The Insiders Guide to Las Vegas
Eating There - Buffet Secret Deals
Covid 19 Update - Due to capacity limitations, dining is extremely difficult right now. Wait times can literally be hours long, even with elevated player status. Make sure to get reservations as soon as possible, look for places off the strip, and buy food for the room so you don't have to eat out for every meal. A simple bowl of cereal for breakfast can be a lot better than a 3 hour ordeal first thing in the morning.
This page is all about food! Las Vegas has something for every appetite and it’s everywhere. Unfortunately, the good old days of the 99 cent prime rib steaks are gone, so we’ll go over how to find some hidden gems.
Our first tip is to stock up on simple foods in your room. You’ll go crazy (and broke) trying to find something to eat for every meal of every day, so walk to a Walgreens or CVS on the Strip and buy some snacks and drinks to have in the room. It’s great for that 3:00 am hunger pain or the 9:00 am hangover.
Next, if you’re really trying to find a great deal on food, you’ll have to look off the Strip. You don’t have to go too far, but if you’re willing to take a little walk or an Uber, you really can still find that $6.99 steak and eggs special. Look for the little casinos that are trying to attract gamblers away from the shining lights of Las Vegas Boulevard. Ellis Island Casino is a great example. It’s right behind Bally’s and it is fast becoming a local favorite so plan on a wait, but it’s worth every minute.
Ellis Island offers a daily $6.99 steak and eggs special, which is unbeatable. The steak is actually good quality and the service is awesome. In addition, they have lots of other options like the half pound Hangover Burger, the $7.99 chicken and waffles, or an assortment of other breakfast favorites.
Secret Deal: If you don't want to wait for a table (which can be upwards of an hour or more during peak season), you can sit down at the bar and order from the full menu. If you play the machines built into the bar, your drinks are free too. Given that you can order any of their draft beers brewed right in the casino for $2.50, it's not that big of a perk!
If you’re in the Downtown area, Hugo’s Cellar is quite an experience. It’s in a dimly lit basement restaurant in the Four Queens hotel and it will take you back in time. Ladies are welcomed with a long stem rose, the dinner salads are freshly made at your table however you like, and the food is fantastic and plentiful. To sweeten the deal, stop by a Tix4Tonight booth and buy a coupon that will get you a discount. Make sure to buy it as soon as the Tix4Tonight booth opens because they are only authorized to sell a certain number of discounts for certain time slots every day.
Hash House A Go Go is a meal and an experience. They have the original location inside of the Linq hotel on the strip and a new location inside of the Rio hotel. Prepare for a long wait, but it is worth it (you can try to call ahead for a reservation or at least to get an approximate wait time). Meals cost about $15, but can easily feed two people. Even the children’s plates are humungous!
Covid 19 Update: All buffets are currently closed. No trip to Vegas would be complete without a visit to a buffet, but which one to choose? We’ll break down the ones to avoid and the ones to check out. Yelp isn’t much help because there are simply too many reviews by too many people that haven’t tried multiple buffets in Las Vegas to know the difference. The Bellagio buffet and, due to recent changes, the Bacchanal buffet were both very unimpressive, especially considering the cost, but here are some other suggestions depending on what you’re looking for.
The Mirage buffet is pretty good with a nice, large selection. When you add in the fact that you can get a Tix4Tonight coupon lowering the cost to about $30, which includes all you can drink beer and wine, this is a pretty good bargain. The Rio buffet has slightly better food and also has a Tix4Tonight coupon available, but it doesn’t offer free beer and wine. The Rio allows you to enter into a separate seafood section of their buffet, offering whole lobsters and other premium selections for an additional $20 upgrade fee, but for that amount of money we’d suggest one of the premium buffets below.
The Wicked Spoon at the Cosmopolitan and the Wynn buffet are our choices for best buffets in Vegas if you’re willing to pay and if you don't want to leave the Strip. Prices range from $50 to $75 per person, but this is truly an experience. The best value buffet is the Seasons Buffet at the Silverton Casino.
The Buffet of Buffet’s pass at any Caesars-owned casino includes access to buffets at Harrah’s, Bally’s, Linq, Rio, Planet Hollywood, Paris, or Flamingo. For one fee, you can visit all of their buffets for 24 hours (the Bacchanal and the seafood section at the Rio buffet will cost you extra). Let’s say you start by eating a late dinner at the Paris buffet, then have the breakfast buffet at Planet Hollywood, then a lunch buffet at the Flamingo, and a final dinner at the Rio before your time runs out, you could get 4 buffet meals for one price. However, even before the pandemic, the price of the Buffet of Buffet's pass had risen to a point where it wasn't worth it, plus the quality of the buffets had plummeted. I wouldn't recommend any mid-range buffet on the strip at the moment.
Here's an example of the portion sizes at Hash House A Go GO. This is the kid's French toast meal. Like we said, go hungry.