I have been going to Las Vegas Buffets for over 25 years; back in the mid-1980s my favorites were the buffets at the Holiday Inn (now Harrah’s), the Tropicana, and the Stardust. They weren’t the absolute best, but they were the right combination of quality and cost for my budget and lifestyle at the time. I don’t remember any “great” buffets at the time. Caesars Palace was the nicest hotel back then, but in all of the time that I have lived in Las Vegas it seems like they have tried to start a buffet a couple of times but it has never worked out for them. Bally’s had a fairly nice buffet back then, as a matter of fact I ate there about two years ago and it had not changed much at all over the years. The buffet at Circus Circus was doling out mediocre food on large plates back then, just like today. The Flamingo Buffet was pretty good, or even better than pretty good, I just avoided it for the most part because it was hard to get to. I can’t’ say that I remember anything about the buffets at the Dunes, Riviera, Desert Inn or Sahara.

Then things started getting more serious in the 1990s. The Rio opened their buffet and forced the locals’ hotels in Las Vegas to take their buffets more seriously. The price was reasonable and the quality was very high, and the only reason I didn’t go more often was because of the hour long lines that seemed to be constant. The Gold Coast has always had great restaurants but boring buffets. The Orleans was a little better when it opened, but it still trailed the really great ones. The Stations’ buffets have always been okay but were never great until Green Valley Ranch opened. The Golden Nugget buffet downtown, and the Bellagio on the Strip, were two examples of buffets that raised the bar in terms of quality, while the buffet at the Fiesta showed that there was demand for another great local buffet. As the Strip boomed just about every new hotel had a buffet, and as more hotels opened the increased competition led to better quality and prices.

In the 2000s more noteworthy buffets opened including ones at Green Valley Ranch and Red Rock Resort. Multiple live cooking stations, which I think originated at the Rio, spread to almost all of the buffets. Specialty nights, like Steak Nights and Sea Food Nights became more popular. Weekend brunches became more expensive and elaborate. Meanwhile on the Strip as the hotels became bigger and more expensive their buffets followed suit, with some costing $50 or more per person.

Now as the economy has slowed and Las Vegas has been pounded there are more deals available than were offered a few years earlier. There are more two-for-one deals, and coupons are more prevalent. There are numerous deals where you can get a free buffet for accumulating enough slot club points on a given day, and you can even keep your points. In some ways these are the best times for getting a deal on a Las Vegas Buffet, but the reasons are unfortunate.

Author Bio: John Rosen has lived in Las Vegas for nearly 30 years and writes about Las Vegas Buffets for Las Vegas Buffets.

Category: Travel
Keywords: las vegas buffet, las vegas, travel