{"id":1768,"date":"2020-11-23T15:56:25","date_gmt":"2020-11-23T23:56:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/?p=1768"},"modified":"2026-08-30T22:24:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T05:24:09","slug":"derek-stevens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/derek-stevens\/","title":{"rendered":"Derek Stevens - The Face of Fremont Street"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Circa Resort & Casino<\/h2><\/div>
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DEREK STEVENS<\/h1>\n

THE FACE OF FREMONT STREET<\/p>\n

By Stacey Gualandi<\/p>\n<\/div>

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In October, Las Vegas casino owner Derek Stevens unveiled Circa, the first ground-up gambling resort on downtown\u2019s Fremont Street in 40 years. While the historic 1.25 million-square-foot showpiece boasts (1) the world\u2019s largest 3-level sportsbook; (2) the 4,000-person capacity outdoor pool attraction Stadium Swim; (3) Nevada\u2019s longest MEGA BAR; and (4) an 8-story parking structure called \u201cGarage Mahal,\u201d many of its bars and restaurants pay particular homage to Stevens\u2019 Michigan roots.<\/p>\n

If I didn\u2019t know any better, I\u2019d say the Detroit native is slowly turning downtown Las Vegas into Motown Las Vegas. As a fellow Detroiter, I\u2019m all for it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI've always been somebody who wanted to bring back some of the past and celebrate some of the things I've been a part of,\u201d the CEO said during our interview on opening day.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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This adults-only resort isn't the first of his downtown properties to give a wink to the Wolverine state. Stevens, 53, and his brother Greg opened The D\u2014a nickname for Detroit\u2014in 2012 and brought in Detroit\u2019s 103-year-old institution American Coney Island, along with its specially-seasoned Dearborn sausage hotdogs.<\/p>\n

Now the Coney Island founding family is spreading their love\u2014and their secret recipe chili sauce\u2014to Circa with Victory Burger & Wings Co.<\/strong>, thanks to owner\/operators Chris Sotiropoulos and Grace Keros.<\/p>\n

\u201cI'm pretty proud of working with Chris and Grace,\u201d Stevens said. \u201cWhen we said we're going to have a sports bar and grill (next to the sportsbook), they got the concept of Victory Burger & Wings Co. right away.\u201d<\/p>\n

The menu features massive burgers and wings (of course!) along with cereal milkshakes. And a nice bonus as you binge: there\u2019s an in-house podcast studio with a designated radio booth where you can listen to all the latest sports talk.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Photo of burgers at Victory Burger & Wings Co. by Mark Mediana<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

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Another gastronomic Great Lakes State success, Paul Saginaw, has opened 24-hour Saginaw\u2019s Delicatessen<\/strong>. Saginaw, of Zingerman\u2019s Deli fame, opened his Ann Arbor institution in 1982 with Ari Weinzweig, and now promises sandwiches (particularly Reubens) in Las Vegas \u201cso big, you\u2019ll need two hands to eat them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPaul promised he's going to bring the best sandwich to Las Vegas; he did it with Zingerman\u2019s, so I know he's going to do that here,\u201d Stevens assured.<\/p>\n

Having once lived in nearby Brighton, Michigan, I can\u2019t wait to get my sandwich fix. No deli nosh is complete, however, without Zingerman\u2019s famous coffee. Together with managing partner Steve Mangigian, Saginaw also created Jack Pots, <\/strong>a casino corner cafe that features their signature coffee and a custom blend exclusive to Circa.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Photos of Saginaw's Delicatessen at Circa by Tom Donoghue<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

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But the most exciting nod to nostalgia at Circa (for me!) is the Overhang Bar,<\/strong> located on the second level of the sportsbook.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a kid growing up in Detroit, I always loved the overhang at the old Tiger stadium,\u201d Stevens said. \u201cI was able to scrape enough money together to go sit in the bleachers or maybe in the right-field overhang. So it\u2019s kind of a little touch to Tiger stadium\u2019s past.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is also a blast to our shared Detroit past. Like Stevens, I too saw Mark \u201cThe Bird\u201d Fidrych pitch for the Tigers in 1976. (Cue the song \u201cThe Bird is the Word.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s a Detroit thing. Look it up.)<\/p>\n<\/div>

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\"Overhang<\/span><\/div>

Photo of the Overhang Bar at Circa by Gensler<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

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With Circa, Stevens has officially made his mark, without forgetting where he came from. Now the official Face of Fremont Street hopes to make history and leave a legacy, just like the selfie wall tribute says. Complete with ceramic embossed Pewabic Pottery tiles from, where else?\u00a0 Detroit.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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With Circa, Stevens has officially made his mark, without forgetting where he came from. Now the official Face of Fremont Street hopes to make history and leave a legacy, just like the\u00a0selfie wall tribute says.\u00a0Complete with ceramic embossed Pewabix Pottery tiles from, where else?\u00a0 Detroit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1775,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2360,4519,4518],"tags":[3235,3234,3236,3237,3128,3238],"class_list":["post-1768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-dining","category-travel","tag-circa-resort-casino","tag-derek-stevens","tag-fremont-street","tag-saginaws-delicatessen","tag-stacey-gualandi","tag-victory-burger-wings-co"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1768"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1768\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10712,"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1768\/revisions\/10712"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}