Casino Buffets

I just wanted to comment on the question of the day a few days ago because I didnt have time then and I have a little inside information. Do inexpensive buffets at the casino lose money? If yes, we know the mentality used to be thats OK we'll make it back in the casino.

It must have been about 2004 back when I had a job in Atlanta selling food. We were a small company but could deliver anywhere in USA. I tried to get us into casino buffets. Our company sold inexpensive ( OK cheap) foods mostly frozen. Like I'd sell 3,000 pounds of hamburgers, breakfast sausage, chicken nuggets type food to a facility, etc.

I got us a couple meeting in Las Vegas which eventually turned out to be fruitless. Las Vegas casinos buy on kind of a closed and corrupt system and we couldnt break in. So I remember our meeting with the head chef at Circus Circus buffet and his second in charge. We pitched our stuff and it was going well.

Do these buffets make money? I know what this buffet is. Its cheap food, low price and has a reputation for being bad. I ate it like twice. After counting cards one morning for 45 minutes I asked the pit boss for a breakfast buffet comp and got it. How the hell it was so busy yet the scrambled eggs and bacon were so cold I will never know.....but I digress.

Back to the meeting. At one point I mentioned to the chef I'd heard Las Vegas buffets just try to break even. His assistent laughed and said something like " We WISH we could break even!"  The head chef nodded. This was back more in an era but not the Golden days of coupons, discounts and you might get a "Kids eat free" coupon and a 2-1 buffet coupon discount just for checking into the hotel or asking for a fun book. How they accounted for that I don't know. Or how they account for blackjack player has a comp for one I don't know.

But they were clear they could only WISH they were breaking even.

Buffet food cools on your plate the longer you walk around deciding.   I noticed this most the one time I ate at the Caesars huge buffet when it first opened.  So many items to see and choose from.  Filled my plate, set it down on my table, then went to keep looking in case I missed something I'd really want.  When I got back and started eating, everything on my plate was cool.  Should have surveyed the landscape before deciding.

I don't recall any "bad" food at any buffet, no matter how expensive or cheap.   Maybe not as fancy, maybe not as many offerings, but always enough to make a meal.  I can only eat so much.

Candy

Back in '01 when I was living in Vegas with my sister and her family, we'd go to a buffet at least once a week. The kids loved it, as they could cater to their individual tastes and appetites. As there was quite a lot of variation from one day to the next, I eventually trained/forced myself to "scout" the buffet before I loaded up my plate, just in case there were some things I really liked.

One time, we were at the Can't Wynn, a fabulous buffet at the time, and I absolutely stuffed my face--and then I saw the ceviche bar! I could barely force a nibble, I was so full! Aaaargh!

I think nubile maidens should feed you tidbits from the buffet while you're waiting in line, but so far, my suggestion has fallen on deaf ears. God knows, when you're paying $69.99, you ought to get that and then some.

I think The casinos used Covid as an excuse to close almost of the  buffets that lost money.    the ones that are still open tend to be expensive and most of the patrons pay full price.

But I'd be willing to bet the buffets at Main Street Station and Southpoint are money losers....but the owners probably don't care because they attract gamblers to the casino.   And that's always been the point.   Whatever money the buffets lost they made up for with gamblers chasing comps.    

I'm reminded of bus to casino day trips (to Tunica MS, roughly 3 hours) years ago which included a buffet meal.  I did several trips with them, mostly nice older ladies and we got to know each other at least well enough for jolly conversation, the bingo games on the bus, etc.  Those trips have about ceased after Covid as far as I know.  There was some cost, I think, but it was minimal.  This bus company also ran some major out of town/overnight/week long sight seeing trips.

But...I'm recalling that most casino day trips ended prior to covid, one reason being that a lot of the riders didn't gamble enough during the hours we were there to make it profitable enough for both casino and trip company.   Not like they were expected to lose their monthly checks, but basically they were just getting off the bus, getting their buffet vouchers, maybe playing $5 through a machine.

ALSO, I'm remembering one very large 'lady' who brought big zip lock bags and stuffed her big purse with all the buffet food she could get.  We learned that she'd been 'seen' by management and was told by management, who told her and the lady who ran the trips, "Betty", that the woman was no longer welcome at the buffet.  I don't know how it went down or if it was enforce it or if she ever made another trip afterwords.  She was always given the front seat on the bus after she complained loudly she was being discriminated against in the seating.  She never got in a hurry to get to the bus on time, making everyone late.  Betty accommodated her to keep the peace.  Everyone else knew and tolerated this.

Small number of folks ruining it for everyone.

Candy

To answer your question directly, if inexpensive casino buffets made money, they would still exist.

Here's a FOAF (friend-of-a-friend) story, which are not always reliable: I was told a few years ago by someone with a lot of insider knowledge, that Michael Gaughan claimed that South Point was losing a million dollars a month on the buffet and other food comps. Yeah, I'd call that losing money.

I'll say this. In the past I'd typically spend around 8 hours of every trip at the Gold Coast and or the Orleans.  I'd make a special trip over there to eat a BOGO or comped buffet. Eating took around an hour and the rest of the time was spent playing.  I have news for Boyd Gaming.  I am not going to go out of my way to eat at TGI Fridays. 

       I miss the buffets at the Palace Station, The Orleans and the Sun Coast. All had great selections of food. After eating I always gambled. I no longer visit the Orleans and only visit the Sun Coast to use my points ( I still have over $300+ in points) to eat @ DuPars. I have tried the revamped buffet @ Main Street but find it really lacking compared to what it was before it was shut down. I still get offers to stay @ Palace Station, which I use. When there I find all of their food eateries are way overpriced, except for the Brass Fork. 

I've never eaten at Golden Corral. Buffets for profit are a tough business and many other chains have failed. Some of the buffets in Las Vegas that didnt cost much were so good.... I remember being stunned how good the barbeque station was at The Orleans. I loved The Main Street Station buffet. I once got a comp to Santa Fe buffet before it was owned by Stations casinos and it was seafood night and Im sad to say I ate so much I damn near got sick it was that good. I had to go to my room and lie down. But those days are over....

There was and still is no real correlation between the price of the buffets and their quality. I remember eating at a couple of Strip buffets, paying $30, and thinking that those buffets were inferior to the $9.95 ones at Stations.

Not that I'm ever going to pay $70 to find out, but I daresay that the South Point buffet is just as good as the Strip megatoilets' remaining high-priced spreads.