Find your ‘home on The Range’

A good steak is worth making a road trip. But why make the drive if you can find it close to home. The Range Steakhouse at Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino Resort offers both the steak and the atmosphere, and it’s right here in your own backyard.

“This is the best kept secret in Maricopa,” said Michael Kintner, director of marketing for the casino/resort. The Range is a 100-seat, full-service, upscale steakhouse.

The restaurant opened nearly 15 years ago, long before Maricopa was considered a city. Yet, many people don’t know it exists, Kintner said. “When people typically think of food, they don’t think of a casino.” One trip to The Range will change that impression forever.

The menu items are traditionally what one would expect to find at an eatery specializing in steak: the New York strip, the big porterhouse and the marbled rib eye. But it’s the preparation of these cuts the restaurant takes pride in, which results in a steak that can almost be cut with a fork.

In addition to the steak cuts, The Range offers up some unique dishes that include Napoleon of Tenderloin, a grilled filet of beef cut into two round sections and layered with spinach, portabella mushrooms and red peppers. There’s also lobster, halibut and a grilled petit rack of veal.

While other restaurants around the Valley may offer similar food, one area that sets this eatery apart from its peers is unparalleled customer service.

Head chef James Shewmake can often be found tableside, asking customers about their food and experience in the eatery. “People will give our cooks a different set of answers about how their service was as opposed to what they would tell a server,” Shewmake said.

In addition to soliciting feedback from the customers, Shewmake will often take special requests from regulars and other prominent customers, creating a special made-to-order item. It’s that “little extra” that makes The Range worth staying close to home.

If you go:

What: The Range Steakhouse at Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino Resort
Where: 15406 N. Maricopa Road
Hours: Open Sunday to Thursday 4 to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 4 to 10 p.m.
For more information: 480-802-5000.

Photo by Michael K. Rich