Question of the Day - 13 September 2024

Bob Sehlinger is best known for his Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World, but he also wrote some other Unofficial guides, including one for Las Vegas.  The QOD reminds me of a story in one of his Unofficial Guides to Las Vegas.  I would guess that this was in the 1990’s but I could be off.  His team was at the Imperial Palace and he encountered an employee who realized that Sehlinger had just checked in, so the employee gave him a helpful tip:  Don’t eat at the buffet.  Seglinger said that since he was a travel writer he had no choice but to eat at the buffet, but Sehlinger wrote that the employee’s advice turned out to be correct.

Back when the Circus Circus buffet was $2.99, a friend asked me if I thought he should try it. I told him, "Well, it's cheaper than food." He tried it, and he agreed with me!

I do have one hearty disrecommedation to share. Siegel's 1941: the food is pretty good (if high-priced), but you might starve to death waiting for someone to take your order and then to actually bring it to you. The service is TERRIBLE. It sucks! It sucks! It sucks! It really really really stinks! Really!

Others may have had better experiences than I, but all i can say is, like Anthony and his crew, i figured that my first bad experience there might have just been an off night. Nope! I went there four times, and each was worse than the last.

And now, as we know, the entire place has followed Siegel's down the crapper. The El Cortez used to be the best casino in town, Now, it's the El Corpse.

Back in the late 80's my buddy and I were given a dinner comp at Lady Luck.  It was one of our first comps and we were thrilled. At the restaurant we both ordered the most expensive item, prime rib. Yum!
Half way thru dinner my buddy threw down his fork and pushed his plate away while pointing to an unexpected entree, a fully intact cockroach nestled among the french fries!  After a thorough scan of my remaining meal, I finished eating mine.
We never went back.

Good example of a place I had a terrible, terrible meal at, but other people seemed to have better meal experience. I went for an awful breakfast. The table next to me had to tell the waitress the coffee was cold not once, but twice. I've never went back. 

I've certainly had many bad meals in LAS over the years.  However, when I was representing airline employees this was the topper--a captain of a major airline wanted an inexpensive breakfast on his layover.  So, he convinced the co pilot to come with him to the Circus Circus buffet.  When they got back to the hotel the co pilot started feeling sick.  To spare the disgusting details he ended up in the hospital and we had to arrange for an air ambulance to get him back home.  He lost over 33% of his body weight.  He thought the sickness was brought on by bacteria in undercooked eggs.  I got involved since, at first, his employer did not want to pay for any of the expenses since "he was on his own time" but eventually they agreed that the layover was related to company duty.  I contacted the Clark County Dept. of Health to ask if any others suffered from the same issue; as I recall they said that there are so many cases of food poisoning that they couldn't link it to only one location! 

I had the Imperial Palace buffet a few times back in the day and it was just fine. Likewise the Circus Circus buffet was OK. They were very good a moving a lot of people through the line quickly. The best low cost buffets were at Station Casinos.

I remember Eastside Cannery's buffet as being mediocre. My friend, who knew all the cheap eats in town, liked it. He liked that the line to get it was always short. I told him why. I think his taste buds had passed away a couple of years prior.

All of these comments bring back memories of The Maxim Resort buffet. That’s is all that I am allowed to say according to my home training!

In the early 2010s, my father suckered me into eating the buffet at Excalibur.  And not just one meal, they were offering an all day pass to eat there.  He never would have missed a bargain.  The lunch was so bad that I barely wanted to eat the dinner.

Many years ago, I was playing blackjack at Harrahs in Atlantic City. I mentioned that I was planning one of my very first trips to Las Vegas.  The dealer raved about the Circus Circus buffet; said it was a “must do!”  So, of course, I made it a priority during my visit. 

Went to the buffet. Put the few items that looked edible on my plate. Took literally one bite and left. 

Don’t know if that bj dealer was getting kickbacks from CC or if he just got some kind of evil thrill knowing that he might have just subjected a poor jerk to the disgusting mess that was the CC buffet. In any case, it was a truly awful experience. 

I just ate there twice in the last week and both times were great. Granted I choose the least busy time of 3-4pm on a weekday to go there so that pretty much assures me I will get right in, which I did. The service was fine both times and both dinners were terrific.  I do see they get very busy on weekends, so maybe that is when the service gets worse. But honestly I go there every time I make my bi-annual trip to Vegas and have never been disappointed. 

Siegels 1941 sounds like a must. MGM Grand buffet is a no. Belagio a strong yes. Southpoint dollar for dollar is number 1, UNO!

I agree with John Curtas who wrote your "Eating Las Vegas" books that Ferraro's is the best Italian restaurant in town.  You have mentioned it once or twice but only in passing when you discuss "good" Italian restaurants and I have wondered why.  I have been there numerous times over the years and it is always top-notch in every way.  And, you can walk in any time without a reservation and have a meal at the bar!  I also agree with Mr. Curtas that Piero's is sad based on several visits there over the years.  So I would advise anyone seeking a great Italian place to avoid it.  They do pour a great cocktail at their bars, however, so if you just want great drinks and a "cool" vibe I would say go for it.

I remember eating the Maxim buffet and it was exactly what you'd expect a $4.99 buffet to be. We scored a bunch of twofer coupons somewhere and ate there a few times. Food was good with not much variety, service, mediocre, and at $5 for two, the price was fabulous.

