Caesars Palace – Bacchanal Buffet: Crab Brunch is now weekends only instead of weekdays. It’s served 9 a.m.-3 p.m. and is still $79.99.
Circus Circus – Circus Buffet: This week’s breakfast buffet is Fri-Sun, 8 a.m.-2 p.m. for $25.95. Dinner’s Fri-Sun, 4:30 p.m.-10 p.m. for $28.95.
This is a newish restaurant at the Commercial Center on E. Sahara. We generally don’t pay much attention to these eateries, since they don’t seem to last too long (except for Lotus of Siam and that has yet reopened more than seven years after the roof collapsed in 2017). What caught our attention was the Manhattan clam chowder on the PK menu, which we rarely see in Las Vegas. A quick search turned up two mentions in LVA, one from way back in 2003, the other not much more recently in 2005.
We first tried the house salad ($8) and steamed clams ($20); the clams came in a choice of white broth or red sauce. We’d never seen clams served in a red sauce, so we opted for the novel preparation. The strong sauce definitely overpowered the delicate clams (but more on that in a bit).
We prefer the red chowder over the white, though being the Advisor, we also tried the white for comparison purposes ($12 each). They both come in a bread bowl with the top cut off and the middle emptied out. You can also get them in a regular bowl, which we should have; both chowders were gloppy enough without the added dough. And frankly, neither was recommendable. More like stews than soups, they were bland and very thick, with way more (undercooked) celery than clams.
Also on the menu are fried shrimp, calamari, oysters, and catfish ($15-$20), five pan roasts ($25-$32), five gumbos ($23-$32), a few po’ boys ($15-$18), and specialties such as jambalaya, etouffée, bouillabaisse, and two pounds of “Voodoo pasta” ($19-$32).
All in all, the salad was the best thing about the meal, with the red sauce that the clams came in a close runner up. Even though it didn’t do the clams any justice, we scarfed the sauce on its own, slopping it up with some of the bread from the bowls, so we didn’t leave hungry. A good thing, since the bill for the salad, clams, two chowders, and a $5 happy hour beer came to just under $62 with tax.
Maybe the best thing about PK’s is the $1.50 oyster special on Wednesdays.
No complaints on this deal. All in all, though, there are better oyster bars around town.
Has hell frozen over? Station Casinos is offering several late-night breakfast specials—from $3.99 (pancakes) to $9.99 (steak & eggs)—and a hamburger & fries for $5.99 served 24/7 in its various coffee shops. We thought it was no longer in Station’s playbook to offer value like this, but darned if that burger deal isn’t good enough to make the Top Ten.
We haven’t seen a deal like this from Station in years. The casino company that became a powerhouse by catering to locals and leaning on value did an about-face coming out of the pandemic, essentially taking a margin-widening tack that meant the end of buffets and pretty much any kind of deal in the restaurants. The restaurant program at Station is outstanding, it’s just not predicated on value the way it used to be. That seems to be changing. We discuss the reasons why in the March LVA. Here, we concentrate on the particulars of this exceptional deal.
In judging a value, where and when are important factors. If a deal is available for three hours one day a week at some obscure location, then it almost doesn’t matter how good it is. For this one, the where is several of the Station coffee shops, which means locations all over the city. They are the Brass Forks at Palace, Sunset, and Santa Fe Stations, the Lucky Pennys at Green Valley Ranch and Red Rock, and Game On at Boulder Station. That’s a pretty good where, and the when is as good as it gets—it’s available 24/7 at all the locations.
The deal is available to Station Casinos Boarding Pass Members only. When you order, the first thing the waitress asks for is your players card. No problem. If you don’t have one, get one on your way in. It’s a smart move; they’re building their database.
It’s a cheeseburger, served with lettuce, tomato, onion, and pickles. Mustard, ketchup, and mayo are at the ready. It comes with a mini-bucket of fries (no substitutions). You almost can’t find a cheeseburger for $10 or less anymore and you won’t find one this good for $6 anywhere. You can make it a double for an additional $2.99. A Pepsi with unlimited refills was $3.99.
We tried only the burger & fries, but at the same time, Station added four late-night breakfast specials: pancakes $3.99, eggs with biscuits and gravy $4.99, Deuces Wild (classic eggs and meat) $4.99, and steak and eggs $9.99. These are all served 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily. Similar to burgers, the price of breakfasts has gone up everywhere, nearly doubling in some spots (egg shortage?). Hence, this is another good play, albeit not with the same availability.
