2009-12-08 22:09:37 -

For the second consecutive year, the acclaimed Craftsteak restaurant at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods has received the coveted AAA-Four Diamond Award. Only 3.5 percent of AAA Diamond-rated restaurants and lodgings received the 2010 Four Diamond designation.

The AAA-Four Diamond Award, one of the most sought-after designations in the hospitality industry, signifies that a restaurant has committed to ensuring superior quality and exceptional customer satisfaction to AAA’s 51 million members and the traveling public. The select AAA- Four Diamond status indicates that an establishment has measured up to AAA’s uncompromising standards of excellence during a comprehensive evaluation by one of its professional inspectors.
Extraordinary services, quality amenities, and superior surroundings are among the benchmarks that AAA Four Diamond Award winners must

achieve.

“We’re thrilled that Craftsteak at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods has received such a prestigious honor for the second consecutive year,” said Michael Speller, President of the Mashantucket Pequot Gaming Enterprises. “Staying true to the impeccable standards of our property, Tom Colicchio and his staff work tirelessly to provide both the highest-quality cuisine and the best dining experience at Craftsteak, and we’re so happy to see them recognized again by such an esteemed organization.”

Legendary chef Tom Colicchio’s Craftsteak celebrates the flavors of the best seasonal ingredients sourced from small family farms and the world’s top ranchers. Several ages of beef are always featured on the Craftsteak menu, allowing guests to experience the diverse flavors and textures of aged beef. The menu offers a wide selection of steaks, including corn-fed and grass-fed beef and various cuts of Wagyu beef.
Craftsteak also serves an array of the freshest fish and shellfish.

Earlier this year, the MGM Grand at Foxwoods also received the AAA Four-Diamond Award for lodging in only its second year of business, and Foxwoods legendary Grand Pequot Tower boasts seven consecutive years of recognition by the revered AAA organization.

Crafsteak is just one of the many superior restaurants offered at Foxwoods and MGM Grand at Foxwoods, with a wide variety of more than 30 dining options from which guests can choose. For the high-end diner, there are no shortage of options, from Paragon to David Burke Prime, Alta Strada to Al Dente; while those in search of a more casual experience will have no trouble satisfying their appetites thanks to a robust selection of casual and fast casual eateries including the Hard Rock Café, Festival Buffet, the Veranda Café, El Pollo Loco and Burke in the Box. And for those who like to transition seamlessly from dinner time to party time, Shrine Asian Kitchen Lounge & Nightclub and Scorpion Bar Mexican Cantina are renowned for bringing together world class entertainment and creative, casual cuisine.


About Foxwoods and MGM Grand at Foxwoods

North America’s largest casino, Foxwoods Resort Casino® is located in the rolling hills of southeastern Connecticut and is easily accessible from Boston, New York, Hartford, and Providence. Owned by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, Foxwoods features six casinos with more than 7,200 slots, 380 table games, the only WPT World Poker Room™ in New England, High Stakes Bingo, and Ultimate Race Book. There are 1,416 guest rooms and suites in three hotels, more than 30 restaurants, a luxurious spa, more than 50,000 square feet of premium meeting and event space, 24 retail shops, and five entertainment venues, including the 1,400-seat Fox Theatre. Conveniently located adjacent to Foxwoods is Lake of Isles™, featuring two 18-hole championship golf courses designed by Rees Jones and a state-of-the-art Golf Academy. In May 2008, the MGM Grand at Foxwoods® debuted, adding 825 luxurious guest rooms, 115,000 square feet of meeting space, the 4,000-seat MGM Grand Theater, a 21,000-square-foot spa, and more dining, retail, and gaming facilities, bolstering Foxwoods’ preeminence as the East Coast’s ultimate casino resort destination. Foxwoods supports responsible gaming, and plays a leadership role in the Connecticut Council of Problem Gambling, of which it was a founding entity. For more information, call 1-800-FOXWOODS or visit www.foxwoods.com : .


About the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation

The Mashantucket Pequots are a native Algonquin people in southeastern Connecticut, having endured centuries of conflict, survival, and continuity on and around one of America’s oldest Indian reservations, established in 1666. As the first native people within the borders of the continental United States to suffer attempted genocidal massacre by Puritan Colonists in 1637, the Pequots and their repatriation is an unprecedented story of restoration exhibited in detail at the Tribe’s world-class Museum and Research Center ( www.pequotmuseum.org : ).
Today the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation owns the largest resort casino in the world, Foxwoods Resort Casino ( www.foxwoods.com : ), along with several other economic ventures including the Lake of Isles Golf Course ( www.lakeofisles.com : ), a joint-venture partnership establishing the MGM Grand at Foxwoods, and Foxwoods Development Company dedicated to world-class resort development throughout the United States and Caribbean. All together, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation remains one of the State of Connecticut’s highest tax payers and largest employers. Likewise, the Tribe provides significant financial contributions to state and local nonprofit organizations that support neighboring communities.



Mashantucket Pequot Gaming EnterprisesLori Potter, 860-312-4010Public
Relations Department LPotter@foxwoods.com : mailto:LPotter@foxwoods.com orElevate

CommunicationsKeith Gainsboro, 617-861-3650 kgainsboro@elevatecom.com : mailto:kgainsboro@elevatecom.com