Change has happened at MGM Northfield Park as Kosar’s Wood-fired Grill rebranded as Valley’s Edge earlier this autumn.
What was a football-centric dining experience has been renovated into a modern, sleek, minimalistic steakhouse with a menu to match.
“It was just time,” says Rick Wittkopp, executive director of food and beverage operations, when asked why the change. “We opened the property in 2013. And, you know, we obviously had contracts with Bernie [Kosar], five, five years at a time. So, Bernie was a great partner, and everything was super, but it was just time to upgrade the building.”
The previous iteration of the restaurant appealed more to the sports fan. It was a place for a good meal while at the casino or to watch a game. Valley’s Edge is certainly the former, but not the latter. That doesn’t mean that everything about the restaurant needed to change, because it didn’t. Executive chef Lee Cooper noted that the crab cakes ($20) and French onion soup ($12) are two of the items that remain from Kosar’s menu.
Valley’s Edge is certainly a place for a good meal. It’s also a place that is more geared towards being a date night destination than just another restaurant at a casino. Spending time on the slots or at the sportsbook at MGM Northfield Park is always an option, but one of the goals of this space that is just under 4,700 square feet and can seat 313 people is to be a draw on its own rather than as a convenience.
A (mostly) new menu
Valley’s Edge menu has all the classic steakhouse staples. Starting a meal there with a shrimp cocktail ($21), Caesar salad ($13) or lobster bisque ($15) is a must before diving into the different steaks featured.
At this type of restaurant, the steak is always going to be the star of the show. Valley’s Edge has a 20-ounce bone-in ribeye ($65) at the top of its list but might be most proud of its prime rib, which comes in both a 10-ounce ($38) and 16-ounce ($46) cut.
“I could eat the prime rib every day,” says senior general manager Tim Swan. “It’s got such a natural flavor to it. It used to be kind of a herbed crust with lots of different salts and all that kind of stuff but now it’s roasted onions and garlic pureed down and rubbed into a paste and smoked down. It just has a great sweetness to it.”
If steak isn’t your thing, that’s not a problem. The menu has plenty of seafood options, including frutti di mare ($45), walleye ($38) and, like any good steakhouse, twin lobster tails (market price). A small gathering of other entrees includes the pork osso bucco ($39), which is a local favorite.
The drinks
Steakhouses will often brag about their wine list, and Valley’s Edge is no different. The restaurant has a wide variety of wines that are available by the glass and by the bottle. Whether looking for a red blend, chardonnay, a merlot or something else, there are more than 50 selections from which to choose. The restaurant also offers a variety of cocktails.
