Golden Acorn Casino
The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Ultimate Casino Guide takes a spin at the region’s 10 properties.
A sure bet for: Travelers along Interstate 8, long-haul truckers, shuttle-bus day trippers and anyone craving the signature $7.77 prime rib. Located about halfway between downtown San Diego and El Centro, Golden Acorn Casino and Travel Center is distinctive in several ways: It’s the region’s smallest facility, the furthest east and the only casino truck stop. Golden Acorn, which celebrated its 15th anniversary this summer, draws San Diegans heading east to the desert dunes, Colorado River or Arizona, as well as snow birds driving west. Marketing manager Deanna Leon said many regular casinos guests come for the day by bus from National City, Chula Vista, El Cajon, El Centro, Calexico and Mexicali. “And believe it or not, we do have buses that come from L.A. on our ‘graveyard bus,’ ” she said. “They arrive about 11 p.m. and it’s a five-hour stay.”
Gaming: The modest-sized casino floor has 750 slot machines and eight table games, including $3 blackjack and Ultimate Texas Hold ’Em. Player’s club score free play on the machines — every 500 points earns $5 in free play — as well as free game packs at the 200-seat bingo hall. Giveaways and promotions have included a 2016 Cadillac Escalade and $15,000 jackpots won in the “Cash Cube,” where players enclosed in a wind-blown booth try to catch as many bills as they can. Leon said Golden Acorn’s intimate setting sets it apart. “We’re a smaller casino but if you’re a regular, everybody knows your name. And because we’re smaller, we’re not always crowded, you can always finds what you want to play,” she said.
Dining: Triple 7’s are a symbol of luck at a casino — at Golden Acorn, it’s also how the Golden Grill’s signature dish is known. The $7.77 prime is eight ounces of tender beef, served with a dinner roll, mashed, baked potato or fries. For an extra $2, you get soup or salad. “It’s a lot of food that you’re getting for $7.77 and (for) under $10 bucks you can have a whole dinner,” said Gary Thompson, the property’s executive chef. Also of note is the six-pound “Glory Burger,” a giant round of grilled beef on a specially-made roll. It could feed a family of six, or one, if you’re really hungry. “If you can eat that much, then we give you more to eat,” Thompson said. “You get dessert” for free. Truckers and visitors, Thompson said, seek out Golden Acorn for the food. “We are in the middle of nowhere and people still come here from all over, I mean all over,” he said. “When they plan their stops and we are one of their stops, that says a lot. … Let’s put it this way, (they’ve) got thousands of miles to choose from and when they choose us, I think we’re doing something right.”
Amenity spotlight: Golden Acorn’s 24/7, 3,000-square-foot Travel Center store is as varied as a big box store. Here’s a partial list of what it sells: hats, sunglasses, model cars, T-shirts, jewelry, car chargers, auto, household and cleaning supplies, cooking utensils, protein bars, coolers, fresh donuts, cases of water, pet food, hardware items, stationary, drivers’ log books, maps, candy, chips, flip flops, medicine, toiletries and two walls of chilled beverages, including beer, milk, power drinks and so many soft drinks it’s dubbed “The Soda Oasis.”
Final spin: The Travel Center is a slice of home for weary big-rig drivers, offering clean showers and rest rooms, laundry facilities with six full-sized washer-dryers, a TV lounge and WiFi. “Truckers have a place to kind of just relax, catch a bite to eat, play some tables and slot machines,” Leon said. “It just gives them a time to relax so that (they’re) rested when they get back on the road.”
Golden Acorn Casino
1800 Golden Acorn Way, Campo. (866) 794-6244 or goldenacorncasino.com
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