Question of the Day - 27 January 2021

This poll preview is like a bad buffet – not enough options.

It won’t change my visitation at all.

Buffets are a nice option, but that’s all. They were an option. They weren’t driving me to town.

That's why it's a Poll Preview and not the Poll. Make some suggestions. 

No buffets...no problem.  It would not change my plans for Vegas visits. There is plenty of other options of quality food around at great pricing....you just have to look for it.

No buffets (or only a few) will not stop me from going to Vegas, but it will be quite the downer. It will likely curtail several of the stops I make for a few hours on plane layovers. I like to stop in Vegas on the way back fro LA to the east coast for a few hours but that will likely change

Buffets are the main reason my wife likes to go to Vegas. Me for the sports books and tables. And she won't let me go without her. Not sure why.....

Beautiful as they are, I never liked the idea of using utensils other people have touched to put food on a plate and eat it.  To me it was always "unsanitary".  Plus people are odd and spill things then pick it up and throw it back.  Others are so obese that watching them at a buffet was like watching pigs eating at a trough.  Most people have no manners either, when it comes to buffets.  

Buffets will not change how often we will come to Vegas or where we might eat.  We are light eaters as we don't go for the expensive buffets or steak houses---unless we happen to get a comp, which we do get from time to time.  

I could probably count on one hand the number of buffets I went to in Vegas.  The problem with buffets is that we all eat way too much and I think they contribute to the obesity problem in the US.  

You're looking for suggestions, not poll responses and all I see are responses. Clearly though, there is no choice that specifies that the responder never goes to buffets. I do think another choice might be that it depends on the price or type of buffet. 1) We only would go to the fancy, expensive buffets, or 2) We only go to the localish, less expensive buffets. So you can have 2 choices, I'll only go back if the ritzy ones return and I'll only go back if the cheapies return. 

The 4 preliminary options are sufficient.  

Candy

The lack of buffets returning to the Vegas scene will not hinder my visits. I will still purchase my membership LVA because it offers other discounts, perts, and information that beneficial to me.

Question:
With the buffets being limited, how does it impact your budget for a Vegas trip? Increase or decrease the cost of eating while there?

They were time savers. People could grab a bite to eat with a nice selection for a reasonable price. Unfortunately, they got too popular, with very long lines and charging more than a comparable moderate restaurant. Sure, there is great variety, but restaurants serve so much food that it's hard to imagine there is a real issue in not getting enough to eat. Not to mention the matter of sanitation, especially the tongs.

My go-to example of this is the Rio, especially during the World Series of Poker. Back before COVID, there used to be a huge line for their just-okay buffet. One could eat at the very tasty KJ Chinese restaurant right across from it, get huge portions, and be done before the last person in the buffet line when you got your table was even up to the cashier.

My wife and are Seven Stars and don't have to wait in the regular buffet line, but we weren't going to them nearly as often as we once did. And, post-COVID, even more people will think about sanitation.

I think you should add another choice:  I enjoy the buffets.  They provide an extra incentive to visit casinos you may not normally go to......That is one reason when we have been to Vegas that sometimes we would go to casinos that had a buffet.

and then usually I had a freebie and there wasn't much of a line. I'm too old to spend a lot of time standing in lines.
About three years ago at an off-strip property, I had a coupon to the buffet--but there were 20-30 people ahead of me. Instead, I went to a non-casino-owned restaurant in the same building; got in and sat down immediately; and had a great breakfast on player points, more than I could eat. And they packed up the leftovers.
More recently at a sister property to the one above, I did go to the buffet; but there was no line this time, and I limited myself to two trips to the counter. Actually more like 1-1/2.

I miss them, I like a big leisurely breakfast with lots of coffee and that's my only real meal.  So yes I miss them but doesn't change my coming to Vegas 

For me a food - which includes a Buffet has always been a destination experience. Not sure how that is captured on a poll.

I would never stay at a particular hotel due to the food but I would visit it. The Rio - hated the location, loved the parade in the sky, loved their seafood buffet. I would visit that hotel once on a visit to vacation. I would never stay at Palace Station but would visit there for the Oyster Bar. I might stay at Caesars based on location and visit the baccarl (sp?) buffet and perhaps Joes Stone Crab restaurant in the mall but I just as likely stay at the Venetian and cross the road for those same places. 

To the other point - I have never found buffets convenient - unless your comped or have such a high tier status that you bypass the line, I much prefer to make a reservation some place.

Is food the reason you come to Vegas?

Is buffet food the reason you come to Vegas?

If available, would you still eat at a very cheap buffet?  Think yellow and blue here.

When the Buffet scene gets back close to normal, I'll be back.
If gambling was my reason for going to Vegas, I could save a lot of time and money by staying home and gambling at Hollywood Slots in Bangor, Maine.

