Michael Mina Opening a Bourbon Steak at Levi's Stadium

As the San Francisco 49ers prepare for their move from Candlestick Park to the new Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, at least one culinary Pro Bowler will be joining them: Michael Mina, who plans to open an outpost of his Bourbon Steak mini-chain, Bourbon Steak & Pub, in the stadium. As Inside Scoop reports, Mina will occupy a 14,500-square-foot space in the stadium, divided into a high-end steakhouse reminiscent of the Bourbon Steak location in SF and a casual pub with 70 flat-screen TVs. The pub will feature high-end comfort food like burgers and bacon-wrapped Wagyu hot dogs; the restaurant's menu has not been announced, but will likely feature pricey cuts of beef (Bourbon Steak SF's range from $34-89) and other fancy fare like lobster pot pie, white truffle risotto, and short ribs for two.

The restaurant will be designed by AvroKO, which is responsible for Mina's RN74 and the Scottsdale outpost of Bourbon Steak, and will feature an open kitchen with a two-story-tall rotisserie, a ceiling-mounted track delivering big pots of boiling seafood to their stations, and a wood-fired grill. Both the restaurant and pub will be open nightly, not just on game days, though we have to wonder if the concept might prove to be a little too upscale for Niners fans, whose heavy drinking and propensity for violence at Candlestick have drawn negative media attention. It's also worth noting that a similar concept, Traci des Jardins' Acme Chophouse, didn't take flight with Giants fans at AT&T Park, and ended up being converted to the more casual Public House and Mijita.

One way Mina is seemingly trying to address this problem is by giving the restaurant an entirely different spin on home game days: it will transform into Michael Mina's Tailgate, a membership-only dining option that's available exclusively to season-ticket holders (with said season tickets starting at a staggering $5,000). Passed appetizers, drinks, and heavy bites will be themed around both local produce and the culinary specialties of the visiting team (for example, East Coast oysters and meatball hoagies for the New York Giants). The whole shebang will open with the start of the NFL season next fall, though it's just in a day's work for Mina, who opened a restaurant in Miami this week and also has Asian spots Pabu and Ramen Market planned to open in the FiDi around the same time.

· Michael Mina Opening Pabu and Ramen Market in FiDi [~ ESF ~]
· Michael Mina Introduces Wine Club [~ ESF ~]
· Mina Named to James Beard Who's Who List [~ ESF ~]