The best buffets in Las Vegas

Reopened after a complete overhaul in 2012, this spread at Caesars Palace is nothing short of amazing. With more than 500 different dishes prepared before guests in nine different kitchens—each with a culinary theme of its own—Bacchanal offers a feast to please any palate. Fill your plate with Wagyu sliders, dim sum dumplings and king crab legs. Just try to leave room for one of the baked-to-order soufflés.

Proclaimed one of the best restaurants in America by the Wall Street Journal, Cosmopolitan’s Wicked Spoon serves up an array unlike any other. This isn’t a line-up-and-heap-it-on-your-plate place. Here, you can sample a variety of inventive and trendy items you’re unlikely to find at other buffets—bone marrow, duck tacos, kimchi fried rice—all served on individual-sized plates and designed to mix and match.

This veteran AYCE option is fresh off a late-2015 facelift that’s brought new life to both the menu and the design. Among the 100-plus new dishes are spaghetti and meatballs (made according to the Sinatra family recipe) and Guinness-braised short ribs, while live-action stations offer South American-style barbecue and a rotisserie wall of slow-cooked meats. With a light-and-bright ambiance—and new “endless pour” options for beer, wine and seasonal cocktails—this is one buffet where you’ll want to linger.

Paella! Calzones! Chicken fresh from the tandoor oven! Aria’s spread includes everything you want in a Vegas buffet and more, because you never know when you’ll have a hankering for red velvet stuffed pancakes, dim sum and a plate full of fresh mozzarella and salami. There’s no wrong way to eat a buffet, so don’t feel pressured to binge on crab legs (though that’s certainly an option).

Not to be mistaken with déclassé feed-your-face experiences, Bally’s Sunday-only Sterling Brunch is the buffet’s upscale sibling. Yes, you can have as much as you want, but think caviar and bottomless champagne, oysters on the half shell, a lobster and cognac omelette. You’ll pay for all this, sure. But there’s a reason it’s been running for more than 30 years.

The Buffet at Bellagio is very much like the rest of the hotel: smart yet approachable, stylish yet undemonstrative, expensive yet probably just about worth it. Usual buffet fare gets upgraded with extras such as venison, steamed clams and crab legs. Dinner on Friday and Saturday is gourmet, so expect to go all out.

This beloved spot tucked into locals’ casino M Resort in Henderson puts its own spin on the buffet experience by adding a live-action kitchen studio to the dining room and offering free beer, wine and cappuccinos with your meal. With prices topping out at $40 for the special weekend seafood dinner, it’s a deal.

A favorite among locals, the pioneering Carnival World Buffet journeys the planet for its food and recently joined forces with the Rio’s popular Seafood Buffet to pack an even greater punch (for a $15 upgrade). That means you’ll find teppanyaki and carved meats alongside shrimp and grits and snow crab legs. Finish with a slice of one of the 70 varieties of house-made pies, cakes or pastries.