Garden Buffet
South Point
Service: 1
Atmosphere 2.5
Food 2.5
Value 3 What does this mean?
We decided to stop at the Garden Buffet in the South Point Hotel and Casino after mindlessly gambling away our life savings listening to the ‘Wheel of Fortune!’ loops playing nearby. A sign advised that our lunch meal would be $8.95. Oh contraire, we were advised that it was Sunday, and it was $12.95 instead. Okay… “You pay together?” asked the little oriental lady, looking confused between the two of us; my mother, cash in hand and I, hold out my players card. “Yes…” we replied in unison. Mom paid the bill while I looked at the cashier expectantly holding out my card. She handed my mother the receipt and looked at me, still holding the card out to her, “aren’t you going to put that on my card?” I asked. ‘Oh, you didn’t say you want on your card, you didn’t say…” she replied as she coughed in her hands. We were also advised that we had just over 45 minutes to eat, after that we had to leave because the dinner items were to be laid out. Hrmph. Okay. We were then delighted to be seated by a wonderful server… Not quite. We were advised to go towards the woman waving her arms through the air as though she were guiding in a jet. Classy. While the woman smiled broadly, she advised us to help ourselves. No drinks were offered, those come later I suppose. The variety was respectable, everything from leftover breakfast items to crawfish and prime rib. Eggs Benedict: horrible. They might have been edible five hours earlier though, dare you try. The hollandaise sauce had actually cracked like scaly skin from sitting out too long. The prime rib deserves mention, it was decent as buffets go. A ‘thick rare cut’ means nothing to the cook though, might as well save your breath. The Asian section was standard, the same sort of foods you’d expect to find at Panda Express, but not nearly as fresh. Shrimp was plentiful and the cocktail sauce was pretty good. The salad bar was standard but was in pretty good shape. The desserts were displayed in a pie case, and looked very appetizing. Looks can be deceiving. I was encouraged as I picked out a rather tasty looking tart. What was served to me instead was an old tart thing vaguely resembling a tart that had shriveled fruit and congealed custard. The restaurant itself is lit brightly to discourage eating and has pieced together murals around the perimeter. There’s no specific style per se, but it’s not horrible.
Bottom Line: If you’re in a bind, this place isn’t so bad. But go during the week to save yourself a few bucks!
Some other handy info:
Breakfast, Monday through Friday 7a.m. to 10 a.m. $6.95
Lunch, Monday through Friday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. $9.99
Dinner Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. $14.99
Monday Steak Night 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Wednesday Hand Carved Prime Rib Night 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. $14.99
Friday Sea Food Night 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. 18.99
Saturday and Sunday Brunch 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. $14.99
Saturday Dinner 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.
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