The Buffet At Bellagio: Worth The Money These Days? (+ Photos)

Bacchanal’s the buffet that’s all hyped up, Wicked Spoon is a close second. If you do any kind of research on Las Vegas buffet, you’ll find all this out within the first 3 seconds.

But out of all the buffet chatter, The Buffet at Bellagio doesn’t get talked about much.

When we were in our 20s, we primarily had our buffet meals at Bacchanal (or off the Strip at Sakana Sushi) because it was the buffet that most people agreed upon. Now that we’re older and no longer traveling with big groups to Las Vegas, we have more flexibility to try new places.

Recently, we’ve decided to break out of our habits and try new buffets all over Las Vegas. And since the buffet at Bellagio didn’t have too much of a reputation, we decided that we had to give it a try and review it for ourselves.

Here are our overall thoughts on The Buffet At Bellagio — the good, the bad, and everything in between! We’re judging it based on everything you’d care about: variety, quality, service, convenience, and value.

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Variety – 8/10

At the Buffet at Bellagio, you’ll find all kinds of cuisines including Italian, Japanese, Chinese and American cuisines. The American section was probably the largest, given that both breakfast and lunch foods was going on all at once.

We’re not totally sure how many dishes were offered at the Bellagio buffet, but it certainly didn’t feel lacking at all!

For example, I found AYCE Buffet at the Palms to be lacking in total number of dishes, but the Buffet at Bellagio had more than enough to get me full, even without trying them all.

What we love about the brunch buffet at Bellagio is that it’s equal parts breakfast and lunch. If you’re more of a breakfast person, you can indulge in typical brunch fare like eggs, bacon, pancakes, oatmeal, waffles, sausage, and all sorts of potatoes.

But if you’re feeling more lunch-y, you’ve got a lot to look forward to as well.

There’s a customizable omelette station, a carving station, a section full of pizzas, some pastas, and to our surprise, an array of raw and cooked seafood options. There’s unlimited poke that you can serve yourself, as well as a dedicated made-to-order poke bowl station.

Already, I could see that some foods appealed more to children (pizza, fries, pastas, etc.) while others appealed more to adults.

The buffet also features things like an oatmeal bar, raw oysters, oysters Rockefeller, shrimp cocktail, braised short rib, bone marrow, a full salad bar with vegetarian options, fresh fruit, and a massive dessert section with made-to-order crepes!

Since we visited on a weekday, we missed out on their “Seafood Brunch” which only takes place on weekends. So while there were still seafood options, there were no crab legs for us.

The dessert station was more a feast for our eyes than our bellies. Even though there were tons of desserts (cake pops, donuts, gelato, strawberry cream puffs, pies, cheesecake, etc,), you can realistically only eat a couple before you tap out from a sugar coma.

After we enjoyed most of them with our eyes, we then beelined straight for the crepe station! Crepes are one of our favorite desserts, so we had to get one per person!

There’s also a self-serve drink station offering various sodas, juices, coffee, tea, and other beverages. They also offer an all-you-can-drink alcohol package for an additional fee.

I’m not a soda or alcohol kind of person, so I was on the hunt for fresh fruit juices and was so impressed when I found a whole section of freshly pressed juices a few yards away from the fountain soda machine. There was freshly pressed green juice, passion fruit juice, orange juice, and more.

Quality – 7/10

In our opinion, the stars of the show at the Buffet at Bellagio were the breakfast items, the seabass, the braised short ribs, the larger-than-normal dessert station, the crepes, and the freshly pressed juices.

I had no complaints at all about the breakfast items I tried — all the egg dishes, made-to-order omelets, sausages, and pancakes were great.

The seabass was soft, flaky, and cooked to perfection as white fish should be, and the short ribs were tender and delicious. Being a seafood lover, I always go nuts on the shrimp cocktail, and this one didn’t disappoint.

Even though there were things we loved, there were also things we didn’t love.

The sushi section and the dim sum section were quite mediocre, but they almost always are at these types of buffets. I do give this buffet kudos for having gailan (Chinese broccoli), because I was trying to increase my intake of greens at the buffet without having to eat a raw salad. The gailan was great!

The salmon and tuna poke were okay, but it would be wrong of me to expect it to taste like how it does in Hawaii. Having said that, I could taste that it was clearly previously frozen fish.

The raw oysters were quite meh, because they lacked all that fresh briny water that you’d usually encounter when they’re freshly shucked. They weren’t plump and juicy, which made them kind of sad-tasting. I will give the buffet credit for having oysters to begin with! They’re not usually that common at buffets.

There was nothing obviously bad about this buffet. We enjoyed a majority of the foods we tried, with the exception of about 20% of things being just okay or downright bad.

Service – 10/10

Service at the buffet was great. Our plates were constantly getting cleared whenever we left the table for more food.

Because all of the non-alcoholic drinks were self-serve, there was not really much to get mad at the wait staff about.

The kitchen staff was also great and attentive whenever guests got in line, always refilling dishes when they began to get empty.

