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Cheapo Eats
Spice Market Buffet (Planet Hollywood -- Strip)
This is a very good buffet, and right up there with Bellagio, Paris and Wynn. Genuine prime rib, peeled shrimp, crab legs, sushi (with ass-kicking wasabe) fill out the seafood area. There is rack of lamb, dim sum, and some real middle-eastern dishes like Tabboulleh and tart black olives. For dessert, the pastries are hard to beat, and that's in addition to the bread pudding and peach cobbler for the American traditionalists. The big hit is dessert crepes made to order. Oh, the fresh fruit has us drooling as we write this. Oh, wait, sorry, that's our medication. One bad feature to the buffet is that it's not laid out well and waits can be long for some food areas. Among the highest-quality buffet in town, but with relative prices. If you ever wanted roast duck and weird mushrooms as part of your buffet, this is the joint for you. Lunch is the best deal, value-wise. We believe, though, that if you're going to spend this much for dinner, the best buffet food in the world won't match up to a good entree at a good restaurant. The desserts are superb, however, especially the chocolate cakey thing that's crunchy and powdery. That's the official name, we think. Beware, they call the food "gourmet" on the weekends so they can raise the rates even higher. La-dee-da.
Wynn Buffet (Wynn -- Strip)
Just about as good as the other three or four best upscale buffets, with the added bonus of a very pretty room. That is to say, it's way better than the lower end crud, but this is not a reinvention of the buffet. There are nice touches, such as sushi and good steaks. The desserts are fantastic, especially the layer cake. and some of the shellfish are better than elsewhere.
Le Village Buffet (Paris -- Strip)
More than $20 for dinner is way too high for this buffet. It's very good, but it better be for that kind of money. They claim it is authentic French food, but it looks more like slightly dressed up American food with some crepes thrown in. We must admit, though, that crepes made to order, and filled with wonderful berries, sound better than a $2.49 steak and eggs. The breads are fresh and delicious. The dining area is broken up into small and elegant rooms.
Feast Buffet (Green Valley Ranch -- Off-Strip)
A very good, but boring buffet, just like at every other Station Casino. It is not a fancy buffet, just a meat and potatoes one with ribs, chicken, cheap steaks, some seafood and lots of pretty good desserts. The prices are right, with a pricier upscale weekend brunch that includes a big ol' heaping of seafood on Sundays. Well, that higher brunch price makes sense, right? Brunch is, after all, the smushing together of both breakfast and lunch.
Canters Deli (Treasure Island -- Strip)
Like the LA original, the service is rude but, man, is the deli food good. In particular, the Jewish delicacies are topnotch. We recommend the soups and the extra-thick sandwiches. Be careful, this place looks nothing like the shabby LA location; it's all high-tech fancy-shmancy curves, whites and grays. And that just feels weird for a Jewish deli.
Market Street Cafe (California -- Downtown)
It's one of our favorite coffee shops, although the service can be slow. The food is good and the prices are right. For breakfast, try the tasty French toast. They offer Hawaiian and Chinese specialties and have good-priced weekday specials. Some dishes come with a side of Spam. Open 24 hours a day. Hooray!
Magnolia's Veranda (Four Queens -- Downtown)
A typical coffee shop, only a little bit nicer. The restaurant overlooks the casino, so you can keep on eye on your favorite machine and throw cherry tomatoes at anybody who tries to sit down and win your money while you're eating.
Bay City Diner (Golden Gate -- Downtown)
Not to be confused with the Bay City Rollers, the lame teen hearthrobs from way back when, this place mostly offers fancified coffee shop fare, including ribs and some snooty stuff like cajun halibut and fancy skillets. It's still a decent coffee shop, and the prices are still reasonable. With it's TGI Friday-like menu, though, no longer a classic.
Triple Seven Brewpub (Main Street Station -- Downtown)
Huge portions and fresh-brewed micro-beers. We've had a few different items here and it tastes like a better version of TGI Friday's or Bennigan's, with good beer, and sushi, too. The filet mignon sandwich or beer-battered fish get rave reviews. Definitely a nice place to get dinner if you want sports bar atmosphere. You know, the kind of place where you can unzip your fly and let your gut out after the meal. That is, if you're a lady. Us guys usually just let our waists rip right through the fabric.
Picasso (Bellagio -- Strip)
Oo la la, this meditaranean restaurant is so fancy it makes us blush just knowing we're even in the same city. Genuine Picasso paintings stick to the walls, while genuine Picasso-priced food sticks to your ribs. Most of the meals are served on a fix prixe basis. This joint is for folks who are really, really trying to impress someone. We hope you want to impress us sometime soon.
Very good French food eleven stories above the Strip and just about the most expensive joint in town. This is the fanciest and most "romantic" restaurant at Paris, and you have to dress accordingly. They serve traditional French cuisine. Make reservations in advance and try to be there for sunset. If you just want to eat even higher up in the air, there are the Rio Voodoo Cafe and the Stratosphere Top of the World restaurant. Top of the World (Stratosphere -- Strip)
This is one of the most expensive restaurants in Las Vegas. It is at the top of the Stratosphere Tower, so the views are spectacular. The food is very good, but not as outstanding as other gourmet restaurants. Everything comes a la carte, meaning if you order a steak, you pay an extra $5 for the potato, and then more for the vegetables and dessert. It can be very romantic, and if you really want to impress someone, book a reservation for sunset and watch the valley twinkle in the twilight. If you want a good deal, though, check out the lunch menu here, which starts just over $10 and includes a free ride up the tower. The view's nicer at night, because during the day you see all the smog hanging over the valley, but we can't afford to be picky.
Zefferino (Venetian -- Strip)
Fancy pants Italian seafood, including a wide range of shellfish in creamy and cheesy sauces. This is pretty amazing food, actually. It's ranked way up there with the best, but like everything else in this dang Venetian, it doesn't qualify as cheapo. The lunch special costs $20, or apprximately what we pay for a week's worth of Mac and cheese. The adjoining bistro "Tintoretto" has meals as low as $11 and "outdoor" seating.
The seafood house is open for dinner only and is very fancy. It's located in the Bellagio's conservatory, which means flowers and plants to look at if the person you're dining with is boring or ugly. A five-course prixe fixe is over $120, unless you don't eat meat. Then it's not quite as expensive (or delicious). The room looks like you're eating in so,me really rich person's kitchen, with cabinets and shelves along the walls.
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