For those who weren’t around or have just forgotten, Station Casinos used to be the King of the Deals. Perhaps the most famous was its 49¢ complete breakfast back in the ‘80s (people used to order six of them at a time). Even considering the time period, it ranks as one of Vegas’ all-time great deals. Then there was a $9.99 king crab leg special in the ‘90s that was just plain ridiculous. After that, the incredible Feast Buffet ran all the way to 2020, which was the last time a Station property has been in the Top Ten, aside from the traditional nod to Durango Casino when it opened. Quite a change in philosophy. Food courts ain’t gonna get you on the Top Ten.
We liked everything about this deal and it’s currently #5 in our Top Ten Values list. And this isn’t all from Station. The Oyster Bar at Red Rock has good daily specials, including $1 oysters and clams on the half shell on Tuesdays. And the Oyster Bar at Palace Station has just initiated its own “Oyster Tuesdays” with $1.25 oysters. Maybe there’s more to come. The vast Station network has the capacity to buy in bulk and create deals like these. Whatever the reason—Anthony Curtis suggests in his March COUPONOMY column that the casinos, as a group, might be anticipating a slowdown—they’ve finally made some moves to bring back that old Station Casinos feel. It’s good to see.
And yes, this was the bill for two. Nice.
Circus Circus – Circus Buffet: This week’s breakfast buffet is Fri-Sun, 1 a.m.-12 p.m. is $19.95. Then their dinner buffet is Fri & Sat, 4 p.m.-10 p.m. is $24.95.
Cosmopolitan – Wicked Spoon: Daily Brunch is now 8 a.m.-2 p.m. instead of 8 a.m.-3 p.m. for $47 on weekdays and $54 on weekends.
Rampart – Market Place Buffet: All buffet prices went up by $1-$2. Champagne Brunch Sat & Sun, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. is now $34.99. Lunch Mon-Fri, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. is now $23.99. Dinner Mon, Tues, & Thurs-Sun 4 p.m.-8 p.m.is now $33.99.
Nacho Daddy is a local chain of three restaurants, one downtown, one at the Miracle Mile Shops, and one on W. Sahara in Summerlin. The first location opened in 2010 and Nacho Daddy’s claim to fame is for being the inventor of the Scorpion shot: Cenote tequila, salt, lime, and an actual scorpion.
Yes, you read that right. At the Miracle Mile location, Nacho Daddy displays a live-scorpion terrarium built by the TV show “Tanked” and this unique “attraction” has been featured on the Food Network, Travel Channel, and Animal Planet. The company claims that it’s served 50,000 Scorpion shots over the past decade-plus as a rite of passage for what we’d call “extreme drinkers.” Of course, the scorpions are dead and their stingers have been removed, but what they call the “ultimate drinking challenge” was an experience that we passed on during our visit to finally review Nacho Daddy.
This is essentially a Mexican-food sports bar with a focus, nachorally, on nachos: a dozen different kinds, with ground beef, six kinds of chicken, shrimp, filet, even lobster and crab and surf and turf, along with the usual refried beans, cheddar and jack cheese, queso fresco, and pico de gallo, plus sautéed onions, guacamole, and sour cream all topping house-made tri-colored corn chips. These plates, big enough for two big eaters and three mediums, range from $18 to $29.
Nachos noch-yo thang? You can also get soup and salads, flaming fajitas ($19-$26), burritos and enchiladas ($15-$17), tacos ($13-$18), a number of vegan options, and several desserts. They also serve Sunday brunch with a big page of breakfast choices and any kind of alcohol you can dream up at all hours. The Scorpion shot is $23.95.
We visited the downtown branch and tried the Fiesta nachos, the basic chicken-breast version ($17.95), and the flaming-shrimp appetizer, a half-pound of chipotle-lime-marinated shrimp served on a sizzling skillet.
Both were decent and plenty of food for two of us, with half of both left to take out. With a couple of beers, the bill came to $72 with tax, without tip. A bit expensive, perhaps, and the nachos don’t travel particularly well, but we’re not too picky about leftovers and we got a second lunch out of the deal.
Maybe next time, we’ll brave the tequila-marinated scorpion. Maybe not.
In August, Yelp issued a list of the Best Sandwich Shops in All 50 States and Nevada’s was Panino, an Italian deli on S. Decatur and Sunset Road. We have to admit, the selection abashed us a bit, since we’d never even heard of it! Then again, we’re not familiar with every little mom-and-pop eatery in town and this is definitely one of those.
Of course, it went on our list. We got there a couple of months later and now we know why it earned the lofty distinction over such Vegas favorites as the Goodwich, Capriotti’s, All’Antico Vinaio, Earl of Sandwich, and plenty of others.
