Top 5 Buffets in Las Vegas

By Katie Sagal

Food, food, and more food. If you didn’t know it already, that’s what Las Vegas is all about (I mean, in addition to the other obvious appeals). I’m talking about the buffets—no Las Vegas vacation is complete without one. Vegas is home to some of the best buffets in the country. People flock from all over to sample the cuisine served up in these celebrated restaurants, which are often located in hotels. At many places, you can try food from all over the world in one meal! And although most buffets have American classics like pizza and ribs, you’ll also find gourmet menus. So whether you’re an adventurous foodie or the burger and fries type, there’s something you’ll love. Choosing the top 5 buffets in Las Vegas is tough, but these 5 represent a variety of styles and are constantly ranked highest among patrons. Just remember, don’t fill up one thing—you’ll want to try small samples of everything...and still save room for dessert! If you're looking to explore Las Vegas a little more in addition to sampling their fine (and not so fine) cuisine, pick up a Los Angeles Explorer Pass® to save up to 55% on gate admission prices. Or, choose two or more attractions and save 20%.

The Buffet at Bellagio

Image of Food, Lunch, Meal, Dinner, Dish, Plate, Who could resist that?
Possibly the most well-known buffet in Vegas, The Buffet at the Bellagio Resort & Casino serves top-of-the-line cuisine. Bellagio is best known for its gourmet fare and seafood, but they have other stuff, too. The array of foods ranges from choices like Chinese dim sum to foie gras to crab legs to pizza fresh out of the wood-fired oven. The atmosphere is classy, with opulent chandeliers and elegant artwork adorning the dining area. Of course, Bellagio serves dessert, too, but it’s certainly not the highlight of the buffet (most people agree they look better than they taste). But chances are you’ll be pretty full from dinner.

Carnival World Buffet

Image of Shop, Birthday Cake, Cake, Cream, Dessert, Food, Pizza, How can you choose just one?
The Carnival World Buffet at Rio Las Vegas is especially known for 2 things: a kid-friendly menu and absolutely fabulous desserts. The Carnival is probably the best choice if you’re with children because kids will find all their favorites like mac and cheese, hamburgers, hot dogs, and make-your-own milkshakes. However, adults won’t be disappointed, either! The international selection is endless—you can choose from Thai, Chinese, Brazilian, Mexican, Italian, or Vietnamese dishes, and many of them are cooked up right in front of you. The real treat comes last: the dessert course. The Carnival World Buffet has more than 70 varieties of pies and pastries, cakes, and cookies, and a gelato bar!

Le Village Buffet/Paris

Image of City, Road, Street, Urban, Indoors, Restaurant, Lighting, Bazaar, Market, Shop, With such a charming setting, how can you go wrong?
For a unique dining experience, head to this little slice of Paris. Instead of international cuisine, Le Village Buffet serves up only French fare, with a Vegas twist. The cooking stations are themed to the regions of France, and the dining room is styled like a French village. You’ll enjoy quaint cobblestone walkways, old-fashioned lamp posts, and soft lighting—a rarity in the buffet world—all under a ceiling painted to resemble a blue sky. The menu features options like fruit-filled crepes, seafood or sausage kabobs, prepared duck, quiche, and of course a huge array of cheeses. The dessert station is fantastic, too. The Bananas Foster is a favorite among patrons, as well as the crème brulee and flan.

Spice Market Buffet

Image of Indoors, Restaurant, Cafeteria, Cafe, Shop, You'll find a dazzling array of choices at this buffet!
This worldly buffet is found inside Planet Hollywood and features a huge selection of high-quality international options. They have an especially notable Mexican station, as well as delicious Middle Eastern specialties (a rarity in Buffetland). Other stations include Asian, Italian and Seafood. Spice Market has a straightforward layout that is easy to navigate through—great for hungry buffet-goers trying to maneuver their way to their favorite stations. You’ll also find large plasma TV’s on the walls for viewing sports games or watching music videos. Another plus is the delicious dessert section. They have apples, strawberries, bananas foster, crepes, ice cream, and even cotton candy! Go to Spice Market for a traditional, yet delicious buffet experience.

