If you want the gastronomic experience of a lifetime, Sin City is the place to be, especially if you want it all at affordable prices. The all-you-can-eat restaurant experience is absolutely a must when you are here. If you want to sit for a while and enjoy all the good food you can eat, the best restaurants will meet your expectation and, at the end of the experience, you will walk away a very ‘happy’ person!
Amongst the most recent trends you’ll have probably either experienced or heard of are the ‘all-you-can-eat’ passes. These passes are either valid 24 hours or valid one day; they cost more than the price of one visit of course but they cost less than the price of eating three full meals a day. If you decide that you want to experience this gluttonous event, it is advisable that you choose your places to eat carefully, in order to maximize your food enjoyment and overall experience.
For clarity purposes, I think it’s important to distinguish between two types of all-you-can-eat passes, namely the 24-hour one and the all-day one. The all-day pass is usually given by one specific place and it applies only to that particular all-you-can-eat restaurant. The 24-hour pass gives you access to all the participating restaurants.
The restaurants which participate in the 24 hour pass bonanza are:
The Paris ‘Village’: A great all-you-can-eat restaurant, although the food here is somewhat heavy (it’s the only all-you-can-eat restaurant where, after a large meal, I have to take enzyme pills to digest); despite some changes, they still offer a great selection which do include some delightful French clichés such as the fabulous quiche, several seafood soups (if you are lucky you will also find lobster soup), a mountain of great cheeses (including the absolutely delicious brie), a really good salad section and of course all the best dishes you expect in a top Vegas place.
The Rio resort: in the last 2 years the quality of the food presented may have diminished a little, but it’s still a very large all-you-can-eat restaurant offering a great selection of dishes, probably the largest we found. If you can go at the ‘cusp’ between breakfast and lunch, you will enjoy a really good breakfast and top it all with some great lunch dishes. This place is the only one offering some amazing made-to-order Thai soups (as well as Chinese soups, of course); after a large meal we always find that sipping a light Thai soup helps the digestion!
Caesar’s Palace Lago: some people really love this one, whilst other think it’s not worth the line up. They are trying to offer a gourmet-style all-you-can-eat restaurant, with a very limited selection of dishes which are prepared in front of you and are, supposedly, of a much better quality than the average all-you-can-eat place. Some dishes are undoubtedly BONANZAJP very nice and if you like something different Lago may be for you, especially because the seating area does look like a modern, classy restaurant (this trend was started the Treasure Island, which has much more affordable all-you-can-eat restaurant and very, very nice – see below).
The best all-you-can-eat restaurants which participate in the all-day pass bonanza are:
Treasure Island. This small but absolutely delightful (and beautiful) eatery started the trend of ‘gourmet’ atmosphere and offerings. The seating is truly beautiful and you will think you are in a true trendy, classy restaurant. Here we do enjoy the elegant, modern, spacious, comfortable area (and good service too). Some of the dishes, especially in the cold section, are very well prepared and if you like a place where they try to offer something different this is the place for you. Located in the centre-north section of the Strip, if you are here you will only have this place as a good choice and, of course, the Mirage (which we love); this because the last 3 times we tried the Wynn all-you-can-eat restaurant we were extremely disappointed.
The Mandalay Bay; until recently one of the best, offering gourmet dishes, good quality food, great selection and a fantastic seating area. Today the seating area is still fantastic, probably one of the most beautiful in this city; however, they underwent some management changes in and, although it’s still a good all-you-can-eat restaurant, it’s no longer anywhere near on a par with the very best in Sin City. However, they do offer an all-day pass and amongst those who do, it’s still a good choice, especially if you are in the South Strip area. They still offer some quality touches, such as endless blueberries for breakfast, extra virgin olive oil and other high-quality salad dressings (let’s not forget that we want to eat like kings but we want to put good quality food in our bodies, right?), coupled with expensive vegetables such as artichokes (yes, we love our expensive artichokes, which by the way will help you digest the endless amount of food you’ll be eating, and boost your metabolism too!).