This Iconic Las Vegas All-You-Can-Eat Buffet Is Closing For Good

Fewer and fewer revelers are visiting Las Vegas. The fact is that the city is getting more expensive, fewer international travelers come to the U.S., and the majority of Americans struggle in the current economy. The famed Vegas Strip has seen multiple closures over the last two years, and another 33-year Strip staple is set to close at the end of May: the Buffet at the MGM Grand.

While it didn't make the cut of our list of the top 15 buffets in Las Vegas, the closing is significant. Where once the Strip had around 35 buffets, it is now down to just seven. The hotel has no current plans to replace the buffet with anything and will leave the space empty. The all-you-can-eat buffet isn't alone in closing. The famous Le Cirque in the Bellagio, which was one of the hotel's two five-star rated restaurants in Forbes, is also shutting its doors after 28 years.

Buffets were once the kings and queens of Las Vegas casino dining. Before the 1980s, food and alcohol were there to draw more people in to gamble, even if the prices were so low that they lost the casino money. The term for these draws that lost money is "loss leaders." Costco's rotisserie chicken is an example of a loss leader that makes a company more money in the long run. Gaming once represented around 75% of a casino's revenue. In the time between the 1980s and 2000, entertainment and dining took over and became approximately 75% of a casino's revenue. As Las Vegas became more dependent on fine dining to drive its cash flow, the desire to have loss leaders in the space waned.

Yelp published a report that searches on its platform for all-you-can-eat buffets are up 252%. Buffets may have tanked during the pandemic, but they are making a comeback. So why are they going away in Las Vegas? For one, the buffet at the MGM Grand was not well reviewed. With only 3.5 stars out of 5 on Google with almost 6,500 reviews, the all-you-can-eat spot was not considered good. People go to buffets for a variety of food and good deals, and this one fell short. As the Vegas buffet goes away, many are being replaced with food halls that offer variety while feeling more specialized, and, more importantly, give the casinos higher margins.