Gaming chips aren't the only things that can stack up at Northern Quest Resort & Casino.

Every month, the West Plains tribal casino buys about 560 gallons of milk, 800 pounds of hot dogs, 1,600 pounds of salmon, and 100 cases of bacon, just to name a few items in the roughly $1.5 million in food purchases it makes.

In addition to a gambling facility, Northern Quest, owned by the Kalispel Tribe of Indians, also is a significant food-service operation. The casino includes about a dozen different dining venues and serves thousands of guests a week, says Gary Sutter, director of restaurant services at Northern Quest. About 400 of the casino's 1,400 to 1,500 employees work in the food and beverage operations, Sutter says.

Although "the gaming is the engine that drives the resort and casino," the food and beverage department is expected to show a profit, he says.

Northern Quest has three kitchens, one of which is located near the resort and casino's about 12,000-square-foot Pend Oreille Pavilion events hall, which can accommodate up to 800 guests. Another is situated by the 146-seat Woodlands restaurant, the facility's upscale American food dining option, and a third is near a 240-seat sports bar called The Q - The Ultimate Sports Experience, which serves burgers, corn dogs, pizza, and other items, and has a 10- by-30-foot high-definition projection TV.

Other venues there include the River's Edge Buffet; Fai's Noodle House, which offers Chinese and Vietnamese food; The Deli, located near the casino floor; Liquid, which serves appetizers and seats up to 54; Legends of Fire Cigars & Spirits, a 55-seat cigar bar that serves appetizers; and Impulse, a dance club that serves appetizers.

"They all have their own personalities," says Sutter.

He says the food and beverage department, which employs the highest number of people of any casino department, includes about 275 workers who perform service duties and another about 125 on the culinary team.

The Pend Oreille Pavilion and the 6,400-square-foot River's Edge Buffet experience the highest guest counts of the casino's various dining venues, Sutter says.

"The buffet is a central component of any gaming operation," he says.

The buffet comprises about 35 percent of Northern Quest's food service business. The kitchen that serves the buffet and Woodlands is nearly 9,000 square feet in size.

Late last year, Northern Quest opened a 50,000-square-foot expansion that includes more video lottery machines—the Washington state equivalent of slot machines—and table games, plus Liquid, Legends of Fire, The Q, a souvenir shop, and a food court.

It also opened a $17 million, 1,400-space parking garage just northwest of the casino.

It currently is developing a 250-room, upscale hotel and luxury spa complex, which is expected to be completed next winter.

The 10-story hotel and spa complex is being developed south of the new parking garage. The complex will include another restaurant and a fourth kitchen, which also will support room service there, he says.

Sutter says the casino is a big buyer of local food. Currently, about 46 percent of its food purchases are bought locally. "Our goal is to move that up to 50 percent local," he says.

In addition to the aforementioned food purchases, the casino and resort each month buys about 1,050 pounds of mayonnaise, 600 pounds of blue cheese dressing, 2,400 gallons of soda syrup used to make soft drinks, 230 pounds of hamburger patties, and 700 pounds of ham, says Jennifer Simmons, a spokeswoman for the casino and resort.

As part of the resort and casino's expansion, it has seen its storage space for dry goods reach about 3,700 square feet of space, up from about 1,900 square feet. Its refrigeration and freezer space has nearly doubled in size to 810 square feet, Simmons says.

A separate tribal business owns the franchises operating in the resort and casino's food court in the new south expansion, says Aimee Hubbard, general manager of franchise operations. The food court takes up about 3,000 square feet of floor space in the 50,000-square-foot expansion.

Currently the food court is occupied by Villa Fresh Italian Kitchen, a pizza, pasta, Stromboli, and salad restaurant; Fatburger, a hamburger outlet with a "culty following;" and Espresso, which serves four different custom blends produced by Craven's Coffee Co. here, Hubbard says.

The three franchise operations, which opened in May, employ a combined 75 people there, she says. All were recently hired for the food court. They may work in two or three of the venues, and all are trained in the different areas, she says. There are three full-time managers, and the remainder work part time, but work up to 39 hours per week, she says.

"We hope to hire more people," Hubbard says.

The food court's Fatburger is one of the franchisor's top 10, worldwide, in terms of gross sales, Hubbard says.

"It kind of came out of the gates with a bang," she says. "It's kind of incredible, us beating Hong Kong and stuff like that."