The Las Vegas buffet is back and more over-the-top than ever

I recently flew to the desert to taste test a staple of Las Vegas culinary culture. At one point it was feared we’d forever lost this tradition. But I’m happy to report that buffets are back!

In 2020, buffets were shuttered by the pandemic. When it was relatively safe, a few casino-resorts  reopened their buffets — not as self-serve, but as all-you-can-eat restaurants where waiters brought diners everything they requested. The concept proved to be unpopular.

While there were roughly 40 buffets operating in Las Vegas before the shutdown, as of early 2026, about a dozen high-end buffets have pulled off comebacks.

Here’s a blast-from-the-past admission: This is the second time I’ve written a “Buffets of Vegas” story. As a much younger man with a more enviable waistline, I booked six buffets over a span of four days. Do not try this. I was still smiling after four, had to leave halfway through the fifth, and wound up cancelling the sixth. Luckily, with age comes the wisdom to practice moderation.

I made reservations at three spots: A.Y. C. E. at Palms Casino Resort, The Buffet at Wynn Las Vegas, and Genting Palace at Resorts World Las Vegas. Let the grazing begin.

First, I booked three nights in a sleek, spacious Fantasy Executive Suite at Palms. It’d been decades since I last visited. Back then it was run by the Maloof family. Now it’s the only Las Vegas casino property fully owned-and-operated by a Native American tribe, the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians.

The pool area today is completely reconfigured. There are separate pools for children and adults. Both are circular and adjacent to each other on the ground floor. If you’re in the mood for a cabana, ask for one of the 39 elevated private retreats. These cabanas come with their own mini pools, with a glass wall facing the world below. Cool off in your watery sanctuary and gaze out over the crowd.

My first buffet was at A.Y. C. E. (All You Can Eat, you knew that, right?). The decor is upbeat and fun. Wednesday and Thursday nights are lobster dinner specials. The buffet definitely does volume. On those two nights combined, A.Y.C.E. serves 7,090 pounds of lobster, 7,740 pounds of lobster tails and 32,480 pounds of snow crab legs. I toured the kitchen, and while I didn’t do an official count, the magnitude of shelled crustaceans I saw being stored and steamed supported the reported numbers.

Each night, one lucky patron is picked to receive a five-pound lobster. I was the diner selected to receive the ginormous lobster platter, accompanied by a mountain of snow crab and an assortment of fruit. Now, a five-pound lobster can throw even the most skilled buffet diner off their game. I ate the enormous tail and two claws, each being about the size of my hand. I also cracked my way through the crab legs. When I finally had time to scope out the rest of the buffet there was only room left in my belly for one crunchy piece of (highly recommended) fried chicken and a small cup of soft-serve Dole Whip.

Arriving at The Buffet at Wynn, it was crystal clear that the popularity of the all-you-can-eat concept is once again peaking. Before noon, there were at least three dozen people in line. Reservations are highly recommended, unless you enjoy a two-hour wait for dinner. The decor is fairly elegant, even while the Wynn Buffet seats 700 and does more than 3,000 covers a day. 

To serve that many hungry patrons there are 16 food stations. A wise buffet guru once told me, “Before you put anything on your plate, research all your options.” Those are words to live by, even as I immediately reached for the tongs to dig into the foot-and-a-half-tall pyramid of shrimp. Then I backed off and did the proper reconnaissance. Six different sushi rolls. Thai chili chicken wings. Chicken potstickers. Free-range egg omelets. Croque Monsieur. Sausage & bacon stromboli. Main lobster eggs benedict. Truffle mushroom pizza. Crepes made to order. And so much more. Afterward, I had a small cup of coffee gelato to settle my stomach.

There’s no other big buffet in town that can match the charm and Old World glamour of Genting Palace in Resorts World Las Vegas. The buffet, or “feast,” is smaller, made up primarily of traditional Cantonese seafood, along with a few pork dishes.

While an American display of shrimp is piled high, here they’re placed side by side in an orderly manner. Next to the shrimp grid are oysters, mussels and crab legs. I can’t get enough crab meat dumplings with chives, dim sum and pork-stuffed shumai.

I was elated when my waiter told me there was a quasi-omakase style option. Decorated by a lobster head so fresh his whiskers were still quivering, and doused with dry ice that gave the plate an ethereal cloud effect, I made quick work of lobster and shrimp sashimi.

As a parting gift, a Genting Palace hostess bowed and gave me a sesame rice dessert ball (rice flour, wheat, starch, lard, sugar red bean paste and sesame seeds). I ate it on the taxi ride back to Palms, and easily concluded it’s a wonderful thing that the bulk beauty of buffets has rebounded from the brink.