Are There Any 24-Hour Buffets?

No Las Vegas casino currently has a round-the-clock buffet. Most stop serving dinner by 10 p.m. and don't start up again until breakfast, sometime between 6 and 8 a.m.

 

Las Vegas' first 24-hour eatery in a casino was introduced by the El Rancho Vegas, which launched Las Vegas' first buffet. The El Rancho's late-night Buckaroo Buffet chuck wagon was so successful that it was quickly imitated by the other Las Vegas casinos and its hours were extended to round the clock. It's unclear how long 24-hour availability lasted, but no other casinos followed suit. The experiment, ultimately, became the precursor to the 24-hour coffee shop.

 

Over the years, 24-hour buffets have come and gone. The latest wave occurred in 2005, when there were three: at the Boardwalk, Plaza, and Riviera. The Boardwalk was imploded a year later to make way for CityCenter (its passing was lamented by very few, especially on the culinary front). The Plaza buffet ceased to exist at the end of 2010 ahead of the hotel's closure for a complete remodel (it reopened without a buffet). And the Riviera buffet, having long since abandoned a 24-hour schedule, closed with the hotel-casino in May 2015, a week after its 60th anniversary.

 

The last 24-hour spread appeared in summer 2011, when the Gold Strike in Jean, Nevada, extended its buffet hours to offer a nightly menu from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. The late-night hours were sparsely attended and were discontinued shortly thereafter; the whole buffet shut down in late 2015. 

 

These days, the classic Las Vegas 24-hour coffee shop is also somewhat on the way out, though the late-night dining scene in general has gone from strength to strength in recent years. Multiple -- often very reasonably priced -- wee-hour options seem to span every cuisine type -- American, Thai, Japanese, Italian, Korean, Greek, etc.