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When Yuksel Gultekin opened his Turkish restaurant in downtown Edmonton almost 13 years ago, it was a big challenge to convince people to stick around in the evenings to go for dinner.

The other big challenge, he said, was the lamb.

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'There were not too many independent restaurants,' the chef and owner of Sofra Turkish Restaurant told CBC's Radio Active on Tuesday. 'All of it was franchises, the classics, the steak and potatoes.

'Our best dish was the lamb — and people were not really very open to the lamb.'

In the ensuing years, a few things happened to help get Sofra on its feet.

'One of the great things about Rogers Place is that it has exposed people to places that they might not have walked by before,' said Ian O'Donnell, executive director of the Downtown Business Association.

As evidence of downtown's burgeoning restaurant community, a record number of establishments are participating in Downtown Dining Week, a annual 10-day event that begins on Friday, O'Donnell said. More than 50 restaurants are involved, up from 37 last year.

During the week, participating restaurants create special two- or three-course set meals, priced at $18, $30 or $45, for brunch, lunch or dinner.

'We are encouraging chefs to get creative and they have certainly responded, with some really unique offerings and even some things that are off menu,' O'Donnell said.

Gultekin has participated in Downtown Dining Week for several years and said it deserves credit for helping with the word-of-mouth around his business. The number of new customers at Sofra has increased from 10 per cent of his clientele to about 50 per cent.

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'Fifty per cent are new clients who are coming because of Rogers and because of Downtown Dining Week,' he said.

And also, he added with a laugh, because of the food.

'Those people who used to complain about how they hate lamb, they will eat nothing else in my place now,' he said. 'I convert a lot of people and now they are lamb eaters.'

Hundreds of people waited in a line that snaked from the Grand Villa Casino's 104th Avenue entrance down 102nd Street to get a glimpse of what lay inside on opening night.

The $32-million, 60,000-square-foot facility is attached to the new Rogers Place arena. It boasts 600 slot machines, 28 table games and seven restaurants.

Mary Tima was one of the first people to get inside when the doors opened to the public at 7 p.m. Wednesday. She said when she saw the game floor, her jaw dropped.

'It's immaculate. I've never seen anything like it before,' Tima told CBC News.

But the crowds cut her stay short. She was back outside by 8 p.m.

'It was very packed, [too] packed to walk through — too many people around,' Tima said. 'It was very hard to get around.'

She plans to come back and check out the higher end restaurants — Atlas Steak and Fish, and Match Eatery and Public House — when they're less busy

Tony Santo is the president and CEO of Gateway Casinos and Entertainment, which owns the new Casino and used to own the Baccarat Casino.

'It takes me back to when we did our press announcement in the spring of 2015 when I said that the Grand Villa is only a few hundred yards away from the Baccarat, but it's worlds apart,' Santo said at a press conference a few hours before the big unveil.

The Baccarat closed about a week ago.

Santo told reporters the 200 employees who worked there were offered positions at the Grand Villa, and that an additional 200 positions were created.

The Baccarat has 'pretty much been decommissioned by AGLC,' he said, although Gateway still has a few items (namely office furniture and supplies) left to move.

Santo emphasized his company doesn't control the future of the Baccarat building or property, but added that he was 'certain there's plenty of people lining up to make sure it gets torn down as quickly as possible.'

Bob Black, the executive vice-president of the Katz Group, which operates Rogers Place, said they are excited by the pace of construction in the adjacent area which has been branded 'Ice District.'

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'We always believed that the arena done right would be a great catalyst and it's absolutely proving to be that,' Black said after the press conference.

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Rogers Place opens Thursday.