Villain & Saint, the rock-themed gastropub and live-music venue at Ocean Casino Resort, has permanently closed its Atlantic City location. The spot had been a fixture on the casino level since the resort's 2018 opening, known for weekend bands and pre-concert parties before shows at Ovation Hall.
The closure was reported by 97.3 ESPN, whose writer Mike Gill called Villain & Saint one of his favorite spots in Atlantic City. Gill wrote that he recently found the bar empty on a Monday, and the station's report notes that Google now lists the business as permanently closed. A Yelp listing for the venue also shows it marked as closed, though that listing carries less certainty than the on-the-ground account.
Villain & Saint sat on the casino level across from Ocean's 18 Mini Golf and Bar and LaScala's Fire, occupying a space that dated back to the property's Revel era as Mussel Bar & Grille. When Ocean Resort Casino officially opened on June 28, 2018, Villain & Saint was among its original dining and live-music venues, part of a wave of new restaurant concepts that accompanied the dual debut of Ocean Resort Casino and Hard Rock Hotel & Casino that week, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. The Inquirer described it at the time as a rock-theme bar-restaurant replacing the old Mussel Bar & Grille across from Distrito.
A Soundtrack of Pre-Show Parties
Over its run, Villain & Saint served dinner and drinks before concerts and hosted weekend live music featuring local and regional acts on Friday and Saturday nights. The venue doubled as a staging ground for pre-concert parties tied to bigger Ovation Hall shows, per the same account from 97.3 ESPN.
Gill recalled attending pre-show parties there ahead of concerts by Bush, Live, Collective Soul, Our Lady Peace, and Lenny Kravitz. He also wrote that he saw the band Five Times Famous perform at Villain & Saint several times, including on New Year's Eve. For fans looking for a similar live-music fix at the casino going forward, the report points to NOLA as an Ocean venue offering local bands as an alternative.
No Confirmed Replacement Yet
Gill said he expects Ocean Casino Resort to choose a replacement for Villain & Saint, though no new tenant or concept has been confirmed. The closure comes after a period of expansion at the property: Ocean Casino Resort announced two new restaurant concepts from celebrity chef Stephen Starr planned to open in summer 2025, according to The Press of Atlantic City, which described the concepts as an American and French restaurant alongside a separate American breakfast-and-lunch spot.
Those plans were part of a broader push at the resort. The Philadelphia Business Journal had reported that Ocean Casino Resort was planning a $25 million investment toward five new eateries and a mini-golf venue. Whether any of that expansion connects to the Villain & Saint space has not been established.