I am a supporter of LVA and of most of its policies. But I sadly have to disagree with the stated policy of not reporting bad places or bad meals. I think that to fail to do "bad reporting" is borderline unethical, as in shirking one's duty. It is not true that all bad places will fail and close; many stay open because of "undiscriminating" diners who "don't have a clue". Rather, LVA should IMMEDIATELY report (even just somewhere on its Website) of any bad experience, so that others will not waste their time & money (and maybe harm their health) by eating at a bad place. LVA doesn't need to find a place in the weekly online newsletter or the monthly "magazine", but rather just have an online alphabetized list of restaurants with the staff's notes under the restaurant name. That way, we could go online and see whether a restaurant has a black mark, before we decide to go and eat there. To me, that is the only responsible practice to have.

For many years the only 24-hour buffet was the Boardwalk. What a dump!  Exactly like the one on "Vegas Vacation ".  Took my wife there at 3am.  Neat!

Siegel's 1941 at El Cortez is not simply bad like 1 or 2 people said. It's more complicated than that. I've eaten there a lot over the years, so my assessment should be valued more than that from one visit by a contributor. As I don't drink coffee, I've never had to deal with the issue of hotness. But I can say that most of the food I've eaten is good, and most of the service I've gotten is good. With servers, the smartest thing you can do (anywhere) is to treat them like gold, and they will remember you and give you great service. If something bad happens and you go sour, expect your rapport with the server to go bad, so why not prevent that from happening? And if a server is bad regardless, don't get sucked into an enemy relationship, or else the service will be even worse. Try to be positive in attitude, and if need be, just laugh off bad experiences; you'll feel better than if you let it ruin your day. If a certain dish is bad, you can ask for something else.

While nearly every LV restaurant you enter will have an "A" Rating posted at the cashier, you might not know if they just recovered from a "C" rating last week. Or, if they've had a long history of citations and recoveries over the years. 
Keep the link I offer at the end here on your phone, tablet or PC or get it from the Southern Nevada Health District.
You can quickly enter the name of any LV restaurant and not only see the health rating but the establishment's history as far back as 2005. That should surely give you an indication of whether or not you wish to try it.
https://www.southernnevadahealthdistrict.org/permits-and-regulations/restaurant-inspections/

The food at Siegel's 1941 is "all over the map".  It isn't all good or all bad. There are many good things on the menu, and some not so great. The matzo ball soup is good, has been called the best in the city. Unless there's been a change recently, they use REAL turkey in the club sandwich and the hot turkey sandwich, not that squidgy crap, so those two menu items are good to order. The french dip sandwich is good. The hash browns are usually greasy, but I like them that way, because that helps my upset stomach. I've asked for eggs scrambled EASY; sometimes it happens, other times not, depends on the cook. I've asked them to use a paper towel to remove excess fat from my bacon; usually they comply. I do not recommend the $19.95 prime rib; it's only 8 oz., and only 5 or 6 oz. of that is meat, and it's not good quality. Do not get the "ham steak"; it's not ham steak, but is squidgy crap. The salmon and the roast chicken are good. Spaghetti & meatballs are so-so. Sr menu on Wed is great.

I don't feel that LVA is "borderline unethical" or "shirking their duty" if they don't report what they consider to be unacceptable food, service or facilities at various dining establishments.  It's not their responsibility to put any place out of business.  Everyone's taste buds and eating experience requirements are different.  I think LVA does a great job with their reports on dining.  Because some likes a different food experience than others does not make them "undiscriminating diners" who "don't have a clue."  As far as where to eat, that's ultimately up to the individual to do their homework if they don't want to waste their time, money and possibly risk their health by eating at a bad establishment.  Keep up the great work LVA.  Remind us of the good places to go and we should be smart enough to figure out the rest on our own.

Since the questioner asked for worst restaurants...I think I'll offer my 2 cents.
Frequent Vegas visitor here (and Northern Nevada resident). 
About 5 years ago, decided we wanted to eat at a place with outdoor seating. While at the Linq, we decided to give GUY FIERI'S VEGAS KITCHEN & BAR a shot...BIG MISTAKE. BIG. 
I sent my meal back 3 x.. yes. gave them 3 tries to get it right, but 4th time was still wrong and they refused to take it off the bill.
What was so bad? It was just a cheeseburger. Their signature item. What I expect from a cheeseburger is meat cooked to what I asked for (medium) and cheese that is melting over the meat, on a warm bun. 
Each time, what came out was almost raw meat and a COLD slice of cheese sitting like a plank on the meat. Jeebus, just zap it in the microwave for 30 seconds to melt the cheese!
 I really asked nicely each time for the waiter to ask the cook to melt the cheese... each time, brought back the same cold cheese slice on undercooked burger. 

Can confirm, service is terrible. Had to wait forever in an almost empty restaurant to get my order taken. When I finally got the check, my waitress disappeared for about 30 minutes. I had put out my card but finally just dropped some cash so I could get on with my life. Unfortunately, I forgot to pick up the card and put it back in my wallet, so I had to go back the next day to get it.

Luckily I'm 86ed from the Sweaty Spaniard, so I won't be going back until next year.