If you must have food! now!, head for the nearest smorgy and start shoveling it home.
You can also buffet shop, simply by walking in and sneaking a peek, which most rooms allow.
If you have young children and are facing a kid-food emergency, you can have buffet nourishment in their mouths within 30 seconds of walking in (at many buffets, children under 5 or so eat free and older children qualify for discounts).
But if you want a memorable experience, plan ahead (buffet basic strategy: late for breakfast and lunch, early for dinner).
Many Las Vegas buffets, however, close the cashier stations around a half-hour before the start of the new meal; as soon as the cash registers close, the kitchen staff starts breaking down the previous meal and setting up the new one. This discourages people from taking too much advantage of the changeover. Many buffets also close completely during the one or two hours they have in between meals.
Still, if you can get in under the breakfast or lunch wires and don’t mind waiting around 20-30 minutes for lunch or dinner, it can be done. And a handful of buffets don't close between meals at all, so you can eat two meals for the price of one (if you leave room for the second after gorging on the first).
Wear loose-fitting or stretchy pants. You will be full afterwards; that's the whole idea!