Fewer concepts are linked as closely to Las Vegas as the buffet, so let us take a few moments to consider it.
The once lowly all-you-can-eat feast has come a long way since the 1940s, when the original El Rancho Vegas introduced the midnight Chuck Wagon buffet, offering an incredible array of food for a dollar in order to keep its customers in the house and gambling.
Today's mainstream buffets have come a long way, with many of them offering true gourmet dishes and prices creeping upward to the point where $18 to $20 and higher for a highly regarded buffet are commonplace tariffs.
What's good about buffets, even at today's prices? Here are my reasons why they are usually a very good deal for the Las Vegas visitor (as well as the locals):
Buffets are all-you-can-eat, remember? Whether you visit one at breakfast, lunch or dinner, it is easy to make it your main meal, perhaps only meal, of the day. This can actually be a money-saver for you.
If you enjoy gourmet food, an upscale buffet will give you the chance to sample a number of dishes for one price. What an opportunity to dine on filet of tenderloin, rack of lamb, baby back ribs, king crab legs, and so much more at a single sitting!
If you are in a group, a buffet is the perfect place to satisfy everyone's tastes without forcing them to eat from a menu they may not enjoy. There's something for everyone, and no one need go away unhappy or hungry.
The diner with dietary restrictions is usually well off at a buffet, as long as willpower is exercised. There's hardly a buffet in town that won't satisfy the needs of the strict vegetarian, the diabetic, the lactose intolerant, or others with specific limitations.
Buffets are perfect for kids. When our 14-year-old nephew made his first Las Vegas visit with his parents, the only places he wanted to eat were buffets after he had experienced his first one. We took his family to four buffets in five days, and he never got tired of them. When we asked him why, his answer was direct and unvarnished, as only a child's can be: "I have to eat what mom makes back home, but here I can eat whatever I want."
So let us celebrate the buffet! It helped define Las Vegas, and as far as I can see into the future, it always will.
