[BBMW]

I look at it the other way around. If I'm paying $40 for a buffet, how does it compare to what I could get for $40 at a non-buffet restaurant. Somewhere recently, I recommended the Aria buffet. I'll use this as my point of comparison. Weekdays I think it's $36 for dinner

For me buffets are usually a three plate event. The first plate is usually cold seafood. At Aria, they both King and Opilio Crab. I end up going through a lot of the King Crab. They also cold shrimp in various form. The best is the little shrimp cocktail glasses with, IIRC, two jumbo shrimp in them. I'll get a few of these (maybe 8-10 shrimp. There may also be some various clams/oysters. I figure right there I've eaten my way through what would be $60 or more in a regular restaurant. What do the cold seafood towers go for in the higher end restaurant? Maybe getting into the triple digits?

Then I do an "entree" plate. Usually various kinds of meat. They almost always have prime rib (admittedly not likely prime beef.) There may be steak, and lots of ethnic stuff to choose from. What I get varies but I have to think I'd pay at least $20 for the equivalent a la carte somewhere else.

I also get a dessert. In general, what's that value? Say $8. And it includes beverages. I don't generally drink alcohol with dinner anyway, but that's worth 2-3 bucks.

I know you look at the food cost, and compare it to the high end place where you work. I look at what it would cost me to replicate it at a decent, but not really high end place. I see it as I'm paying <$40 for what would otherwise cost >$80 (possibly higher.) to me that seems like a pretty good deal. What makes it better is that if I'm in Vegas, I'm playing poker. Poker doesn't yield great comps, but you get something. So I generally get one comp freebie a trip. For free it's a REALLY good deal.

And, even if I wanted to do Sterling, isn't it only Sunday, or do they do Saturday also? I generally don't stay over Saturday, so I might not even be in town the one day it's available.

Originally Posted by ScoopLV

I am so looking forward to calling in sick at my job so I can go back to Sterling.

Frankly, if you're going to spend $20, or $30, or $50 on a buffet, why not spend $85 and buy a buffet that is truly excellent? In for a penny, in for a pound. What is the point of spending $39.95 on a bunch of crap?

"I got good news and bad news. The bad news is that the only thing we got to eat is [excrement.] The good news is it's all you can eat." Thanks but no thanks. I'll go to Sterling.

[Clarkcty]

For meat lovers, Texas De Brazil at Town Square serve delicious choice cuts of meat, table side. It is a buffet so it's all you can eat. I also like Mandalay Bay on the Strip.

[ScoopLV]

Originally Posted by BBMW

I
And, even if I wanted to do Sterling, isn't it only Sunday, or do they do Saturday also?

It's only Sunday.

And while I agree with your "how does it compare to a sit-down restaurant" comparison, Sterling is an event that is worth flying here to experience. At least it was before the renovation. I haven't been since, and I'm not about to tell people -- "Drop everything. Fly to Las Vegas. Eat at Sterling Brunch. Yes, it's almost $100. WORTH IT!" until I have eaten there recently. I have the advantage of being here all the time. And I'm not about to eat at a sub-par $40 buffet when I can wait a day and go to Sterling instead.

I have dined at Sterling more than any other restaurant in Las Vegas, with the exception of the lunch counter at Market 168. (People would do well to make note of that point. Market 168 isn't "Fly to Las Vegas right now" good. But it IS "If you're in Las Vegas, why the hell haven't you gone to Market 168 yet?" good. Their dim sum is as good as any that you'll get in the United States (except for Din Tai Fung, which you should Google). And it is cheap as chips. I have never spent more than $10 at the lunch counter at Market 168.)

[BBMW]

^
The Sterling sounds like the buffet equivalent of a fine dining meal. I would do that as an "event" meal. If that was the situation, I'd arrange the trip itinerary around it.

The "normal" buffets are a replacement for a casual dining meal.

[ScoopLV]

Originally Posted by BBMW

^
The Sterling sounds like the buffet equivalent of a fine dining meal. I would do that as an "event" meal. If that was the situation, I'd arrange the trip itinerary around it.

The "normal" buffets are a replacement for a casual dining meal.

This is where we diverge. While I think that you probably SHOULD do Sterling as an event meal (I haven't been there in months, so I'm not going to vouch for them until I go.), there are better options for casual dining than a mediocre buffet.

I would much rather have an EXCELLENT cheap meal at a local Thai joint or the aforementioned lunch counter at the Chinese supermarket than spend $40 on Las Vegas buffet food. Las Vegas has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to Asian food, Mexican food, and pizza. The opportunity cost of these low-quality buffets is missing out on some of the best tacos, dim sum or nam frick in America.

Ferran Adria is famous for saying that "an excellent sardine is better than a mediocre lobster." Las Vegas excels at cheap ethnic food. And it excels at very expensive fine dining. There isn't anything worth mentioning in the middle. I only eat at the cheap places and the spendy places. And I enjoy both of them equally.

[jjameson922]

Yes. Sterling is only Sunday and to the op that mentioned the 3.5 lbs I gained from eating there, be realistic. It isn't still hanging there on my hips !

[BBMW]

If I was living in Vegas, I'd probably be rotating through all of them (having just come back from Chinatown where I went for Dim Sum.) This doesn't have to be an either/or choice.

Originally Posted by ScoopLV

I would much rather have an EXCELLENT cheap meal at a local Thai joint or the aforementioned lunch counter at the Chinese supermarket than spend $40 on Las Vegas buffet food. Las Vegas has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to Asian food, Mexican food, and pizza. The opportunity cost of these low-quality buffets is missing out on some of the best tacos, dim sum or nam frick in America.

[AmericaWestCMH]

Used myVegas to get two pairs of free buffet passes. Lunch at Aria was actually quite delicious, I would recommend it. Dinner at the Luxor buffet was disappointing at best.

[jayway]

If the Sterling is only open on Sundays is the space vacant the rest of the week?

[jjameson922]

Not in Las Vegas is there vacant space. During the hours the Sterling Brunch is not going on, it's food as usual as the brunch is in the BLT Steak House. Since the brunch ends at 2:30 on Sunday afternoon, I would imagine shortly after that it again becomes the menu only steak house.