David Burke Prime Steakhouse inside Foxwoods Resort Casino will reopen to the public on November 6, nearly a year after a fire tore through its kitchen and ductwork and shuttered the restaurant for extensive repairs. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned for November 5, the day before diners can once again book tables at the Grand Pequot Tower landmark.
The closure traces back to the night of November 18, 2025, when a fire broke out in the restaurant and spread to the HVAC system, according to Patch. Three firefighters were taken to the hospital for evaluation, though neither guests nor Foxwoods casino team members were reported injured, per CT Insider. The blaze was severe enough to require mutual aid from several regional fire departments, including Ledyard, North Stonington, Old Mystic, and Submarine Base firefighters, with impacted areas kept safe and secure before the Grand Pequot Tower was later cleared around 12:30 a.m.
Firefighters Treated for Heat Exhaustion Battling Duct Fire
The three firefighters were taken to the hospital for evaluation and released, according to FOX 61. The restaurant remained closed for nearly a year and underwent renovations before reopening; it is a 13,000-square-foot flagship built to seat 375 guests.
Stephen Goglia, president and CEO of Craveable Hospitality Group, the company that operates David Burke Prime along with Caputo Trattoria at Foxwoods, credited the Mashantucket Pequot Fire Department, Foxwoods personnel, and restaurant staff with responding swiftly and helping ensure everyone's safety during the incident, per a news release cited by CT Insider. Goglia also thanked Foxwoods Resort Casino and the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation for their partnership and support throughout the rebuild, and said the reopening feels like coming home, adding that the team is proud to welcome guests back.
New Bar Top, Bigger Wine Program and a Modernized Kitchen
The restaurant underwent renovations ahead of its November 6 reopening, and the rebuilt space now includes a redesigned dining room with additional banquette and booth seating, a rebuilt bar featuring a new modern stone bar top, and a modernized kitchen. The wine program has also been expanded, the CT Insider report notes, a notable shift given that the original dining room was anchored by a multi-story, 70,000-pound octagonal glass wine tower built by Harmonic Wine Displays, which held thousands of bottles and was topped by an original Dale Chihuly glass chandelier.
Spencer Relitz, vice president of operations, and executive chef Gary Lamothe will continue to lead the restaurant going forward, according to the same account. The menu will still center on dry-aged beef, Wagyu beef, sushi, chilled seafood towers, Connecticut lobster, and tableside beef tartare.
The Patented Process Behind the Beef
Chef David Burke, the restaurateur the steakhouse is named for and principal of David Burke Hospitality Management, holds a U.S. patent first filed in 2009 for his signature meat dry-aging process, which uses rooms lined with pink Himalayan salt blocks and timed UV lights. Tasting Table describes the room as meticulously controlled and gives examples of steaks aged for 30 and 55 days. Burke was named to the James Beard Foundation's Who's Who of Food & Beverage in America, received Japan's Nippon Award of Excellence, and was named Restaurateur of the Year by the New Jersey Restaurant Association.
That dry-aging infrastructure does more than flavor steaks served at Foxwoods. The room at David Burke Prime acts as a regional production hub, supplying salt-aged beef to sister establishments such as Saltbrick Prime Steakhouse in Branford, according to Daily Nutmeg, meaning the months-long closure rippled beyond the casino floor itself.
Legal Fight Over the Burke Brand
The rebuild has unfolded alongside a separate legal battle over the David Burke name. In December 2025, the operating group behind David Burke Prime filed a $10 million federal lawsuit against The Preserve Sporting Club and Resort, alleging the Rhode Island facility unlawfully used Chef David Burke's brand to launch a competing steakhouse, according to RINewsToday. The dispute underscores how much commercial weight the Burke name carries for Craveable Hospitality Group even as it worked to get the flagship Foxwoods location back open.
Foxwoods Resort Casino, owned and operated by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, is a casino-resort complex with multiple hotel towers. The return of its signature steakhouse marks the restoration of a dining destination that has anchored the Grand Pequot Tower since 2008, with the November 5 ribbon-cutting and November 6 reopening closing out a recovery nearly a year in the making.