Garden Court Buffet at Main Street Station

Image of Indoors, Restaurant, Dining Table, Furniture, Table, Dining Room, Food, Food Court, Cafeteria, Chair, Interior Design, Such a grand atmosphere!
The Garden Court Buffet is the definite choice for those on a budget, offering a dinner price nearly half the cost of most other Vegas buffets. It’s popular among locals, making for a comfortable environment in a spacious dining room decked out in Victorian décor. Favorites served every day include Mexican, Southwestern, and Asian cuisine, along with pizza and rotisserie chicken. The Garden Court also has specialty days, including T-Bone Tuesday, Seafood Fridays, and a champagne brunch on the weekends. The consensus among patrons is that this place is definitely worth the value—good food, good price, no lines. Remember, if you want to enjoy a few Las Vegas attractions in between delicious meals, the Las Vegas Explorer Pass® can save you up to 55%!
Katie Sagal

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Bright red baubles hanging from a cactus in the Mojave Desert near Las Vegas
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Christmas in Las Vegas

Towering fir trees festooned with tinsel and shiny baubles, magical festive scenes and nearly as many fairy lights as there are stars in the sky. Christmas in Las Vegas is every bit as flamboyant and OTT as you’d expect from the neon capital of the world. And here, as every day in Sin City, you’ll find everything (and we mean everything) open as usual: that includes all shops, restaurants, bars, casinos and thrill rides. As the song says: ‘Christmas in Las Vegas, it’s a trip!’ So dive in and check out our guide to some of the best things to do in Vegas during holiday season, including: Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens Ice skating at The Cosmopolitan Glittering Lights at Las Vegas Speedway Flamingo and LINQ Promenade Ethel M Botanical Cactus Garden The Magical Forest The Great Santa Run The Bellagio at Christmas The Bellagio’s dazzling dancing fountains are a spectacle at any time of year, but be sure to catch them during December when the huge water plumes soar and sway to Mariah, Bing, Wham! and other Christmas party bangers. Inside, the Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens gets a marvelous festive makeover, with decorations made from plants and flowers and supersize displays featuring sparkly polar bears, massive Christmas baubles, thousands of lights, and that all-important skyscraping Christmas tree. Best of all, it’s completely free and – unlike elsewhere in the Bellagio – children are welcome. Ice Skating at the Cosmopolitan High above the Strip lies a winter wonderland par excellence in the shape of the Cosmopolitan’s rooftop which – glitzy enough at the best of times – really ramps up the tinsel factor in December. Expect cozy Christmas vibes aplenty thanks to sparkling trees, blazing firepits, gooey s’mores, festive cocktails (snowball, anyone?) and romantic views of the neon-lit Eiffel Tower over at Paris Las Vegas. Better yet, a 4,200 square foot ice rink replaces the pool up here during the holiday season, complete with fake snowflakes. So pull on your mittens, wrap your scarf tight, strap on your skates, hit the ice and let it snow! Drive-Through Light Show Rev up your engine and hit the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for Glittering Lights, one of the biggest and best light shows in the country. Every December, the 2-5-mile course is festooned with somewhere in the region of five million – yep, that’s five MILLION – lights, each contributing to spectacular festive scenes and other Vegas-themed displays, meaning you’re as likely to see a hip-wiggling house-sized Elvis as a jolly Santa Claus. Pile the family into the car (with a hot chocolate each), tune into the custom radio station that plays carols and other Christmas