Presque Isle Downs And Casino

La Bonne Vie is amazing. It’s pricey but delicious and has a great atmosphere. The staff is very attentive and friendly. Eating there is quite a treat!

The Clubhouse Restaurant: Service was very nice, both from the busser (Maleek) and server (Jordan). We liked Jordan’s demeanor and appreciated her letting us know she had to take care of something but she’d be back.
The Artichoke Dip w/​Pita was heavenly and the Jalapeño Jelly (came with the Chicken Tenders) was pretty nice too.
Dessert was the Chocolate Lovin’ Spoonful Cake. …it was good and rich!

The absolute, hands down, worst buffet I’ve ever been to! It is not worth the money at all and I feel bad that these customers are here paying a big amount of money for this! The calamari, shrimp, fish was old and awful. We came at 4pm when they reopen. They have cold crab and warm crab. Both are waterlogged. The bolognese sauce tastes like a salt shaker in your mouth. The prime rib was good. I would recommend that our of everything. Brisket was salty but good. I am leaving hungry. I guess there is a first time for everything! When does amine leave a buffet hungry? When it’s one bite and send to the garbage kind of food.

STAY AWAY FROM THE BUFFET! Fortunately I won at the slots on the first one I sat at, so dinner was basically comp’d.
Food was old, cold, and flavorless. They have good servers and help, but the food sux balls.

Try your luck somewhere else people their slot machines have gotten so tight in the past month for about four months you could come in here and we’re guaranteed to win something on there slot machines but now they’re so tight they won’t even pay out.

Worst casino I’ve been to.
Every machine is a nine line machine with a 100 point limit or free play winnings.
Free play is worthless.
Place was loaded and no winners all night.
Over priced food.
They should go to the west and see how casinos are run.
Not even a free drink at this place all night.
Tight tight tight no return=no fun

Stopped here while in Erie/​Chautauqua Wine trail while on wine tour. Nice clean casino. Smaller that ones in Niagara Falls. Buffet was really good, fresh clean and divers. The ponies were not running the day we were there. Bartenders were friendly and we were lucky enough to be there during happy hour. not too many 25cent slots but they did have ample video porker which we enjoy.

Thursday night got a window seat for the last 4 races. Nice seat.
Service was pleasant but very slow
Martini was good but warm. Draft bud light was flat. Waited 30 min to get drinks so we ordered food super fast thinking things would take a long time. Food came almost too fast which means kitchen wasn’t busy
In most places I would have asked to have my martini reshaken. But that would have upped the water content… and here I might never have seen it again. So I didn’t.
We all ordered filet for $ 20. Veggies and whipped pot’s were good. The steak was good. Sadly, again, it wasn’t hot.
Dads fried chicken was good, too.
So — service just not good. Food came out (too) fast but was inexplicably cool. It’s almost like this was a new place just figuring things out. Strange.
I’m not sure we would do it again for $ 100+. We can spend that for way better dining experience in Erie. Maybe apps only.

Fellow Unilocalers,
This was definitely the worst casino I ever been to. I have traveled to casinos all over the United States. This one is a good laugh. It’s a bit embarrassing to be actually called a «casino» when they have a few games that the dealers don’t even know how to play or deal to you. It doesn’t have a nice look from the outside nor inside. Worst of all the restaurants. Usually inside casinos you find the best restaurants. From buffets to steak/​seafood houses. Presque isle downs has both. However the buffet is the worst I ever been to. The steak house was horrible. I would be happier leaving going to a golden coral or long horn steakhouse. I couldn’t even give their steakhouse 1 star. It’s a complete embarrassment to casino entertainment industry. Don’t eat here. The casino seems to be run by a lot of people who don’t have a real clue what’s going on. They don’t like to give comps. Even if you play on a higher level you need to fight for everything you want. 1 star for the coke machine on the back wall with all you can drink refills, they also offer coffee and tea. The horse racing seems to do it right. Other then that your better off traveling to a real casino. Otherwise you will be disappointed. I guess this is what Erie, pa has to offer.

Smoke gets in your eyes immediately on entry. Racetrack outdoors is the respite. Free coffee is bleh. Has no aroma or taste. For chrissake get McDonald’s coffee or something different. Nasty stuff. This is my third time here so this cheap coffee today is not a one off event. I just heard all the free soft drink machines are empty. Time 7:20 pm on a Monday evening.

This place seemed dirty, sleezy, and smoky, but we were with a bunch of friends and had been drinking all day, so we had a blast. We won some money, we ate some good food at the buffet… overall a good time.

