Another icon closes on the Las Vegas Strip

But rumors that one of the most famous Las Vegas Strip establishments is set to close are simply not true.

By Daniel Kline

TheStreet

Las Vegas exists in a state of almost endless renewal. That’s especially true on the south and central parts of the Las Vegas Strip, where something old has to go away in order for something new to be built.

That can mean saying goodbye to favored places that might no longer be the draws they once were. Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville recently closed at the Flamingo to make way for hipper choices from Lisa Vanderpump and Gordon Ramsay.

It wasn’t that Jimmy Buffett’s vibe no longer fit Las Vegas, but the venue had become a little tired, and it was often only opening part of its space. Technically, Caesars Entertainment just let the lease expire, but the reality is that nothing lasts forever on the Strip.

In some cases, a property just gets pushed aside so another one can use the space better. The relatively tiny Casino Royale, for example, will soon get knocked down to make way for a much larger resort casino.

Even legends eventually die on The Strip, as the past 12 months saw the closing and demolition of The Tropicana while Mirage, as well as its iconic volcano, shut down. The Trop will eventually host a major league ballpark for the Oakland A’s, and the Mirage site will be rebuilt into Hard Rock’s signature Guitar Hotel.

Now another longtime staple of the busy 4.2-mile stretch of road has gone away.

Another Las Vegas buffet closes

Luxor has always been a sort of mid-tier property in the MGM Resorts International portfolio. It’s certainly not as upscale as MGM Grand, The Cosmopolitan, or Mandalay Bay, but it’s nicer than Excalibur and perhaps on par with New York, New York.

The hotel, until recently, also housed one of the last buffets on the Las Vegas Strip. Once a Las Vegas Strip tradition, buffets fell out of fashion during the Covid pandemic.

Many resort hotels opted not to reopen their buffets as they took up a lot of space that could be used for other restaurants. Now, another buffet has fallen as the famed buffet at Luxor served its last all-you-can-eat meal on March 30.

In 2020, the greater Las Vegas area had over 70 buffets. Pretty much every Strip property, including Caesars, actually sold day passes for guests to visit multiple buffets on the same day across different properties.

Now, only seven Strip buffets remain, although there have been rumors that one — and arguably the most famous — was set to close.

Bacchanal is the king of Las Vegas Strip buffets

Bacchanal at Caesars Palace takes your classic buffet and ratchets it up to a gourmet level. Guests partake of lobster, crab, shrimp, multiple carving stations, and a near-endless array of food from around the world.

The company trumpeted the buffet on its website.

“At the newly renovated Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars Palace Las Vegas, you’ll explore dozens of cuisines and hundreds of perfectly prepared offerings from specialty chefs. With food prepared right in front of hotel guests and non-hotel guests alike in open kitchens, it’s like having your pick of nine high-end Las Vegas restaurants in one location,” Caesars shared.

There have been recent social media rumors that Caesars planned to close Bacchanal, but the company emphatically shot those down.

“Bacchanal Buffet is not going anywhere. It is here to stay,” a Caesars representative told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

In addition to Bacchanal at Caesars Palace, the Las Vegas Strip is still home to six other buffets, including Buffet at Wynn, Wicked Spoon at Cosmopolitan, and buffets at Bellagio, MGM Grand, Circus Circus, and Excalibur.