Santa Fe Station: Teddy's Santa Fe Station Review

Teddys,

Thanks for the great review! I did wonder if you could elaborate a bit more on what makes some Station properties nicer than others. Looking over the list of amenities and restaurants it isn't completely clear to me why this property appealed to you so much more than, say, Texas Station.

Also, thank you so much on the Wingstop find! I worked at a Florida Wingstop back in my college days and this is the first time I've heard of one being inside a hotel. Three 'fun' Wingstop facts:

1) They make almost everything from scratch. Potatoes are peeled in the store, the baked beans sauce is made in the story, the wing sauces are mixed in the store, even the ranch dressing is made in the store!

2) A lot of their flavors are actually the same "flavoring" with different levels of spice. Wingstop makes one base hot sauce, Original Hot. They also have a butter base which they add seasoning to for their Lemon Pepper and Garlic Parmesan flavors. Medium sauce is just half Original Hot and half the butter base. Mild is 1/4th Original Hot and 3/4ths butter base. Cajun, which you had, is Original Hot plus a 'shake' of Cajun spices. Be warded that Atomic, the spiciest flavor, is not based on anything else and is VASTLY spicier. I encountered I believe one legitimate Atomic order during the year I worked at my store.

3) Wingstop's spokesman is Troy Aikman. Believe it or not Aikman approached Wingstop about the gig. He enjoyed eating there and noticed they had no spokesman, so he asked if he could fill the role.

The 4949 Lounge name is based on the casino's address.
Since I am the first poster, I hereby proclaim "Dibs" on attending the next photo shoot featuring Lisa Furman bestowing on the Wizard a tee-shirt: Come On Over To The Nerd Side. We Have Pi.

Quote: sunrise089

2) A lot of their flavors are actually the same "flavoring" with different levels of spice. Wingstop makes one base hot sauce, Original Hot. They also have a butter base which they add seasoning to for their Lemon Pepper and Garlic Parmesan flavors. Medium sauce is just half Original Hot and half the butter base. Mild is 1/4th Original Hot and 3/4ths butter base. Cajun, which you had, is Original Hot plus a 'shake' of Cajun spices. Be warded that Atomic, the spiciest flavor, is not based on anything else and is VASTLY spicier. I encountered I believe one legitimate Atomic order during the year I worked at my store.

I've had the atomic wings! "Wingman" (the guy I mention in the review) always gets them. They are so painful to eat, not even fun or tasty or anything. I don't understand why he likes them. On the other hand, the other flavors are the best wings ever! The Wizard said he has a ton of Stations Casino points. This might be a good place to use them.

As far as why I liked it better: atmosphere, pure and simple. Its a nicer designed place, with more variety and more pizazz. It's not that it's an order of magnitude better than Texas Station, just slightly better.

Quote: sunrise089

Be warded that Atomic, the spiciest flavor, is not based on anything else and is VASTLY spicier.

Any idea what do they put in it?

From the description alone, I'd be curious to try them.

Was it the one in Sunrise, Florida? I remember one somewhere near broward that was open a long time before the franchises really hit down here.

Quote: dlevinelaw

Was it the one in Sunrise, Florida? I remember one somewhere near broward that was open a long time before the franchises really hit down here.

Gainesville, FL actually. But it was in 2003 weren't many stores outside Texas.

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The slot club here is the Boarding Pass, which returns $0.03 for every $1.00 wagered in slots or video poker. That's a 0.30% rebate

It returns 3 cents for every $10 wagered. At $.03/$1 it would be a 3% player's club return.

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The poker room had about 5 or 6 tables going at once, and offered 2-4 and 4-6 limit Hold 'Em

I am going to guess it was either 3/6 or 4/8. There is no such game as 4/6.

Sorry to be a nit, but I figured you might want to double check those two parts.

Quote: Pokeraddict

It returns 3 cents for every $10 wagered. At $.03/$1 it would be a 3% player's club return.

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The poker room had about 5 or 6 tables going at once, and offered 2-4 and 4-6 limit Hold 'Em

I am going to guess it was either 3/6 or 4/8. There is no such game as 4/6.

Sorry to be a nit, but I figured you might want to double check those two parts.

You're right on both of those and they should be corrected. Mike, could you make the corrections?

I have not been in Santa Fe's poker room in at least a year but I am pretty sure the holdem is 4/8 because the only 3/6 game offered there is Omaha8. All Vegas Poker confirms that, but their info could be dated too.

It might be worthwhile to mention that the purpose for the hotel (exactly 200 rooms) is to meet the local San Diego city ordnance. The casino cannot exist without the hotel. The hotel is not a profit center of the establishment, so as the only effort made is to meet minimum health and safety codes.

Quote: teddys

Quote: Pokeraddict

It returns 3 cents for every $10 wagered ... I am going to guess it was either 3/6 or 4/8. There is no such game as 4/6.

You're right on both of those and they should be corrected. Mike, could you make the corrections?

I fixed both of them. Not knowing whether the higher poker stakes are 3/6 or 4/8, I deferred to Pokeraddict's educated guess that it should be 4/8.

Quote: sunrise089

3) Wingstop's spokesman is Troy Aikman. Believe it or not Aikman approached Wingstop about the gig. He enjoyed eating there and noticed they had no spokesman, so he asked if he could fill the role.

Troy Aikman is on the board of directors for the parent company that controls Wingstop.