GULFPORT — The slot machines kept ringing at Island View Casino on Monday when Rick Carter and Terry Green opened Phase II of their casino and welcomed chef Emeril Lagasse to the celebration.Gulfport Mayor Brent Warr commented on the sounds of commerce as a background for the second grand opening of the casino in eight months.”Every day we wake up it just keeps getting better and better,” said Warr, who reminded the crowd waiting to get a glimpse of the new casino, “These are Gulfport guys.”Carter and Green, childhood friends who grew up in Gulfport, purchased Harrah’s Grand Casino after Katrina destroyed their Copa Casino.Phase I opened in September with a casino, hotel rooms and buffet. Phase II adds entertainment in the new show lounge and sports bar plus a 24-hour C&G Grille.The second phase isn’t quite complete.”We’re going to have a new restaurant in a few weeks,” said Lagasse. The opening of Emeril’s Gulf Coast Fish House is scheduled for “June 20ish,” he said. It will be a benefit for the Lynn Meadows Discovery Center in Gulfport and Lagasse said they found people to match the money raised that night.After that, the restaurant will quietly open, first for dinner and then it will quickly add lunch.General manager Jason Lonigro said the phone line for reservations, 314-1515, opens Wednesday.Lagasse said 105 locals have been hired and Steve D’Angelo, chef de cuisine, said the staff is talented and the restaurant casual and trendy.”I feel like my whole life was working toward this point,” he said.Carter said Emeril’s will have outside dining with the best views on the entire Gulf Coast.”It’s a thrill,” he said, to open the casino “on time and on budget.”By MARY PEREZSUN HERALD

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