Mmmmmm.... Buffet!

I can't believe that I've gotten this far without touching upon the incredibly important topic of Las Vegas food! From the 99¢ shrimp cocktail, and the $3.99 breakfast buffet to Spago's... Las Vegas is nearly as famous for its food as it is for its gambling! In this posting I will describe as many of the restaurants as I can remember, and rate them using the tried and true one to five star system. Ratings are subjective based on value, atmosphere, food quality, service, and overall fun. I am purposely skipping chain restaurants, Vegas certainly has its share of Ruth's Chris Steakhouses, Tony Roma's, California Pizza Kitchens, Carrows, Denny's etc. This is not the place to talk about those.

We'll Start with Dinner:

Ricardo's
2380 East Tropicana Avenue
As I mentioned earlier, as far as THE VEGA$ CLUB goes, Roger was in charge of dining and hospitality. One of his early recommendations was a place that was owned by his uncle Richard, called Ricardo's. Ricardo = Richard, get it? It turns out that Ricardo's is one of the best Mexican restaurants that I'd ever been to. We always made a point of going there at least once per trip. Roger always attempted to get us a free meal by dropping his uncle's name. It actually worked a few times! It's the first place that I ever saw Margaritas coming out of one of those Slurpee machines! The child-like fun of drinking a Slurpee, plus the adult fun of drinking tequila!!!
Rating ****

The Pink Pony
Circus Circus Main Tower
I have grown to loathe all things Circus Circus over the years. For one thing, I suffer from coulrophobia, which is a fear of clowns. Circus Circus is no place for coulrophobes! Plus it's big, old, and slightly seedy. I have nothing against being old and seedy, but I'm uncomfortable in HUGE casinos. The Pink Pony, however, is located in a small side-casino away from most of the riff-raff. The only item that THE VEGA$ CLUB members ever ordered was the Cattleman's Cut Prime Rib special. An average quality slap of Prime Rib served with generous portions of potato, vegetable, salad, and dinner rolls.
Rating **

William B's
Inside The Stardust main casino
This is a great place when you are in town for a convention and the boss is paying! I'm in the broadcast industry, and once every few years I get to go to the National Assn. of Broadcasters convention with my boss. William B's is a classy steakhouse with great steaks, and a great old-time steakhouse atmosphere. The Maitre'd wears a tuxedo! I say again, pricey!
Rating ****

Guadalajara
Inside the Palace Station
To me, all of The Station properties feel like The Orleans. They are nice and friendly, but I can't win for losing there! I've stayed at The Palace Station several times, and really enjoy their Guadalajara restaurant. In fact, one thanksgiving several years ago my wife and I tried to go to their buffet, The Feast for a traditional Thanksgiving day dinner, and the line out front was about a mile long! We walked down to Guadalajara and had the joint to ourselves! They have a great salsa bar, good Margaritas, and very good food.
Rating ****

Battista's Hole in the Wall
4041 Audrie Street
My All-Time Favorite! This gem was discovered by Charley's wife, Pam while she was in town on a business trip, I believe. Some places are good if you're with your buddies, other places are good if you're with your wife. This place fits any bill! It's dark and romantic, yet fun. It's not the cheapest place in town (Meals start at about $20) and it's absolutely no good if you don't like cheap wine. But, if you can afford it, and you like cheap wine... This is it! There's even a strolling accordion player named Gordy to serenade your meal. You get your choice of standard Italian entrees (My favorites are the Lasagna and the Veal Parmigiana) and meals include, salad, great garlic bread, your entree, hot chocolate (they call it a cappuccino, but it's hot chocolate) AND, oh my god, are you sitting down for this? ALL THE CHEAP WINE YOU CAN DRINK!!! They'll ask you if you like white or red. If you're smart, one person at the table will say "red" and someone else will say "white", that way they'll bring two carafes right off the bat... then they just keep bringing them! Oh, you'll feel so sick in the morning!
Rating *****+

The Palatium Buffet
Near the race/sports book
Caesars Palace
Vegas is known for its buffets, and I've tried a lot of them! Most of them are perfectly adequate, a few are sub-standard (Circus Circus comes to mind), and a very few are quite amazing! The Palatium at Caesars is near the top of the heap! (The buffet at The Mirage also gets high marks from me, although the line is usually unacceptably long there). In addition to very high-quality food, Caesars has a variety of specialty stations where men and women in chef hats give personal service. My favorite stations are the prime rib carving station, and for brunch the omelet station. Last time I was there the dinner buffet was $15.95, so it's not exactly a bargain, but in this case you definitely get what you pay for.
Rating ****

The Triple 7 Restaurant and Brewery
The Main Street Station
As a lover of beer, I'd like to give special mention to The Triple 7, located downtown, next to the Union Plaza. The beer is very good (free if you're playing video poker at the bar!) and the hamburgers and sandwiches are very tasty. A great stop for a late afternoon snack, and the casino itself is pretty swanky, given the questionable neighborhood in which it's located.
Rating ***

For Breakfast, I'm usually happiest with a traditional coffee shop, preferably located in the hotel in which I'm staying. Some of my favorites include The Carson Street Cafe inside The Golden Nugget, The Courtyard Cafe inside The Orleans, and if you're on your way back to California and need a place to stretch your legs, use the restroom, and get a good breakfast, try The Wagon Master Coffee Shop inside of Buffalo Bills, at the state line.

In the next installment... Little Caesars... Oh My God!