The First Buffet In Las Vegas Originally Only Cost A Dollar

For more than 80 years, Las Vegas has been an ever-evolving, incandescent shrine to excess. Pick nearly any vice, and there's a place in this desert oasis willing to help you overindulge, and that includes food as well. In fact, Vegas was long known as the buffet capital of America. While visitors these days expect decadent, sprawling spreads, the city's original endless meal was actually a much humbler affair, costing guests a mere buck to sit and eat (though some sources say $1.25). In 1946, the Chuck Wagon, later rebranded as the "Buckaroo Buffet," sat inside the El Rancho Vegas, the first resort hotel on what would become the infamous Las Vegas Strip. The buffet introduced famished gamblers to the 24-hour smorgasbord, and Vegas was never the same.

The initial offerings were, let's just say, limited. Cheese, cold cuts, and salads made up the bulk of the original menu. It turns out, the buffet's creation was a complete accident. It all began when Herb McDonald, a locally renowned Las Vegas hotel publicist, took a meal break while working at El Rancho. When he pulled out ingredients to make a sandwich at the bar, passing guests took notice. Once McDonald realized they were hungrily eyeing his meal, he set up a similar array of snacks that became available around the clock. Not only did the buffet concept take off at El Rancho, but other casino operators sought to copy its success by adding cafeterias with bottomless provisions to their properties.

The brilliance of El Rancho's buffet lay not only in keeping visitors in the casino — there was no need to leave the building for dinner — but also in how the simple lineup of refreshments got gamblers back to their games more quickly than a meal at a full-service restaurant. The $1 tab almost certainly cost the casino money, but the house still won as long as customers kept playing slots on full stomachs. Like much of Vegas history, all that remains of El Rancho are photos and mementos. No, this casino wasn't demolished to make way for a glitzier development like so many of its mid-century successors. Instead, a fire destroyed the Western-themed resort in 1960, including its 50-foot-tall neon windmill.

Nevertheless, the buffet lived on, with varying price points and food quality at dozens of casinos. In recent years, however, this Las Vegas tradition appears to be dying. After the COVID-19 pandemic temporarily shuttered all buffets, some properties chose simply not to reopen a costly amenity that also occupies prime real estate. According to a 2024 report by Las Vegas Weekly, there are now less than 15 buffets in the Las Vegas Valley. Even prior to the pandemic, the popularity of celebrity chef restaurants and food courts had risen exponentially, leaving buffets in the dust. But if your heart is set on a throwback Vegas experience, here is our guide to the best buffets in the city and a list of red flags to watch out for as you line-up beside the steaming trays.