Anybody Know How Crowded Is Sams Town During The Week?

I am finally coming out again to Las Vegas, now that I have been fully vaccinated, and will be staying at Sams Town. I have been away since the pandemic began a year ago, and can't wait to get back. I will be arriving on March 2nd. I was wondering - for those of you who have been to Sams Town recently, how crowded is it there during the weekdays? Thanks for your help!
Connell

 

I went a few months ago but stayed for the weekend to get away from the Strip. Not a big weekend crowd at all. Would certainly expect less during the week.

 

I spent New Year's Eve there and it wasn't that crowded.

 

I haven't been during the pandemic restrictions, but pre-pandemic, I never found it to be that crowded, especially during the week. And with fewer people traveling, I'd guess that it's even quieter. Of course, I'm probably jinxing it by saying that.

The one thing to watch out for, ironically, is the lack of crowds and the resulting lack of open tables. If you're a slot player it's a different story, but I was at Sahara a few months ago, before things started easing up, and it was impossible to find a blackjack table, because there were only a couple open and those were limited to three spots. The rest of the floor was pretty dead.

 

We will be there the 3rd week of April mid week (4 days). We have usually stayed at MSS (sigh), and for some reason very little was offered to us from Boyd for the Cal or even Fremont, but Sam's (where we've stayed before, but not gambled much) offered us 3 comped nights and the 4th for not much (no resort fee on comped nights). We're freshly vaccinated, so won't be overly concerned about crowds, but it has never been really crowded, in our experience.

 

I'll be in the area for two weeks and just before you go, Rocypa, and I'll give you some feedback. I'm staying at Longhorn.

 

ORIGINAL POST

So, how was the visit?

 

Thanks, Dewey!! We're getting really antsy to get out of the house!

 

I'm sure this is evolving week to week as casinos welcome more and more people.
Our first vegas visit in 16 months was to ST March 29-April 1.
Likes:
Yes, crowds were minimal, especially during day. Liked that 99 percent of the machines were operational; there were just fewer chairs to go around. Made it easy to play machines we wanted.
More than once, played bar VP with no one within 3-4 seats on either side of me.
Thought employees were genuinely happy to see people. Everyone saying hello, or in case of rewards center, 'welcome back.'
Observations:
Poker lounge, keno station are still shut down. Sorry, not a table game player any longer, but mornings looked really dead.
Valet service has resumed in the last week.
Dislikes:
If you are the type of person who liked to take pictures of what you eat and post on this site, you would really be challenged at ST,
Angry Butcher, lone upscale restaurant, was closed Mon./Tuesday
TGIF was only sitdown option for breakfast. Ugh
Excellent snack bar listed breakfast options, but did not open until 11 a.m.
Fast food options are the usual suspects....McDonald's, Panda Express, Subway, etc...and all were doing good business, sometimes, resulting in lengthy waits.
Precautions:
Especially in casino area, observed a number of people cleaning/wiping machines down. Reassuring to see.
This did not carry over to food court area in back, which was a mess at times, with very little social distancing observed to the point I even felt uncomfortable waiting for food order Thursday night when crowds had picked up.
BConnected experience...right, we all know how generous Boyd is, right? LOL
I had lost all my tier points (675) when we didn't show up at all in 2020....However, even though I didn't generate any W-2G forms, played $VP often enough with decent returns over a 3 1/2 day period to reach Sapphire status with 1,192 points.
Summation: ST used to be a favorite stop, and it still feels comfortable. wife has mobility issues and hotel layout plus fact that there are still smoking rooms were two big pluses for us. It was a nice way of being reintroduced to Vegas, especially, if you are not picky about what you eat.
Photos were taken mid day wed, march 31

 

I finally made it to Sam's Town. I just don't get around as well as I used to. Certainly things change day to day. Easter and Easter Monday were crowded in this area, but today it has eased off. Walking to Sam's Town, I just passed one person. In the casino there were a few folks scattered around but not what I remembered from past years. I could easily get a seat playing full pay Deuces in dimes and not feel near any other players, and years back those would probably not be open in the early afternoon. So, I'd say they were much less crowded since only half the machines can be played. The Player's Club had just a few folks in line. However, I imagine later at night the place will fill up.
Longhorn does, especially around dinner time when everyone wants the cheap eats. What an amazing porterhouse meal Chuckwagon has for 9 bucks after 4 PM. A pound cooked perfectly with tasty veggies, potato, even a good roll. I went two nights in a row. I found that going a few minutes before 4 I could be seated and wait to order the 4 pm specials. The crowd would be lined up just to leave their name as I exited.
McDonald's at Sam's seemed a bit crowded, but the courtyard was not. Mc D's still has a two dollar hamburger. I'll certainly get up to Sam's again, and I'll let you know how it seems on other days, but I don't do much after dark anymore, so my impressions will be morning of afternoon. Oh, Walmart was very crowded. And the buses run pretty much as I used to remember. That 202 still waits next to the closed Eastside Cannery, so I'll take a ride to center strip one of these days and see if it is crowded at MonAmiGabe and if they have escargot and steak au poivre.

 

the food selections at Sam's sound like what I hate in Casinos. I don't need Subway and Burger king on vacation.

