The Buffet
At: Wynn

The letters spelling The Buffet on the sign at this very high-end buffet are jumbled together, as if there is not enough room for them to spread out. Not surprisingly, that's very much the feeling you get when you are eating there.

The seating area is divided up into many smaller rooms, which is a very good idea as it avoids that "industrial cafeteria" feeling many more open buffets have. You really feel like you are eating in a rather small, intimate room, and the din of background noise is fairly muffled from room-to-room. Each room is decorated differently, some with drapery hanging on the wall, one with a glass skylight for a ceiling, one with sea-green paint on the walls. The one thing the decorator seemed to forget, however, is that 70lb supermodels do not visit buffets. The tables are so close together that there is no way a normal-sized pair of people can get in and out of the chairs if the neighbooring tables are also inhabited. My wife and I had to rotate our table 90 degrees to get into our seats, and even then every single person who walked behind me ended up bumping into my chair because of the limited room.

We were there for the Sunday brunch and stayed long enough that we saw the food change over for dinner. If we go back, it'll be for dinner alone. The breakfast items were not even on par with a really good Denny's (although the bacon was very good), and the non-breakfast menu was limited. At dinner the crab legs came out (massive legs, split down the middle for easy access to the meat). Shrimp (huge and peeled), prime rib, rack of lamb, and varied desserts all made an appearance throughout the meal.

Service was good, and our glasses were generally kept full and the table was kept clean for the most part.

This is one of the best buffets in town, but it's also one of the most expensive. As much crab and shrimp and prime rib as my wife and I ate, I really doubt we came anywhere close to eating as much as we paid for, and the sad fact is it's pretty much impossible for any mass-produced food to be as good as food made as you order it in a sit-down restaurant.

With the exception of the tight seating, there was really nothing wrong with this buffet. No rude staff, no bad food, no warm beer. But despite that, it is still a buffet. Unless you really like buffet style eating, I think you're better off visiting another restaurant, which is exactly what I'll be doing.