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How long would u wait to eat?

Discussion in 'Restaurants & Buffets' started by Kainoa, Jan 2, 2013.

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  1. Kainoa

    Kainoa Tourist

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    Just got back from a Christmas trip to Vegas. Had to share this with the forum. My family and I had Christmas eve dinner at the Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars. With reservations we were seated at our reservation time. While in line to get our food I spoke to several people who had waited in line for over SEVEN HOURS to eat there!!! Crazy or what??
     
  2. hanoscf

    hanoscf High-Roller

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    I wouldn't even wait an hour. I don't live to eat; I eat to live.
     
  3. mganut

    mganut Well-Known Member

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    So they went for lunch and ended up having dinner?

    I cannot think of a meal anywhere that I would wait over an hour for...never mind seven!
     
  4. Gregsmt

    Gregsmt Low-Roller

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    There's not many things I'd wait in line for 1 hour let alone 7. I'm pretty sure I'd make different plans. I doubt the food was worth it. You get an A+ for planning ahead with the reservations
     
  5. dfalk

    dfalk VIP Whale

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    Well said! Eating is a waste of time and money
     
  6. hanoscf

    hanoscf High-Roller

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    Eating is not a waste of time and money. But standing in line 7 hours to eat is a waste of time.
     
  7. atom

    atom High-Roller

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    I can't imagine wasting 1 hour of my vacation in line waiting to get into a buffet (nevermind seven!) I wouldn't wait in line for 7 hours in Vegas if the food was complimentary and I was being paid $100 to eat it. There are way too many great dining choices in Vegas, and my time there is limited and therefore precious.
     
  8. MTMONGO

    MTMONGO High-Roller

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    7 hours and they had to pay for the buffet. Was there a free bar of gold stashed in the pudding?
     
  9. kman008

    kman008 Low-Roller

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    Reservations at Bacchanal? How do you pull that one off? 7 Stars? I didn't know you can do reservations at a buffet unless you had a banquet or something.

    -Never mind, guess you can book if you have 12+...
     
  10. Basti

    Basti Newbie

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    It was christmas eve! Of course there are a lot of people. I wouldnt wait and stand in line for food. That is what I dont like about buffets in Vegas. And for special holidays I rather have reservation for a nice restaurant than take the risk of wasting my time standing in line.
     
  11. Dewey089

    Dewey089 VIP Whale

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    How about as well as posting your own level of tolerance for waiting in line, why not add your strategies for avoiding lines and especially how to avoid them in particular buffets we may visit:

    I have low tolerance for lines, but sometimes I will wait in them. I waited in the Caesar's line before it became the newest wonder of the buffet world on Veterans Day because the all day line pass was free to Veterans on Veterans day. There had been no line at Paris for breakfast where I showed up super early and arranged for the pass with my DD214. But I wanted to try Caesar's as I had never been there.
    I remember well the family just behind me. A middle aged black woman and her three grown sons, all from Alabama. It was great! With a few compliments on her fine sons, and comments on how fine it must be to be traveling with all her children, (some were in the military and she rarely saw them) I managed to lead them into discussing how it was to grow up together and how much sibling rivalry. The banter then began and the animated stories showing how "Mom always loved you best...like the time when.." never ended. As well as entertaining personal stories I also got a fine look at what it was like to grow up in Alabama. I got lucky that day. I could have doubled my line time.
    Well, here is my list of strategies:

    *I'm guessing that the OP got reservations as suggested by going with a group. how is that done?
    * Some poster mentioned just making a reservation at a restaurant.