TomTWI

 

When I used to go often to Vegas, I challenged myself to never pay for food. I'd usually ate a midday free buffet and snacked on room food. But sometimes I'd want just a little something while gambling at Sam's, and I'd get what I think then was a dollar hamburger. Not paying for food freed up my money for gambling.

Sam's has The Angry Butcher with a fine upscale menu. I'm sorry it has limited hours. The buffet is closed, of course. That used to be a fine place to eat.

I totally agree with you on Mc D not being a vacation spot, but some folks have different tastes. So, I wanted to report all the info I could gather in my stumbling way. Since I'm here for two weeks, I do like some frugal meals and since I'm solo, I have plenty of room food that keeps me more on my diets, and a way to make my own brand of coffee. However, here is a bit of a review of the Longhorn Chuckwagon, a short walk from Sam's which combines good tasting food with frugality.

In reviews of cheap eats the Chuckwagon at the Longhorn is sometimes mentioned.

I think it is probably overall is the cheapest place to eat in Vegas.

And the food is very good and available 24/7.

I ate the $9 porterhouse steak twice so far. There was a choice of potato and I picked the mashed. It came with some brown gravy. The vegetable was a mixture of green beans and other bits and it was very good. The service was excellent. There was a 30 minute wait time because it is a popular place for locals. Some meals can be take out, but this cannot. It was not a quiet retreat, but it was not overly noisy. Conversation was easy. I asked for medium rare, and that is what I got. It even had that little plastic marker to indicate how it was cooked. I marvel that a chef can get this right. I am often in restaurants where they don't.

Served with the steak was Heinz 57 and A1 sauce.

I just drank water and it was refilled in a timely manner without my needing to ask, but always with my option to say no.

For my second porterhouse the next day I went 8 minutes before 4 PM. No lines. The seated me and I sipped my water and read my phone until I could order the 4 PM special.
I found the steak a bit thicker. That might explain that this second one picked up more grill flavor as it must have cooked longer to get it to medium rare.

Corn mixed and spiced was the vegetable this day.

Both times a roll was served. I rarely eat the rolls in restaurants, but this one was very tasty, again more like the old days.

I also went down for a graveyard special. I usually am up at 2 or 3 in the morning and so I just pop down and have a snack. The $1.49 biscuit and gravy was good. It was a good portion as well. I was laughing as I tipped because I can't remember tipping over 100% of a meal. All the graveyard specials were under $3.

I kept looking at the dessert case. There were so many delightful choices.
Unfortunately, at this age I just don't have the appetite I once had.

 

Another Sam's Town note is that I saw a woman with just a plastic face shield. It is perhaps enough to meet the regulations as no one bothered her. I don't think it is as good protection as a mask, but it is much more comfortable.

 

Great comment. Sam's is maybe the best example of the destruction of dining choices by casino's in order to save money. A few years after the big remodel in the 90's, they had a head spinning list of company owned restaurants, and for sure I will have missed some: Billy Bob's, Diamond Lil's, Papamillo's, the buffet, Mary's Diner, Willy and Jose's, the Coffee Hut, the Coffee Shop (forgot the name), and The Deli.

Most of those are now closed for years. Lately, Sam's has been reduced to actually promoting in tweets and Facebook posts, their fast food restaurants. I'm even embarrassed for them when I read these posts. For example: "There's a lot of great stuff at Sam's Town, and one of the latest is that we've got #Dunkin' Donuts and now they've got #AvocadoToast!

OR

"It's #NationalPizzaDay! A whole day – 24 happy hours – to celebrate that yummy carb that almost no one can do without! Celebrate the day with the great choices at the Sports Deli! "

Yep, McDonald's, Dunkin, a Taco shop, and Subway, or pizza heated in an oven at the Deli! Plan your trip now!!!!

 

A suggestion, Dewey. How about just creating a trip report and put your trip observations (this one, and others from your trip to come) in there? This way your Longhorn dining review won't get lost in a Sam's Town thread.

 

There is absolutely nothing wrong with Roberto's Taco Shop. The food there is very, very good.

 

Roberto’s is an institution in San Diego (I mean, in the probable taco shop capital of the US there are some that are better, but Roberto’s locations are reliably very tasty and pretty easy to find nearby), and if a taco shop holds up here...

 

Oh, I'll be posting a trip report that will have more details than you want to read. This section on food is just a small excerpt. When I can't sleep in Vegas, I write. But I still think that pointed responses to topical threads is valuable. Folks on this thread are going to Sam's Town and back long before I will actually finish my trip report and put it on the board, but also in my blog. Not everyone is going to read my trip report.

 

Impossible! It's the details that make your reports unique! Like the lunches in Laughlin, when the ketchup (or relish?) packets wouldn't open.

 

You may be sorry you encouraged my penchant for detail and ramblings. I will try again to break it up with clear subsections so skim readers can get just what they want. That is if I recover from yesterday's fling with Longhorn's graveyard specials. I had both pancakes and biscuits and gravy at midnight after a long ten hour bout of limit poker at the Golden Nugget and no food. Huge portions. I was clearly on a fling.
Well, thanks for your interest and help. This trip is clearly bringing me back from isolation.