A Taste of Las Vegas
by Linda Anderson

Over 31 million people visit Las Vegas each year. Visitors to Las Vegas enjoy grand hotels and casinos, great shopping and fabulous restaurants. Dining in Las Vegas has become one of city's main attractions.

The all-you-can-eat buffets are a popular choice for both visitors and locals. The buffets offer a wide choice of entrees, salads and desserts with worldwide influences. Before-your-eyes preparations at buffet specialty stations has become the norm. Buffets run the gamut of grand opulence and grand prices to just a good meal at reasonable prices.

The buffet lines can be long, so you may want to eat early to avoid waiting. The restaurant manager at the Excalibur suggests that you eat dinner between 4-6 p.m. to avoid crowds.

Excalibur Hotel and Casino

The Knights of the Round Table would be very pleased with the newly remodeled Round Table Buffet at the Excalibur Hotel and Casino. The Round Table buffet is the largest buffet in Las Vegas. On an average day, the buffet serves 10,000 people and seats 980 people at a time. The buffet is moderately priced and offers discounts to children between the ages of four and 10.

Eggs Benedict is offered at the breakfast buffet and the waffle specialty station prepares your waffles while you wait. The homemade pastries and donuts are baked in the Excalibur Hotel and Casino bakery.

A carving station is set up daily for lunch and dinner. Turkey and ham is served at the lunch buffet and prime rib is served nightly. Fifteen hot entrees are offered and the menu changes daily. The lasagna, roast pork and fajitas are popular entrees.

The salad bar serves a mixed green salad with a wide selection of toppings and nine cold salads for your enjoyment. Peel-and-eat shrimp is featured nightly.

The dessert bar offers a wide selection of homemade pies, cakes, ice cream, cheesecake and pudding to satisfy any sweet tooth.

Rio All-Suite Casino Resort

The Village Seafood Buffet has definitely made a name for itself with the superior quality of food that is served nightly. The Zagat National Restaurant Guide has recognized Rio All-Suite Casino Resort nationally as the Best Dining in Las Vegas since 1995. The Rio is the only Las Vegas casino property to have received the prestigious "Five Star Diamond Award" from the American Academy of Restaurant and Hospitality Science for three consecutive years.

The Village Seafood Buffet was the first all-seafood buffet to premier in Las Vegas. Fresh seafood is flown in daily and placed in saltwater tanks until mealtime.

Scrumptious crab legs, lobster tails, steamed clams, and peel-and-eat shrimp are a few of the delicacies featured daily on the Village Seafood Buffet. The Seafood Mongolian Barbecue is a real delight and comes with your choice of fish, shrimp, scallops or squid. Prime rib and steak is served for those in your party that may not enjoy seafood. The breads and pastas are all homemade at the Rio.

The Dessert Bar offers a variety of treats that are baked in the Rio bakery. If you have room, try the homemade cheesecakes, pies, cakes, cookies and homemade ice cream.

The Rio offers two buffets. The Rio Carnival World Buffet is also excellent, but the Village Seafood Buffet is exceptional.

Sunset Station

Two buffets that are favorites of visitors as well as Vegas locals are the Sunset Station and the Texas Station buffets. The Sunset Station Feast Around the World Buffet was named among the Top 10 Las Vegas Buffets in the Top 40 Restaurant Guide published by the National Association of Record Merchandisers. The Sunset Station is located in the Henderson/Green Valley area a few miles from downtown Las Vegas. If you have transportation, it is definitely worth your while to visit these two outstanding buffets.

The Feast Around the World Buffet at the Sunset Station hosted its one-millionth customer in January 1998, just seven months after it opened its doors. The buffet features five themed specialty stations: Viva Mexico; Mama Mia's; Chinatown; Farmers Market; and the Country Barbecue. Each specialty station prepares your food on command, and the food items are indigenous to that country or region. These specialty stations will definitely take you on a Feast Around the World.

Try one of the 20 pizzas at Mama Mia's, the Chinatown twice-roasted duck, or the tacos, fajitas and delicious homemade tortillas at Viva Mexico. The Country Barbecue Station offers scrumptious mesquite smoked ribs and brisket prepared with a special homemade sauce. The sausages are all homemade at the Sunset Station.

If you save enough room, try the cakes, cookies, pastries and ice cream in the old-fashioned candy store.

Texas Station

While you are in Las Vegas, you might want to take a side trip to Texas. Historical artifacts, down-home Texas barbecue, and southern hospitality are just waiting for you at the Texas Station in North Las Vegas.

Texas history, especially the Wild West, has been meticulously recreated in Las Vegas. Southeast Texas and the Galveston area can be seen outside the Feast Around the World Buffet where the "pier" and the wishing well appear. Inside the buffet, the architecture is reminiscent of the great city of Houston. Many of the facades have been created to resemble buildings in Houston, particularly the roof above the barbecue station.

The 750-seat Feast Around the World Buffet features five specialty stations that prepare your selection of food items. The specialty stations feature Italian, Mexican, Chinese, Texas barbecue and classic American foods. The Texas Station slow-cooks the barbecued meats up to six hours over white oak that gives the meat an authentic flavor.

A wide selection of salads are featured at the salad bar. The huge dessert bar offers delectable homemade desserts.

The Orleans Hotel and Casino

The Orleans Hotel and Casino has brought the best of New Orleans to Las Vegas. The French Quarter exterior with magnolia trees sets the mood for celebrating Mardi Gras year round.

The Orleans Hotel and Casino opened the new 750-seat French Market Buffet in May on the ground floor of the hotel. The buffet features seven specialty stations, including Italian, Mongolian, Barbecue, American, Seafood, Mexican, and Chinese and an enormous dessert bar.

The Orleans Hotel and Casino serves some of Louisiana's favorite dishes to tempt your palate, including red beans and rice, crawfish, and house-smoked ribs.

Some of the other featured dishes are the specialty pizzas, Chicken Angelo, fresh salmon, swordfish, red snapper, fajitas, enchiladas and a taco bar. The enormous dessert bar offers a sinful selection of hot and cold desserts and pastries.

The breakfast buffet features eggs prepared for you just the way you like them. The breakfast buffet is very reasonably priced at a mere $3.95. Sunday brunch is served from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and a seafood buffet is served on Mondays.