“I don’t think people come to gamble at a restaurant,” said Pitaziki Mediterranean Grill manager Gasser Vadawi. But some New Haven restaurant owners remain reluctant to offer the game to customers. Keno - a high-speed gambling game - was legalized in Connecticut restaurants this June.
Spokespeople at six of seven local bars and restaurants said they are hesitant to embrace the game, noting that it could significantly worsen their patrons’ experience. But local restaurant owners interviewed did not have plans to offer the game in the near future. The state estimated last summer that 600 more bars and restaurants will begin offering keno when the Connecticut Lottery Corporation formally rolls the game out in April.
The Connecticut state legislature legalized keno in a June bill, with the expectation that the game would generate more than $40 million in tax revenue over the next two fiscal years.