Where are you going to feed all these people?  Other restaurants ? Good luck with that ones. Lines would be longer than buffet line abd wait longer. I rarely go as quality of food has declined. Look at Bellagio. 60 dollars plus tax and food no better than Main Street Station. If Vegas does not return to old Vegas it is Doomed. The new normal and new reset will kill Vegas. Do you think casinos are making money? The situation in Tunica is similar to Vegas. Hollywood supposely has friday buffet. The casinos are near empty. It is not closed buffets that is Vega's problem. My first post on corona scam was laughed at in feb. I was on drug high. Welles's I ? 

This virus is eventually going to end but the "suits" at the major casinos will probably use it as an excuse to end buffets. As LVA so eloquently wrote in January when the were talking about casinos,  "...THE BUFFETS AREN’T LOOKED UPON FAVORABLY,  AS THEY JUST DON’T GOUGE ENOUGH."  That insightful sentence is right on!!!

I love buffets but there are enough good and very reasonable non-buffet food options downtown and off the strip that I can go to.  Large casinos that discontinue buffets after this is over just gives me another reason to avoid them completely.

If some independent entrepreneur opened a large casino on or near the strip that gave decent odds, free parking, meal deals etc. They could kick some corporate butt.  Need another Benny Binion to reset the rules. 

... end up spending less money on food. The buffets weren't a bargain anymore, and were more of a Vegas experience worth paying for than a simple dining option. Also, there will be some hotels I just don't go to anymore because trying their buffet is the main reason to go there.

I will visit the hotel with a buffet if my hotel has none.

And don’t get cheap on me!

Las Vegas is a great playground with lots of quality dining, entertainment, gambling, scenery,and people watching. The values are there if you look for them.  I don't value buffet deals, since food quality is more important to me. I love the value I get from the membership book without use of the buffet coupons.

Even though I don't frequent buffets often when visiting Las Vegas, they are another part of the whole experience and I hope they don't go away. I still think buffets will be necessary to feed the masses once things start to normalize though. The poll choices given seem good to me because too many choices splinter the core of the question.

i will not come as often w/o the buffets. agree w/another's comment: great deal for b'fast. also might think twice about getting qpon book if there aren't as many 50%-offs [i'm a single traveller: two-fers do me no good]

No big deal for me. I may go once in 4 days. I don't eat much, anyway.

I might not be coming back to Vegas. They were a big part of the overall experience for me.
I might return, but think twice about getting an LVA Member Rewards Coupon book this year, because the buffet twofers were a great value.

Jerry and Sam--

Agree, where are you going to put all those people?  We play, stay downtown--where there are reasonable breakfast buffets. We're not big eaters--just like the multiple breakfast choices. Between coupons and player points it made a very reasonable meal.  Closure of them is not going to influence our going to Vegas.

Based on the comments so far, perhaps a good fifth choice might be "I will be visiting Vegas less often than I otherwise would."

A few comments hit close to my feelings, but in the form of a poll response:

"It won't make any difference re my visitation plans to LV, but will take away my reason to visit some properties."

This is the same for me as with some of the places that have closed their poker rooms - I just don't go there anymore, and those places don't get my VP play or room and food money.

Leave in your original comments - add more if they apply.  Too often these polls don't have enough choices and may people can only state their preference in a comment below, when many people may have had the same choice, given the opportunity.  Better to be able to ignore the ones that don't apply than by not being able to get more specific/accurate voting on the poll itself. If polls are too limited, they become skewed and less usefull. 

If Vegas buffets are way cut back it would disappoint me, but it won't affect how often I come to Vegas.

There are some properties I go to where the buffet is one of the top reasons for staying and those places may go off of my list, and to be specific the "M" would be my deleted casino without a buffet.

I love to go to the high end buffets, so an answer is:
"I will probably go to LV less, and then it will be a begrudging trip."
Yes LV has many good restaurants, but I don't have to travel but 1 hour on the train to NYC for more & better restaurants.

I need an answer that's *almost* "will only stay at hotel that has one." Actually, I'll only stay at or near a hotel that has one, and I'm only talking about an inexpensive buffet. I have no idea why people pay for expensive buffets; I assume it's a social or indulgence thing. I like inexpensive buffets because I hardly need to interact with a waitperson, to hurry, to be on nice manners, to be limited to the menu structure. It's perfect for an introvert.

With the Southpoint being mentioned so much on this site, I'm surprised you haven't checked it out. It's about 4 miles South of Mandalay on LV Blvd, has an independent owner schooled in the "old ways" of Vegas, gives the gambler a fighting chance, and has a good comp and host system. Good food choices, from Steak and Shake to the ultra old school fine dining of Michael's. Spacious, clean rooms. Great pool, nice spa. Free parking. As the old saying goes, "Drive a little, save a lot."

I come to Vegas for the value. As the number of buffets diminish, so will my visits.

Instead of just "I'll only stay at a hotel that still has one.", can you add one that is more middle of the road:

"It won't stop me from coming, but my choice of hotel will lean toward those offering a buffet"

The only time I ever went to a buffet was when it was comped to me YEARS ago, when they still did that!