Question of the Day - 12 January 2021

“I'll have some of that there yella'... and don't you get cheap on me ya hear?”

Buffets are overrated.  The quality of food is not very good for many items, even at higher end buffets.  I won't miss them for value.  In my 20 years subscribing to LVA, I only used the Rio 2 for 1 buffet coupon a few times.  I never used any others.  I much preferred the value I received from the other coupons, especially the gambling and other drink and dining deals, notably Ellis Island.  I'd like to see Anthony get more of those deals in future editions. 

I'll miss them, usually a breakfast buffet was my only meal of the day.  After most of the coffee shops died off the buffets were the best place for a solo diner to spend some resort credit 

I was an evening eater and good prime rib and horseradish drew me in. Then off to a show or gambling or gawking at humanity and the lights and sounds of Vegas. Can't wait to get back to my several yearly trips to Vegas. Hope springs eternal.

We will miss the buffet coupons.  We've always used them.  True,  food quality is not always that great but you always find something edible and some what satisfying. 

One of the big reasons we'd visit the casinos, especially Stations casinos, as well as some others, was the 2 for 1 buffet coupon.Gambling was a secondary attraction, something we'd do while at the casino, not the primary attraction. We still visit Ellis for the BBQ and steak dinner special, but with the buffets gone, there's little to entice us to come to any of the casinos, except South Point, and even that's been curtailed since they now have the buffet closed for breakfast.

Breakfast buffet was always dependable, mostly really good, especially getting a made to order omelet.  Didn't need much the rest of the day.  Lunch or dinner, meh...food looked good but lacked in flavor, lots wasted.  I guess they didn't use MSG (I was raised on it, but I know it causes problems for some), but that's another topic for another day.

Candy 

Even when admitedly, the "high end, bloated, overhyped buffet might not turn a profit, the regular run of the mill buffet should be safe. Buffets are profitable another way, Betters don't go out of the hotel-casino to eat, they eat at an affordable place and keep on betting where they feel comfortable, if they have to go out to eat, most porbably they will bet at another place (prefrebly where they eat. This buffet gone phase, aided by covid is just another atempt in turning hotel-casinos into "high end" places for the whealty, and the normal, common person is running out of choices. It's not that I personaly can't afford it, I can, but why?, that's not what Vegas whas all about. It's just frustrating to see, corporations trying to get more, and more, and more proffit, it has to turn around, as for me, I've not stayed at big strip places for years, prefering locals places, and the atmosphere there has been a lot better, so, sorry, no MGM or Caesars for me till they change 

Never much for lunch or dinner at the buffets but used them for breakfast most every day.  Will miss that for sure, with the 2 for 1 coupons in the book most of them were about $5-6 each for a meal with a lot of variety, fruit, drinks, coffee, etc.  Pretty hard to mess up most breakfast foods.  We typically eat a big breakfast and are good until dinner time.

No buffet...no Vegas...for me any way.

They'll come back.
Buffets are too good a marketing strategy for them to disappear.
When people finally realize the odds of this WuHuFlu taking them out, they'll be back in droves, with the casinos fighting to get them in the door.
With the exception of the money lost on these ridiculous shutdowns, everything will be back to normal in three years.

Open or close the buffet?
Like every other decision the corporate-owned casinos make it will depend on what they perceive is the value of having a buffet to their business vs the cost of offering the buffet. The buffet takes up a lot of valuable floorspace that could have slot machines or other money-makers for the casino. How many of the folks that eat at the buffet also spend money elsewhere in the casino-resort,, such as gambling, shopping, shows, hotel room, etc? If they can close the buffet and it doesn't greatly affect the other parts of the business then why not shut it down? The cost of wasted large amounts of food, the current health risks that any dining place has, higher insurance rates due to kitchen fires and food poisoning lawsuits, payroll for the buffet staffing and a bunch of other associated costs all go in favor of eliminating the buffet. It's only the public's desire for a buffet that makes the casino think about keeping it open.
 

@thebeachbum's comment... Lol! I'm sure he plays the table game "Guess the Number" too. AC got it right, some will be gone for good and some will be slow to come back. If crowds come back to pre-pandemic levels though, buffets will be necessary to feed the masses and there's not too many better ways to do it than the buffets.

We have a number of out of state friends who don't care to visit without the buffets.  Those are part of the Vegas experience and part of the fun of being here.  From what I can see going on in the casinos, I think those casino policy makers need to re-think their ideas on buffets and bring them back as soon as they can.  It was especially sad at Thanksgiving and Christmas when the buffets would be so fun and all the people so happy.  Not one more day should go by without them.  It is the only way to get Las Vegas back to normal.

I find it hard to believe that some people won’t travel to Vegas if there aren’t buffets. Are they for real? It’s a buffet- which is mediocre food at rip off prices. Last time I checked there are a few other things to do in Vegas besides overeating crappy food.