I gave this casino three stars because it’s pretty alright. It’s not exceptional and it’s not crappy… it’s alright. It’s a full casino (meaning they have more than just slots… they have table games and horse races). I like the fact that there are $ 5 and $ 10 tables. Be warned: like in most casinos that allow smoking, the concept of a non-​smoking area is nonsense… cigarette smoke wafts, after all. But this is not unique to PIDC; I’ve never been to a casino that I don’t walk out of smelling vaguely like an ashtray unless the whole building is non-​smoking.
The dealers here are nice and they know what they’re doing. The food on the buffet is tasty and the atmosphere is pretty alright.

It’s like walking into a tobacco lounge. Way too much smoke and stink to even enjoy gambling.

We stopped to eat dinner at the buffet while driving east. It was AWFUL. I can name the fresh things that looked edible on the steam tables: cauliflower, green apples, and a few mushrooms. Most of the food was deep fried. Almost all of it was cold. Everything looked old. Between the two of us we did a lot of sampling. The results? Over cooked, cold, tasteless food. In some cases, like the salad bar, the lettuce looked like it came from the back of the refrigerator swamp zone.
The prime rib carver greeted everyone with,“Looks like you are having fun.” Sadly, it was said with such a lack of emotion and insincerity that it was funny.
Skip the buffet and the smoke causing blue haze in the casino.

I’m living in Mentor, OH for a few months so I decided to make the 90 min. trek to Presque Isle casino in Erie, PA today. I won’t be back mostly because of the commute and smoke. They did have a non-​smoking section but I also wanted to play the slots they had in the smoking section. The place stunk because of the smoke.
It wasn’t very pretty inside but I liked that you could help yourself to pop and coffee. There was a real mixture of old and new slots to play. There were table games in the front and back of the building. I’m a slot player so I had a lot of games to choose from. I thought the pay-​outs were pretty darn good. I didn’t hit a huge jackpot but I won $ 85.00 on one machine and $ 45.00 on another. I also liked that I received $ 10.00 in play money for signing up for the Player’s card.
I thought the parking situation was good as they had valet parking along with plenty of lot space to park in. Some of the parking was far away or in a hilly section of the lot but that is no problem because they have buses running around to pick up and drop off people.
I’m glad I went to check it out.

Horrible location for a casino, but in the end it sufficed.
Erie is a Rust Belt city. Why not place a casino in Downtown Erie, maybe on the Bayfront? It would boost the economy of the main city instead of a random township 10 miles south of Downtown Erie. But I digress…
If you like people watching, you might want to go elsewhere — that is, unless you like watching elderly people blowing their Social Security checks on the slots. I felt like I was the only non-​employee under the age of 50 here.
They have slots, slots, more slots, still more slots, and a few tables. The selection, to say the least, is a bit disappointing. It felt like I was in a warehouse storing slot machines.
They have billboards all the way in Ohio boasting their higher payouts. I’m not seeing any higher payouts.
Compared to other casinos I’ve visited, the people were friendly — maybe as friendly or friendlier than in Vegas or Cleveland — but the lack of bar and food options makes me want to stay closer to home if I’m in the mood to gamble and spend a day at the casino.
While I would rather not go out of my way to visit this place, I felt like Presque Isle did the job. After all, it is Erie.

I went on a Wednesday afternoon with my parents and go figure… we were about the only people under 60! (Minus the workers of course.) They have a ton of slot machines for those type of gamblers. They also have $ 5 craps tables which my dad and I enjoyed… although, we didn’t enjoy the money we lost on them! (8 rolled 7’s in a row, can you say loaded die?!)
The buffet was very tasty with an impressive line up. It had everything from chicken cordon bleu, to fried shrimp, carving stations– WHATEVER!
One thing I really didn’t like was the amount of smokiness. Not being a smoker myself, I felt engulfed by the cigarette smoke & felt the need to shower once I got home. Also, be warned that drinks aren’t free– bummer.
Overall, I’d take Vegas over this any day, as anyone would, but I agree with Long T that it’s a good place to kill time & money for fun.

It’s not Vegas, but it has $ 5 craps tables and $ 1-​$ 3 poker tables as well as daily horse track racing in the summer time. Not a bad place to go to if you’ve got some time to kill and a little money to spend for fun.
As with any gambling establishment, be sure to exercise self-​control and to budget yourself for a good time!