    * Playing poker in some places will allow us to score a line pass. We can then walk into the buffet in the VIP line with those people who have earned the appropriate gem color of cards reserved for royalty in that particular casino. I did this years ago at Cravings, but I don't know if it still holds. The Golden Nugget after 4 hours of play, gives a line pass. The comp and pass can be taken late at night for the next day by asking for the date to be one day later.
    * Some, (not CET I think) all day eating passes come with line privileges. Orleans is one. There for $24 a day we can just walk in anytime without anyone ahead of us other than a few in the VIP line and just show a rubber bracelet at we pass the cashier.
    *Gamble enough to get one of those royalty cards in better gem colors than the low roller cards I carry.
    * Ellis Island best strategy is to eat the steak special at 2 AM. Another is not to disappear, but just hover as they will put you ahead of the established numbers sometimes. A third is to take someone who is over 90. I went once with such a guest in the party. We drew attention to that by asking for a seat so she could "rest" while waiting even though she had her sneakers and had exhausted us walking everywhere on every day of the trip. In reality, I was the one who needed a rest. They seated us quickly at a table. Finally, go with the intention of playing video poker for a while and take a number.That is why Ellis Island has a line at the cafe, to capture a few more coins.
    * Go to Vegas in August or early December. When there are fewer people, there are fewer lines.
    * Search out buffets off the strip. I rarely find a line at Terribles.I suspect that the Station Casinos, as well as being very cheap, rarely have lines. I'm going out to them more this next trip.
    * Go to the buffet at times when lines are much less. Weekdays are better than weekend days, hours between standard meals are better than routine times. I do this best at Foxwoods in Connecticutt where I have a free buffet pass with my bus ride. I have kept track of the best times to use it and I wait to go at that time. About 1:30 seems to work. Spice Market works that way too. Going just as the supper price will be imposed costs more, but will skip lines. Going to breakfast before they open will put you up front in most buffets and the time to wait is much less than once the place opens.
    * Sit at the counter. This works well at the California Market Street Cafe and I once did it with 6 people. We cut a 30-45 minute wait just by going up and asking permission to eat at the counter. Solo it is very easy. My wife and I do it all the time. We saved 20 minutes here at our local Grannies breakfast place just last week. Folks were lined up out in the parking lot and did not even want us to go inside and gave us dirty looks when we were immediately seated.


    At Grannies we just hovered until one of the counter eaters was leaving so two seats were in a row and then we asked if we could take those seats. Be ready to move immediately when you ask for a counter seat before the folks ahead of you realize that they missed the opportunity.

    "Oh, would you have liked to have sat at the counter had it been offered? Well, it ain't ever gonna be offered, and since you could not think outside the box, Sparky, we rake in this pot. Just suck it up and stand in line. "


    I used to do it at El Cortez and Golden Gate but I don't think there are counters there anymore. I did it at Cravings in the Mirage, but again a long while ago. I think it is a great solo strategy because it is entertaining as well as line breaking and you get great service because the waitress is right there all the time in front of you filling up your coffee cup and bringing the better hot sauce. I do it at the eatery at the Gold Spike although there is no line. I get better service.
    * Line frustration can be aleviated by engaging folks around you in conversation. Just make some easy joke and then follow it with opening questions like, "Are we winning?" and before long you can collect some fine stories by asking the kind of questions folks ask here on the board to get conversation going, like the one that started this thread. In fact, just skim down the list of opening questions here on the board offered by bored folks who are at home "waiting in line" to get to travel to Vegas. Note the ones of interest, and use them in your next line.
    Avoid politics and religion, although I have had great conversations on those topics as long as I remember to interview and not give any opinion unless asked and then just give it without any supportive argument.
    (Believe me, you won't be asked? Or if you are you won't be asked to explain why you feel that way unless you are in line with me. Everyone who will talk about religion knows God personally and has a perfect sense of God's plan for the country and their insight is the only true insight. Also everyone knows exactly what Congress or the President should do about everything and it always is something they are not doing.)
    And if anyone is Lutheran, I always ask about Prarie Home Companion as I love that show.
    I recommend not saying or asking anything about health as those long descriptions of every operation or malady are deadly in a buffet line unless you like hearing effects of anesthetic on bowel movements just before you sit down to a bowl of chili. Sometimes it seems old people have nothing else to talk about except their operations, the operations of their friends, their medicine... well you get the idea.
    But if you do get caught, ask about the far past. Old people were young once and they can remember that. Sports is great for men. Every man knows exactly how sports teams should be managed. But I don't like sports much. Recipes work for me.
    *Ask locals where there is a place to eat without lines and ask tourists where they get the bet food in their hometowns.
    * At Disney, with kids. the lines were incredible. We developed an entire group of line games and that worked perfectly. In one game, each person offers a letter and the letters in that order must spell a word in their mind. The person who has to admit they can no longer come up with a word loses that round providing the person before them actually had a word in mind and spelled it correctly. The person who manages to finish a word gets an extra point. Bring a pocket full of dollars to substitute for points and the game can get really interesting. Collected money can be used to pay for the buffet or divided up evenly among the players when the game ends.
    * Of course, the modern solution is just to bring a smart phone and move mentally out of the line and into the world of angry birds or email insults, or additions to this thread, or having conversations with long distance friends. In college I always brought a pocket paperback for the registration lines.
    *In Vegas I often bring the American Casino Guide as dining reading, skimming possible coupon destination or reading about casinos in other parts of the county where I might have actually won money, and this will be interesting to most people in line. Just open the book and point to one casino and ask, "Would you go here?" and they will soon want to see the book. They will then share their sources of coupons. If they rant about how ridiculous coupons are, just excuse yourself and get into another place in line. It is a proven fact that folks who treat coupons with distain are apt to be latent mass murders.
    * Nap. No, it is possible to sleep while standing up.
    * Draw straws and have one of your party do the line standing. Maybe s/he eats for free for the service. Maybe it is just the default prize for being the first to run through the day's bankroll. In some places the line standing person can pay for people who are not there, get a seat, and late comers can just join later by coming in the exit. So, one good strategy is always come late. Tell the seating waitress that there are two more in your party but they had to go to the bathroom.Then call them and tell them that the table is ready, reminding them that they will be the ones who have to leave the tip.
     
