hours: 4 p.m.-2 a.m. Friday and Saturday; 4 p.m. – midnight Sunday; Closed Monday through Thursday.

Harrah's Rincon Casino Buffet Prices

Information: harrahssocal.com