Panino (“Sandwich” in Italian) is a flagship of a small local fleet of eateries owned and operated by an Italian-Argentine and his wife; the Zucchiatis have lived in the U.S. for 20 years and in Las Vegas since 2017. Food-industry veterans, they know exactly what makes a great sandwich. First and foremost, the bread. Here, Italian hard rolls, French-style baguettes, and marble rye are baked fresh every morning and Panino smells like it, along with the distinct aroma of a great deli, which hits you when you enter. Second, the meats, cheeses, veggies, and sauces are top-notch and third, the bread and ingredients all work together in perfect harmony.
Panino being an Italian deli, we were compelled to try the classic meatball sub, the first item on the extensive menu. The meatballs came in thin slices and there was just enough marinara to make it tasty; it wasn’t sloppy or hard to eat. The toasted roll was crisp and crunchy on the outside, but not too hard, pillow soft on the inside, and held up well to the marinara. Exceptional chew! And here’s the clincher: Half the sandwich was plenty for us, but we kept eating till we finished. We couldn’t stop!
It was also the least expensive sandwich on the menu at $15.95. The most expensive is the Philly cheesesteak at $18.50. Even the pastrami melt, which comes with a pound of meat, plus cheese, peppers, onions, lettuce, tomato, pickles, and garlic sauce, is only $16.50. Other interesting combos include the chicken pesto, chimichurri-drenched steak, pulled pork, French dip, spicy Italian, and turkey, cranberry, and cream cheese.
Panino also serves soups and salads (Caesar, Cobb, Greek, antipasto, wedge) for $15-$19, pastas (ravioli, tortellini, gnocchi, lasagna) for $14-$16, 10 flavors of housemade gelato, plus cannolis, tiramisu, and Napoleans. Of course, stuffed to the gills from the sandwich, we’ll have to return to try any of the other offerings.
The storefront is casual, cluttered, and busy; while we ate at one of the seven tables, a steady stream of mostly working guys arrived for a hearty and affordable lunch.
This fish & chips joint (a.k.a. “chippy”) opened in July 2020 out in Henderson during the dark days of the pandemic. It flew beneath our radar until it made a little news by closing last July due to problems with the building it was leasing, then reopening in October in a larger space in the same shopping center.
Our go-to spot for fish & chips is, of course, Crown & Anchor, so we thought we’d compare the Codfather’s with our tried and true.
Owned and operated by a native of Sheffield (in the north of England around 40 miles south of Leeds), the Codfather serves a limited menu of Brit faves that are nothing if not authentic. You have your choice of breaded (gluten-free available) and deep-fried cod, catfish, and vegan ($14.95) or haddock ($16.50) with hand-cut chips (fries). These are big fat juicy and tasty pieces of white fish. Get a side of gravy for your chips or curry sauce for your fish, along with cole slaw and the classic British side dish, mushy peas ($2.75). Codfather also offers clam chowder ($4.95/$6.95), mushy pea fritters ($4.95), poutine, cod butty (sandwich), and the Kevin (vegetarian pot pie), all around $10.
We sampled the cod and chips and mushy pea fritters and all we can say is, “In Cod We Trust!” Everything, including the fries, was as good as we’d hoped. We thought one of the individual condiment packages that came with it was ketchup, but it turned out to be malt vinegar and that was even better. The Codfather’s wares definitely stack right up there with Crown & Anchor’s.
Our bill came to $21.57 with tax and that fed two of us for lunch. Though it’s a trek out to the location on Green Valley Parkway near Sunset, we weren’t sorry we made the effort.
They keep trying to sound the death knell for buffets, but new ones just keep showing up. The latest comes from Genting Palace at Resorts World. This isn’t a dedicated buffet—there’s full menu service in the restaurant—but the buffet is available daily except Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday and Thursday it’s $50.88 and Friday through Sunday it’s $60.88, with several seafood selections added. Unlimited wine is optional for $35/$40.
Located inside the massive Resorts World resort, Genting Palace is one of the many fine-dining restaurants that sit directly off the casino floor. It’s a high-end place with high-end service and all ages are welcome. We went with a 13-year-old birthday boy, who received a small cake with a candle, gratis.
We went on a Sunday for the more expensive seafood selection. Upon entering the restaurant, the buffet doesn’t look very impressive and most of the customers are ordering off the menu, so there aren’t any lines. Don’t be dissuaded. There aren’t dozens of selections, but there doesn’t need to be. And the absence of lines is a definite plus. The cold seafood line-up is a good one—medium shrimp, snow crab, raw oysters, scallops, and whelks. What are whelks? They’re sea snails (you can pick them out from the photo below). There’s also a big selection of fresh fruit. The steam trays are all labeled: braised pork brisket, shrimp fried rice, seafood noodle, mussels in black bean sauce, siu mai, minced beef soup. At the end of the serving line is the Peking duck. A server carves it for you and the crepes and accompaniments are there for you to prepare as you like. Among those accompaniments is the hoisin sauce that goes with the duck, but strangely, it’s the only sauce available. No chili sauce, not even soy, you have to request those from your server (there’s cocktail sauce for the seafood). It’s a buffet, go back as often as you want.