favorites, and brace yourselves for the light show of a lifetime. Winter Parq Have you been dreaming of a... pink Christmas? Look no further than the Winter Parq – the promenade connecting the Flamingo and LINQ hotels where, by the Flamingo at least, bright pink decorations are de rigueur. Take in the glittering lights, giant snow globe and kitschy Christmas ornaments at the Flamingo Wildlife Habitat before strolling to the LINQ for live entertainment and Christmassy cocktails under the towering tree. Afterwards, warm up and take in panoramic views of the Neon City aboard the High Roller Observation Wheel which (you’ll be unsurprised to learn) is, at 550 feet, one of the tallest on the planet (second only to the Ain Dubai). Those who suffer from vertigo need not apply. Ethel M Cactus Garden If there’s anything more ubiquitous than Christmas trees in Vegas in December, it’s Christmas cacti. You’ll see these bristly beauties bedecked with festive baubles nearly everywhere you go, but nowhere more so than in the grounds of the legendary Ethel M Chocolate Factory. Here, the three-acre cactus garden receives an annual festive revamp that incorporates hundreds of thousands of twinkling lights, Christmassy scenes aplenty, and even a family of animated reindeer. We recommend visiting in the evening when the garden's at its most magical and, of course, combining your visit with a chocolate-tasting experience. It would be almost rude not to! Take in a Show There can be few quicker ways of getting right into the Christmas spirit than an evening spent watching classic Las Vegas shows that have been tweaked for the holiday season. Think classic Christmas rock and pop hits (as well as a few carols) from the Legends in Concert, immersive performances of The Nutcracker, and Christmas-themed magic and comedy shows. As Christmassy as your dad’s Rudolph sweater. Christmas Tree Trail December in Las Vegas sees Christmas trees sprouting up here, there and everywhere, each more fantastically bejeweled than the last. Take advantage of this free spectacle by visiting some of the major hotels to see how many stops have been pulled out to get one up on their neighbors. At over 40 feet, the Bellagio’s is inevitably among the most spectacular but the trees at Wynn’s Winter Wonderland, the Fashion Show Mall and the Venetian are no slouches either. Take a tour with your camera and make your Instagram feed the envy of all your Christmas-loving buddies back home. The Magical Forest A stalwart of the Vegas Christmas scene, the Magical Forest is just that: a woodland wonderland crammed with twinkling lights and festive decorations. This one is a must-do if you’re traveling with kids: they’re going to absolutely love the carousel, giant slide and cute train rides on the Forest Express. Plenty of live performances, food trucks and funnel cakes should keep the grown-ups happy too. Santa Claus! A visit to Las Vegas in December might almost make you believe there's more than one Father Christmas. He certainly gets around. Meet him at the aforementioned Magical Forest or head to Tivoli Village for a few memorable family snaps in his beautifully decorated grotto. You can even see the man in red swimming with sharks at the Mandalay Bay Shipwreck! If that’s not enough for you, go all in and dress up as Santa yourself: the Great Santa Run takes place in downtown Vegas and sees thousands of wannabe Santas take to the streets for a 5k fun run (or walk, if you prefer) every December. Ho ho ho and viva Las Vegas! Save on attractions in Las Vegas Save on admission to Las Vegas attractions with Go City. Check out @GoCity on Instagram and Facebook for the latest top tips and attraction info.
Stuart Bak
Stuart Bak
Young couple kissing by the 'Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas' sign
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Las Vegas Airport to City Travel Options (Harry Reid)

