Carrie Thomason, wife of Jim Thomason, general manager at the Grand Victoria Casino in Elgin, Illinois, will open the Wok n’ Hot restaurant in South Elgin, offering contemporary Chinese and Asian fusion cuisine–plus up to five video gambling machines. The establishment could open as soon as mid-March.
At an Elgin city council meeting last July, when he asked the council to reduce the casino’s lease payments, Jim Thomason said Grand Victoria was losing future revenues to video gambling. More recently, appearing on behalf of his wife before the South Elgin village board’s committee of the whole, he pointed out that Grand Victoria Casino did not oppose video gambling in Elgin when the city council approved it in 2013. “We support slots in Elgin with bars and restaurants. It’s available and it’s a way to offset your rent and your expenses,” Thomason said.
He added his employers have approved his involvement in the restaurant, which will be managed by his wife. “I’ll still be working at the casino. I’ll help her out with reading the financial statements, looking at this and that as far as being in the restaurant business,” Thomason said.
Carrie Thomason, “It’s all about the food and the atmosphere and what we offer. That’s all that matters.”
Her husband agreed, noting “Video gambling is strictly about revenue, as a novelty and an additional thing. 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.”
Still, Elgin Mayor David Kaptain said he was “speechless” about the Thomasons’ plan to install video gambling machines in their new 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. It doesn’t put Mr. Thomason in a too good of a light, being the manager of the casino,” Kaptain 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.
South Elgin has 11 establishments with 46 video gambling machines, and Elgin has 15 establishments with 60 machines, according to the Illinois Gaming Board.
