Pickleball, Entertainment & Hospitality Done Right — The Dink & Dine Playbook | EP 201

Step into Episode 201 of On The Delo as Delo sits down with Riley, Director of Pickleball, and Casey, General Manager of Dink & Dine — a brand-new pickleball-anchored eatertainment facility that's rewriting what a night out looks like in the Valley. Four months in and sitting at a 4.9-star rating with over 110 fully organic reviews, this isn't a pickleball gym with a menu tacked on — it's something entirely different.

Casey and Riley bring serious depth to this conversation. Casey went from cutting his teeth in Old Town Scottsdale's nightlife prime and graduating Scottsdale Culinary to spending 12 years growing through every level of Main Event — all the way to GM for all three Arizona locations and Regional Director covering Phoenix, Albuquerque, Denver, and Baton Rouge — before landing the opportunity to build something from the ground up with a team of hospitality consultants who asked, "Why don't we just start our own thing?" Riley's road ran through a painful divorce, a transformational pickleball flow state, a coaching company she built from scratch, overseas pickleball yacht trips, the PPA and App Tour, and even designing the world's first floating pickleball court in Croatia — before LinkedIn brought her to a facility she calls the nicest she's ever walked into. Together, they unpack four core values, the kitchen philosophy of Chef Kelly Milani, and why doing both pickleball and food at a truly high level is harder than anyone realizes — and exactly what makes Dink & Dine worth the visit.

Chapter Guide (Timestamps):

(0:00 - 2:38) Intro: Episode 201, Delo's 52nd Birthday & Welcome to Casey and Smiley Riley

(2:39 - 6:14) Casey's Origin: New Orleans, Hurricane Katrina, Scottsdale Culinary & Old Town Nightlife

(6:15 - 8:10) Main Event to Dink & Dine: 12 Years, Regional Director & The Founding Team

(8:11 - 12:33) 4.9 Stars, Organic Reviews, Hospitality Philosophy & Four Core Values

(12:34 - 15:23) Riley's Story: From Divorce Court to the Pickleball Court & Finding Flow State

(15:24 - 19:15) PPA Tour, Floating Court in Croatia & What It Means to Be Director of Pickleball

(19:16 - 20:30) Bridging the Gap: High-Level Pickleball AND High-Level Food — Neither an Afterthought

(20:31 - 37:00) Chef Kelly Milani, Kitchen Philosophy, Menu Highlights, Programming & Corporate Events

(37:01 - 45:47) Rapid Fire Questions, Best Menu Items & How to Connect with Dink & Dine

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💬 Drop a comment with your biggest takeaway — and share this with someone who loves pickleball, great food, or just wants to see what genuine hospitality looks like when you build a culture from day one.

🏓 Check out Dink & Dine and see what they're building - https://www.dinkanddine.com/