Las Vegas is the world’s entertainment capital; truly a city that never sleeps. So you’ll want to spend as little time as possible between touching down at Harry Reid International Airport and getting yourself to the heart of the action. We’re talking supersized casinos, malls the size of aircraft hangars and some of the biggest, glitziest stage shows outside of Broadway. Marvel at the Mirage’s erupting volcano, take the great glass elevator up the (replica) Eiffel Tower at Paris, grab a selfie by the Bellagio’s legendary dancing fountains, and hitch a gondola ride down Venice’s Grand Canal at The Venetian. All this and more (so much more) awaits you in Sin City. Read on for our guide to all the transport options from Harry Reid International to downtown Vegas… Las Vegas Harry Reid Airport in Brief There’s only one international airport in Las Vegas. Harry Reid International was known as McCarran International up until 2021, when controversy over the antisemitic and racist beliefs of former Nevada senator Pat McCarran finally boiled over, prompting a 21st-century update. Senator Harry Reid lived just long enough to see the airport take his name in December 2021, just two weeks prior to his death. In spite of this, many still know the airport as McCarran. Or just plan Las Vegas Airport. The airport identification code – LAS – remains unaltered. Depending on direction of travel (and which side of the plane you’re sitting on), you might well get to enjoy cracking views of the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam and the Strip on your descent into fabulous Las Vegas. No matter how experienced your pilot, you’re also reasonably likely to experience a turbulent landing here. That’s due to unpredictable mountain air currents and hot dry desert air. The effect is particularly pronounced in summer. Still, the excitement will set you up rather nicely for all the thrills and spills that await in Sin City. But first, let us address the rather more prosaic matter of getting from LAS to downtown. The good news is that Harry Reid is a mere hop and a skip from the Strip, from a little over a mile if you’re staying at the southern end (MGM Grand and Mandalay Bay) to more like five miles if you’re bedding down at e.g. The STRAT, at the northern end. It’s nine miles to the Fremont Street Experience in downtown, technically the center of Vegas. Harry Reid Airport to Las Vegas by Public Transport Proximity of landing strip to actual Strip means there’s no need for stacks of transit options. Buses are frequent, reliable and – if a little slow – certainly the cheapest way of getting from A to B, useful if you’ve just accidentally dropped 100 bucks on the airport’s 1,000+ slot machines. Viva Las Vegas, baby! Getting from the Airport to Downtown This is pretty straightforward. There are three public bus services out of Harry Reid, and all of them bypass the Strip and make straight for downtown. One-way tickets cost $2 and should be bought (exact fare only!) on the bus. Routes 108 and 109 run most frequently and will get you to the Bonneville Transit Center bus stop in around 35-45 minutes. Route 109 runs around the clock. Alternatively the Centennial Express CX out of terminals 1 and 3 takes around 45 minutes to reach the end of the line at Casino Center & Fremont. However, this service only runs once per hour. You can also pay a little more ($3) for a 2-hour ticket that allows you to bus-hop around on Nevada’s RTC network until the time runs out. This excludes The Deuce, of which more below. Top tip: once in downtown Las Vegas, you can make use of the excellent Downtown Loop bus service for free.  Getting from the Airport to the Strip There are two options for getting to your Strip hotel from the airport using public transport: Take the Centennial Express CX, which departs from terminals 1 and 3, and disembark at the Tropicana after Koval Ln stop after around 20-25 minutes. From here you can transfer to the Las Vegas Monorail, which runs roughly parallel to the Strip along its eastern side and stops at several stations close to major hotels. A single one-way ride on the monorail costs $5.50 and multi-day passes are also available. Take the 109 bus route from the airport and disembark at South Strip Transit Terminal Bay 18. From there it’s a short walk to the South Strip Transit Terminal Bay SSTT for transfers to The Deuce, a 24/7 coach that services 28 stops along the length of the Strip. A one-way ticket costs $4 and it’s $6 for a two-hour pass. Again, multi-day passes are also available. Harry Reid Airport to the Strip or Downtown by Cab You’ll have to spring more for a cab than for the bus, but there’s no doubting this is the fastest and easiest way to get to your Vegas digs from the airport. Flat rates apply for rides from the cab ranks at terminals 1 and 3 to the Strip, and these vary depending on where you want to go, as follows: Zone 1 (Sunset North to Tropicana): $21. This covers Excalibur, the MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, Tropicana, the Luxor and other hotels towards the Strip’s southern end. Zone 2 (Tropicana North to Flamingo): $25. Mid-Strip hotels in zone 2 include Paris, the Bellagio, Planet Hollywood and the Cosmopolitan. Zone 3 (Flamingo North to Stratosphere): $29. Zone 3 covers the northern end of the Strip, which includes Caesars Palace, the Venetian, the Wynn, Circus Circus, the STRAT and more. Note that flat-rate fares within these zones don’t include credit card fees, the $2 fuel surcharge or that all-important tip. Cabs to Downtown are metered and should set you back around $40. Operators including Lyft and Uber are a little less convenient but can cost up to 30% less than official airport cabs, so are always worth considering. Harry Reid Airport to Downtown Las Vegas by Rental Vehicle The Harry Reid Rent-a-Car Center is on Gilespie Street, around three miles south of the airport. You can catch a free shuttle there from the terminals; the journey takes 10 minutes and services depart every five minutes. You’ll find all the usual suspects here, including Alamo, Budget Hertz and Thrifty, with vehicles available from as little as $20 a day, right up to the kind of soft-top shocking-pink cadillac you might favor if you really want to stand out on the Strip. Save on attractions, tours and activities in Las Vegas Save on admission to Las Vegas attractions with Go City. Grab a Las Vegas pass, and make sure to check out @GoCity on Instagram for the latest top tips and attraction info.
Stuart Bak
Stuart Bak

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