  12. VegasGroove

    VegasGroove VIP Whale

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    Waiting 7 hours to eat is . . . well . . . dumb. No plate of food is worth that.

    Personally, I would wait 10 minutes past my reservation time, then leave. No resevation, I am willing to wait 30 minutes (if the restaurant is worth it).

    In a place like Vegas, there are hundreds and hundreds of dining choices. Avail yourself to them rather than waiting hours for food.
     
  13. JosieCat

    JosieCat VIP Whale

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    I have no tolerance for waiting in line - period. If I didn't have the line pass being Platinum with M Life. it's doubtful I would ever eat at one of their buffets. When we stayed at the Bellagio in September, I couldn't believe the lines and how long people were willing to wait to eat.
     
  14. JDinTN

    JDinTN MIA

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    7 hours sounds like an exaggeration. I could be wrong because I don't have any real experience with Vegas buffet lines. But how is 7 hours even possible? So it means they started waiting in line for dinner during the early part of lunch?? I know when I'm stuck in traffic I easily overestimate how long I've been stuck, I think its the same thing here.
     
  15. UTE

    UTE Plastics

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    30 minutes.

    Bill
     
  16. heatherlovesvegas

    heatherlovesvegas VIP Whale

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    No more than an hour. To be honest. I don't recall the last time I waited to eat anywhere in Vegas. Almost every place takes reservations. Hence why I don't go to the buffets. Besides for what Bacchanal costs I could have a nice sit down dinner.
     
  17. BoostedRS

    BoostedRS Low-Roller

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    I went to Caesars buffet over the holiday and got to take advantage of the Diamond Line. :licklips: There were masses of people waiting but I was up there within 5 mins and got to watch as I got the death stares from angry people, lol. It was very good but man was it expensive. Holiday buffet was like 49.95 I think a person? I wouldn't have waited over 15-20 mins in my opinion for a buffet though, that's just ridiculous.
     
  18. C0usineddie

    C0usineddie VIP Whale

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    Just a few people in the buffet line is more then enough for me.
     
  19. SW

    SW Well-Known Member

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    Add one more to the "No more than a hour" Club.
     
  20. leo21

    leo21 VIP Whale

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    Well, put me on the not at all list. I didn't even try to fool with Bachannal on this last trip because I figured I had better things to do.
     
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