I felt like I was in this weird vortex between a Senior Center and a Bingo Hall. Come to think of it… that’s probably just one central place. That place could be this Casino.
I’m sorry but you just can’t even hold a candle to the Vegas Casino’s. You can’t even hold a puny match next to them with this place! Not happening in good olé’ Erie, PA. Just a lot of people in Jorts, Hawaiian shirts (my dear old dad included) and cat t-​shirts (probably future me:).
I even wanted to like the cocktail waitresses outfits… I saw one from the back… thought, oh this could be cute… she turns around… oops nope not so much! I know this really has nothing to do with what you usually come to a casino for, gambling. But I don’t gamble and I go for the sights… and drinks (these drinks served up in a plastic cup or the can). I saw sights… but they will be coming up in my badly dressed nightmares.
The only semi-​cool thing could possibly be the horse races, but they weren’t even happening when I was there. We just walked out to the stands and… well…the track looked cool. Maybe I’ll show up with my big hat Kentucky Derby style next time I’m there. If there’s a next time… but it was packed. So good for you Erie, PA economy!
I’m just fishing at this point. I really didn’t like the place. I’ll stick to Vegas for my casino’s and Senior Centers for my Bingo. Thankyaverymuch!

I’ve been to Presque Isle a few times now since they’ve rolled out table games. Overall, it certainly does not compare to the major Las Vegas casinos as it doesn’t have that resort-​type feel to it. It’s even a good step under the MGM Grand Detroit in that department. What you do get is one big room (really, two rooms) full of mostly slot machines and video poker. The table games in the main area consist of 3 – 4 craps tables, 2 roulette tables, a couple tables of miscellaneous games (like Let It Ride, Hold’Em Poker, and Three Card Poker), 2 mini-​baccarat tables, and (I think) about 8 – 10 blackjack tables. There are an additional 4 – 6 blackjack tables in an open higher-​limit section, where you can smoke if you got ‘em. In the another (smaller) area, there are a couple more craps tables and a bunch of blackjack tables, but I’ve never seen those tables in use.
I don’t play much roulette or the miscellaneous games, and I’ve grown to detest mini-​baccarat, so I won’t talk much about those. Mini-​baccarat has $ 25 minimums and, to their credit, they have the electronic screens for keeping track of how play has been.
BLACKJACK – Blackjack minimums are $ 10 and $ 15 with maximums for both at $ 300. I’ve occasionally seen $ 25 minimums. The higher limit area has blackjack minimums at $ 50 and $ 100. Rules are surprisingly liberal, which is a nice plus: Dealer stays on soft 17. Surrender allowed. But, you can’t resplit aces. The dealers can be a little uneven, since the casino has only had table games since July. Some have clearly been doing this a while at other casinos while others screw things up every now and then (accidentally drawing another card, miscalculating who won a hand, etc.). Some of the tables in the higher limit area don’t allow players to enter mid-​shoe (I’ve never really cared one way or another, personally.)
CRAPS – The allure of Presque Isle’s craps tables are the 10x free odds – although sadly, it’s somewhat rare to see players playing with full odds. The quality of the dealers has definitely improved since they started offering table games. A hot table can get pretty hectic, but the craps dealers have definitely improved from sometimes sporting a «deer-​in-​the-​headlights» look (as I saw on one dealer who rotated in, took a deep breath, and just stared at the collection of bets he inherited) to being able to handle a lot of action and random chips being thrown around the table. It’s still a little short of a Las Vegas experience – with dealers who pick up on your preferences and can run things smoothly for you and stick men who keep the table hopping – but that’s a high bar to expect.
SLOTS – There are a ton of slot machines, but none that really captured my interest. The progressive on the Wheel of Fortune machines seem absurdly low (usually around $ 10,000) considering you would see the same machines in Las Vegas with hundreds of thousands of dollars or even over $ 1 million. Maybe people are hitting the jackpots often enough, so it could be a good thing…
VIDEO POKER – Video poker generally seemed to be 8 – 5 Jacks-​or-​Better at the 25-​cent level, though some machines go down to a 7 – 5 payout structure. The machines mostly seemed to be those multi-​poker machines with an occasional 3−5−10 multiplay machine here or there.
FOOD – The buffet at Presque Isle (Trackside Buffet) is bad. Really bad. I can’t in good conscience recommend the buffet to anyone unless your one and only goal is to eat as much food as possible – albeit bland and uninspiring. The steak place (La Bonna Vie) is decent.
OVERALL – The casino is generally clean and smoke-​free (which is a plus or minus depending on who you ask). Your fellow gamblers tend to be retirees from the Cleveland area. This leads me to wonder what will happen to Presque Isle once the Cleveland casino gets going.
Rating Presque Isle is tough. As far as casinos go, this is definitely in the «Meh. I’ve experienced better» category. I haven’t been to the casinos in PIttsburgh or West Virginia, but you aren’t going to confuse Presque Isle with Las Vegas, the MGM Grand Detroit, or Borgata in Atlantic City (which rounds out the casinos I have been to). Still, its proximity to Cleveland and great gaming rules (see Blackjack and Craps, above) are factors almost meriting a third star. Almost.