Convenience – 7/10

This section covers how easy and hassle-free it is to access and enjoy the buffet. We’ll cover factors such as the waiting time, the payment method, the parking availability, the location, etc.

Because the Buffet at Bellagio currently doesn’t not have a reservation system that allows you to prepay and skip the line (buffets like Bacchanal and Buffet at Wynn have this feature), they do lose a point or two in the convenience category.

This means you have no choice but to stand in line and wait for your turn at a table. It sucked to wait, but since the dining room was pretty sizable, the line moved faster than I had anticipated.

All in all, I rated the convenience a 7/10 (not too bad) because of a few things that may or may not also apply to you:

• We visited on a Tuesday afternoon – we waited just 25-30 minutes. Lines are usually shorter on weekdays than on weekends
• We stayed at an MGM Resorts property and had already paid for overnight parking at Park MGM – our parking fee allowed us access and complimentary parking at all other MGM properties in Vegas, which meant that we didn’t have to pay another fee for parking at Bellagio.

I’m sure lines are WAY longer from Friday to Sunday, so if you find yourself heading to the buffet during the lunch rush, be prepared to wait 1+ hour. A way around this is to show up before or after the rush!

I wouldn’t recommend showing up near closing time because you run the risk of them not preparing/cooking up new batches of food, so the freshness and hotness of your food will be a total gamble.

Value – 8/10

At the time of writing, the buffet costs $54.99 for adults. Children 5 years of age and under eat complimentary. Children 6-11 years of age eat for 50% off.

Some people will find this buffet an EXTREMELY good deal, some will not. There are 2 main ways you can make this buffet VERY worth the money.

If you’re dining with lots of young children, the Buffet at Bellagio is going to be great value.

Children 5 years of age and under eat complimentary. Children 6-11 years of age eat for 50% off. Everyone basically gets to eat free except the adults.

If you have a 2-for-1 coupon.

You can play the myVEGAS game, which is a free app that lets you earn rewards for playing slots and other casino games. You can redeem your rewards for various offers, including a 2-for-1 coupon for the Bellagio buffet. However, this reward is very limited and sells out quickly, so you need to check the app frequently and be ready to grab it when it becomes available.

Another option is to join the MGM Rewards loyalty program, which is the parent company of Bellagio. As a member, you can earn points and tier credits for staying, dining, and playing at any MGM Resorts property, and you can use them for discounts, comps, and other benefits. Y

Once you reach a high enough tier, you’ll get access to exclusive offers and promotions, which may include 2-for-1 coupons for the Bellagio buffet or other dining credits.

Bottom Line: Is The Buffet at Bellagio Worth The Money?

So to answer the question we posed at the beginning of this post — is The Buffet at Bellagio still worth the money these days? — we want to say yes, with an asterisk (*).

In our case specifically, the buffet was extremely good value because we had a 2-for-1 coupon from myVEGAS.

Having said that, this is a pricier buffet compared to other buffets that offer a similar experience, with food that’s equal to — and even better than — what’s served here.

Clearly, it’s a better value compared to Bacchanal if you’re not into seafood (Bacchanal is so expensive these days). It’s also a great value if you’re dining with the kiddos (depending on their age, kids eat free or at 50% off adult price).

But if you’re a group of adults only, we think there are better options, like:

• Wicked Spoon ($47 for adults, $23.50 children age 5-10, and children 4 or younger eat free)
• Buffet at Wynn ($54.99 for adults, children ages 3 to 9 are 50% off)

Unless you have some sort of a BOGO coupon like we did — to bring the cost down to ~$30 per person — I’m not sure the buffet at Bellagio would be worth it at full price. But at the $30 per person price we paid, I’d say yes it was very worth it!

Tips For Dining At Buffet at Bellagio

Here’s our #1 mindset tip for you, and it applies to ALL buffets: if you go with low expectations (like we did), you will be pleasantly surprised and will likely be happy with your meal. If you go in thinking you’re going to get a 5-star gourmet meal, then you will be severely disappointed.

Keep in mind that reservations are not accepted, so it’s best to visit during off-peak hours or be prepared for a wait of about 30 minutes to an hour (or more), especially during busy times.

Buffet prices can increase for holidays and weekends. Don’t be surprised if the buffet price you have to pay is different from what you find on the web.

For those of you who like to drink with your meal, take advantage of the all-you-can-drink package. For an extra $24.99, you can enjoy unlimited drinks for two hours, including wine, beer, cocktails, and sodas. This is a great deal if you want to indulge in some alcoholic beverages with your meal.

We got our 2-for-1 coupon by playing myVEGAS games at home. The Bellagio buffet coupon is almost always sold out, but I was able to snag one at the beginning of the year. With the BOGO coupon, this buffet is an extremely good deal.

The buffet does not validate parking. If you’re dreading the idea of paid parking, your best move would be to stay at Bellagio or at another MGM Resorts property so that you have in-and-out parking privileges at all MGM properties during your stay.

Frequently Asked Questions

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• Best Breakfast and Brunch Buffets In Las Vegas
• Best Seafood Buffets In Las Vegas For Crab Legs, Lobster, and, Sushi
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