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I have always heard that buffets were big moneymakers for the resorts and nowhere has any of the COVID stuff been tied to any buffet, so are the resorts just using it as an excuse to get rid of them? Were they not moneymakers?
Perhaps the reason that no "COVID stuff" has been tied to buffets is that most of them have been shut down, in some cases permanently.
Early on in the pandemic, the Food and Drug Administration released a series of best practices for restaurants, which include discontinuing self-serving stations that require customers to use common utensils or dispensers, like salad bars, buffets, and drink stations. The smorgasbords that have reopened, such as at the Cosmopolitan and South Point in Las Vegas, Atlantis in Reno, and the Golden Corral chain in certain locations around the country, are no longer self-serve; now, servers dish out the food to buffet-goers.
As for being big money-makers, we wonder where you might've heard that. For decades, the buffets in Las Vegas were, instead, big loss leaders for the casinos, used to lure gamblers attracted by the little prices of the large all-you-can-eat spreads. Indeed, Las Vegas' first buffet, known then as a chuckwagon, cost $1. Not exactly a highly profitable price.
Sure, over the years, as the buffets got more elaborate and prices rose, it seemed like the gourmet superbuffets had to be netting something of a profit. But it's hard to say, since the economics of buffets are closely kept and have been for as long as we can remember. We've never seen any profit or loss figures.
Buffets are, of course, different than sit-down restaurants. There's a much smaller wait staff. The food is prepared in bulk from a prescribed menu. No one sends food back to the kitchen. All those lend themselves to lower overhead. Yes, they have to contend with big-eating customers. But buffets are often a family affair, so even if Dad and Buddy can pack away the poundage, Mom, Granny, and Sis most likely balance them out in the food-consumption department.
Shrinkage, a.k.a excess waste, is definitely a big expense. We have seen numbers for that, ranging from a manageable 5% all the way to an excessive 25%. That's why, before the shutdown when 70 or so Las Vegas buffets were running at full speed, a trend toward single servings was developing, notably at the Wicked Spoon at the Cosmo and AYCE buffet at the Palms. No doubt that improved the buffet bottom lines at those, though whether or not they turned the corner to profitability is anyone's guess.