San Manuel Casino’s expansion includes these three new bars
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San Manuel Casino has traded parking space for Cadillac margaritas.
Three new bars recently opened as part of the first phase of the Highland resort’s $760 million expansion. The bars and other new amenities occupy space that was previously valet parking and a surface lot, according to General Manager Peter Arceo.
Aces, on the first floor, features a lounge that can seat more than 150 people.
“This would be the place I would hang out. It’s my favorite bar at San Manuel,” Arceo said on a recent tour of the facility.
Deuces, on the second floor, only has bar seating but it features a wrap-around LED screen flashing high-definition graphics.
Walls and pillars are decorated with LED screens throughout the second floor. Other casinos use LED screens for advertising, according to Arceo, but San Manuel has a different purpose for them.
“We came up with these graphics and designs that make you go wow, and then the LEDs on the pillars draw your eyes in.”
Both bars serve draft and bottled beers for $6-$7, wine by the glass for $7-$9, and signature cocktails for $8-$16. Customers can access the menu on their cell phones using a QR code.
The third bar is the Overlook Bar, also on the second floor. It serves concoctions such as Haley’s Comet, topped with a bubble of foam.
The bar’s lounge, furnished with tables and sofas, is intended to show off the entrance to the resort’s hotel, which will be between the first and second floor.
The 17-floor hotel is phase two of the expansion. With construction wrapping up, it is expected to open this winter. Phase three is an entertainment center, targeted for a public opening 2022.
The hotel was not built to be an annex to the casino, Arceo said in a phone interview, but to blend so seamlessly that visitors wouldn’t be able to tell where the original footprint ended.
“We went to great lengths over the last year to integrate the design of the new space with the existing casino. We wanted to ensure that people didn’t know where the new and the old casino began or ended. We wanted it to be one continuous experience.”
Phase one of the expansion also includes adding square footage and slot machines on both floors of its two-story casino, three retail shops, and the casino’s fifth high limit lounge, called the Enclave. It also has a full-service bar, and it’s equipped with a smoking box to infuse bourbon drinks such as Old Fashioneds with a smokey flavor.
Most of the new amenities are close to the hotel.
“When we designed the new spaces, we took a look at what we already had, and we wanted to design new places that would enhance the experience that we already gave to their guests,” said Arceo.
San Manuel Casino
Where: 777 San Manuel Blvd, Highland
Requirements: Guests must be 21 and older and, due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, wear masks indoors.
Bar hours: 5 p.m.-1:15 a.m. Monday through Friday; 8 a.m. – 1:15 a.m. Saturday, Sunday and holidays.
Information: 909-864-5050, sanmanuel.com
