Robert Irvine Restaurant coming to Tropicana

Celebrity chef Robert Irvine best known for his Food Network shows Dinner Impossible and Restaurant Impossible will be opening a restaurant at Tropicana in 2017.

Irvine announced the restaurant at a press conference earlier this evening. In true Vegas style he arrived by repelling down the building at Tropicana.

Parent company Penn National has planned improvements for Tropicana since purchasing the resort last year. Having a well known celebrity chef should breathe some life into the property and help to turn around anemic results.

Penn National is a relative unknown in Las Vegas, but they are an established gaming operator with casinos throughout the country. With their acquisition of M Resort in 2011 and now with their purchase of Tropicana they are slowly building a Las Vegas presence.

With Caesars Entertainment in bankruptcy and MGM Resorts doing things to upset their customers I think Penn National could have an opportunity to pick up some market share. I expect Penn to keep expanding their Las Vegas profile in the coming years.