The Curious Charms of the Casino Buffet

Spicy Eyes

Love it or hate it, the casino buffet is a mainstay of the Las Vegas experience, for tourists and locals alike. First up, writer Cindi Reed (who writes under the name C. Moon Reed) gives us the historical lowdown, starting from the very first casino buffet in the 1940s.

After that, we head to AYCE at The Palms, where we meet up with Yelp Elite member and buffet fanatic LJ Riofta (seriously, he eats at a buffet at least once a week—this guy's a pro). We learn important buffet tips, like limiting yourself to one drink so you can fit in more food.

And last but not least, we talk to Sarah Stallard, the farm manager at Las Vegas Livestock, a pig farm about 30 minutes north of the city that takes in 20 tons of food waste daily, much of it from buffets. Here we learn just how our leftovers gets put to good use, and why not all buffets are quite so bad at food waste as you might think.

This episode was produced by Sonja Swanson, and the music was composed by Jeremy Klewicki.