Harrah's Properties in Las Vegas

Taking a tip from a successful promotion at Excalibur, Harrah’s now offers the all you can eat challenge: seven buffets, $29.99, 24 hours. With single buffet dinners that cost more than that along the Strip, a penny under $30 for all the eating you can manage any time of day and much of the night might just be the best deal in Vegas these days.

The one-price-fits-all admission buys a wristband that can be taken to the Carnival World Buffet at Rio, Flavors at Harrah’s, Paradise Garden Buffet at Flamingo, Emperor’s Buffet at Imperial Palace, Le Village Buffet at Paris Las Vegas, Cafe Lago Buffet at Caesars Palace and the Spice Market Buffet at Planet Hollywood, the newest addition to the Harrah’s portfolio. Hit any buffet or all of them, as often as desired, no questions asked, no askance look given.

Consider that dinners at the Carnival World Buffet cost $23.99, at Flavors cost $21.99, at Paradise Garden Buffet cost $17.99, at Emperor’s cost $18.99, at Le Village cost $24.99, at Café Lago cost $34.99, and at Spice Market cost $24.99.

Similarly, the $29.99 magic number at Excalibur keeps guests full with a one-price extravaganza when dinners, alone, there cost $18.99. At Harrah’s however, seven buffet choices mean diners can move about the Strip: swim at the Flamingo, play blackjack at the Rio, spa at Paris and stroll the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood and play the craps tables at Caesars and never be more than a casino’s length away from an all-you-can-eat meal.

Ever since Las Vegas was little more than a railroad stop on a relatively blank map, the city has been feeding its guests. In the 1940s and 1950s, casinos would wheel in the chuck wagons – moveable feastmakers of sandwich fixings and meat carvings – so guests would not have to take too much time away from their games for the simple requirement of sustenance.

In the early 1940s at the original El Rancho Vegas Hotel on the Strip, owner Beldon Katleman figured out a way to keep customers in the casino after the second show. It became the “All You Can Eat for a Dollar" buffet. The elaborate array of food for a buck was copied by other hotels and the legendary Las Vegas buffet was born.

Today still, there are buffets to be found in Las Vegas that do not charge much more than that. And others, such as the Café Lago at Caesars and the Village Seafood Buffet at Rio, take up the top end with dinner prices approaching $40. In Vegas, there is something for everyone, including the right food at the right buffet for the right price. Harrah’s just makes it simple and winds a wristband around it. 

- by Lark Ellen Gould, Los Angeles Reporter for HelloMetro  (Click to leave a message)

Lark Ellen Gould

Lark Ellen Gould has penned seven books on Las Vegas and Los Angeles as a veteran news and travel writer. Her work appears in the L.A. Times, Elite Traveler, Travel Agent Magazine and other national forums. She lived in Boston for many years, earning her masters degree and then traveling the globe for stories. Today she lives in LA and still travels the world on assignment while filling the pages of her travel site: www.wheredaily.com, along the way.