This is a good one. The skinny snow crab was somewhat disappointing, but the rest of the seafood made up for it. The Peking duck ain’t no Wing Lei at Wynn, but you also won’t find that at any other buffet that we know of. Our favorites from the trays were the mussels and the soup. Drinks aren’t included and a Monkey Picked Oolong Tea was $8 additional. It was a perfect outing for our birthday scenario and we’d have to call it a bargain, given the near-$90 price tags at the gourmet buffets. We didn’t do the wine add-on, but will when we go back to try the non-seafood version.
Circus Circus – Circus Buffet: This week’s breakfast buffet is Fri-Sun, 1 a.m.-12 p.m. is $19.95. Then their dinner buffet is Fri & Sat, 4 p.m.-10 p.m. is $24.95.
Excalibur – The Buffet at Excalibur: Brunch buffet prices went up $1. Weekday Brunch is Mon – Thur, 7 a.m.-2 p.m. is now $32.99. Friday Brunch is 7 a.m.-2 p.m. is now $38.99. Mimosa Brunch is Sat & Sun, 7 a.m.-2 p.m. is still $43.99.
MGM Grand – MGM Grand Buffet: All brunch buffet prices went up $1. Weekday Brunch is Mon – Thur, 7 a.m.-2 p.m. is now $32.99. Friday Brunch is 7 a.m.-2 p.m. is now $38.99. Mimosa Brunch is Sat & Sun, 7 a.m.-2 p.m. is now $43.99.
Wynn – The Buffet: Seafood Gourmet Dinner buffet price went up $5. Gourmet Brunch is daily, 8 a.m.-1 p.m. is still $59.99. Seafood Gourmet Dinner is daily, 1 p.m.-9 p.m. is now $79.99.
LINQ
Wed.-Sun. 7 and 9:30 p.m.
$117.62
You enter the Discoshow bilevel sanctum through a door off the casino and pass through a mirrored anteroom.
Out the back door is 99 Prince, the first-floor bar that’s as dark and sinister as a New York subway station. You walk up the stairs, down a long hall, and wait in the lounge outside the showroom. The Disco (drag) Queen, Mother, regales you for 10 minutes or so from a book of disco fairy tales, then the doors open.
You show the wristband you’re given upon checking in and file into Glitterloft, the theater, such as it is: a square space with no seats, a catwalk above and around the perimeter, and huge video panels encircling the room with non-stop scenes from ’70s Manhattan and Chicago. The Gloria Gaynor tune “I Will Survive” is playing — and you hope you’re not supposed to take it literally.
Looking around, you’ll note that a goodly portion of the audience is dressed in Vegas-disco outfits, ready to rock ’em and sock ’em.
And it’s hard not to rock at this $40 million show, especially if you were into the disco music and scene 40-50 years ago. You stand throughout the performance, which consists of a six-segment dance lesson from Ake (“Okay”) Blomqvist, modeled and named after a Finnish actor and dance instructor — bright white suit, Scandinavian accent, fun moves, and all.
The 10 dancers gyrate, luxate, and roller skate on the catwalk, backed by the intense videos.
At several points during the show, they come down to the dance floor and climb atop “dumpsters” rolled in and out to get up close and sweaty with the audience. The floor lights up with X-mark-the-spots rectangles and crowd managers with small paddles prod the audience out of the way of the portable stages.
It’s all as highly choreographed and produced and risqué as you’d expect from Spiegelworld, especially if you’ve seen Absinthe or Atomic Saloon. Also, it’s nothing if not high energy, revving up the crowd to a soundtrack of Chic’s “Le Freak,” “Good Times,” and “Everybody Dance,” The Trammps’ “Disco Inferno,” and the finale, “We Are Family,” the disco anthem from Sister Sledge, accompanied by — what else? — a strobe effect.
Then DiscoShow slams shut, the doors fling open, and you shuffle out after 70 minutes of standing, dancing, shoving, and swiveling to take it all in.
If this sounds kind of chaotic and a bit indiscriminate, that’s because it is. DiscoShow isn’t your grandfather’s Vegas entertainment. It’s immersive, participatory, and strenuous, so it’s not for everyone. But if you’re up for more of a party than any other Las Vegas production show in recent memory, this is an experience you won’t soon forget.
