Fishing for new customers, Orleans recasts its food offerings

By J.D. Morris

Sunday, April 17, 2016 | 2 a.m.

The Orleans is going after a new crowd — or a bigger one, at least.

That should be apparent to guests who step inside the off-Strip casino these days.

Standing out from the usual New Orleans-themed trappings and standard storefronts are two restaurants that recently debuted. Their stylish, modern decor and trendy food instantly set them apart.

Ondori Asian Kitchen and Alder & Birch Cocktails and Dining represent more than a play by the Orleans’ owner, Boyd Gaming Corp., to expand the casino’s restaurant options. They’re part of an effort to target a new type of customer.

Now nearly 20 years old, the Orleans has carved out a solid niche in the Las Vegas gaming market, but Boyd officials want the new restaurants to attract more foodies, millennials, locals and tourists.

Accomplishing that has meant replacing older restaurants with newer ones that look the part.

General Manager Tony Taeubel said the Orleans had a “nice following” with Canal Street, the more old-fashioned steakhouse that Alder & Birch replaced, but “it wasn’t really a product that we thought we could go out to a broader public with.” Taeubel said the new restaurant, which opened this year, already has done well with younger, trendier crowds and customers looking to share small plates over drinks.

The casino hopes to see similar success with Ondori, the newest addition to its restaurant lineup. Ondori offers Chinese and Japanese dishes, and small plates are a highlight of the menu. Boyd officials say the restaurant strives to embody the spirit of “tomodomo,” the Japanese word for “together.”

Ondori is the second of five new dining concepts planned to open this year at the Orleans as Boyd spends about $30 million on nongaming upgrades to the property. The company also remodeled some 1,800 hotel rooms there.

The Orleans is not alone in receiving such an investment: It is part of an approximately $100 million makeover of nongaming amenities across Boyd properties. Already, the company opened new restaurants at the California, Fremont, Suncoast and elsewhere as part of the initiative.

But the Orleans, the largest property owned by Boyd and one of its most financially successful, is special. It is well-established among longtime customers, whom the casino likely can’t afford to lose with the introduction of trendy restaurants.

Taeubel, however, said he didn't think longtime customers would react negatively to the changes.

“I think down deep they like to see things improve; they like to see things change,” he said. “It makes things interesting. They don’t want to come to a stale property. They want to see things improving.”

Anthony Curtis, publisher of the Las Vegas Advisor newsletter, attended the opening of Ondori. He said the change to a more contemporary restaurant “livens the place up” and could help the casino attract bigger action by giving gamblers higher-quality amenities.

He agreed that the new restaurants wouldn’t undermine the Orleans’ standing with its core customer base.

“As long as you don’t pull the rug out from underneath the current customers, I think you’re OK,” Curtis said. “And I don’t think changing two restaurants … is pulling the rug out at all. It’s like shimmying the rug a little bit, and I don’t think it’s going to cause any problems.”