Mirage's Newly Renovated Eatery Provides a Great Dining Experience in Las Vegas

Buffets can be an enjoyable part of the Las Vegas experience and are generally the best value when it comes to dining. You can get a tremendous variety of delicious food and eat to your heart's content.

Although Las Vegas has many buffets, I have eaten quite often at Cravings and I've found it to be a unique and enjoyable experience. Let's look at the particulars:

Location:

Cravings is Inside the Mirage Hotel at the center of the Las Vegas Strip, 3400 Las Vegas Boulevard South. It's at the north end of the casino at the ground level.

Décor

Cravings was renovated recently. It has a streamlined, contemporary design and a nice atmosphere.

Personnel

The wait staff is one of the friendliest and helpful I've seen. The managers make every effort to make certain that everything is right, and will handle matters personally. Sometimes if I want something that's not out there on a particular day, they'll make it for me.

My Favorite Foods at Cravings

A Fresh, Enclosed Salad Bar

The salad bar has a great selection of fresh vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds. There's another area where they have a selection of melons. The bowls of salads are prepared by servers, which keeps things clean and intact. A full bowl of salad there tends to be very filling.

International Ethnic Food Stations

Chinese, South-of-the Border, Italian, Pizza, and Seafood are the ones I like best. The Chinese section has a dish they make with cashews that's really tasty. There's often shrimp in the seafood area and barbeque ribs over on the other side.

Desserts

I'm not a big sweet eater, but they have a great selection of various types of ice cream, cake and other delights.

Full Service Bar

This is one of the few buffets of which I'm aware that actually has a liquor bar. They do, of course, charge extra for the drinks in that area.

Serving Times and Prices

Breakfast is from 7:00 AM to 11:00 AM, $15.03; lunch from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM, $19.34; and dinner from 3:00 PM to 11:00 PM, $26.88. Brunches are on Saturdays and Sundays, from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM. They have reduced prices for young people and there are no gaps in service between breakfast, lunch and dinner. If you arrive for breakfast shortly before 11:00, for example, all of the lunch items will be brought out at 11:00.

This is a little expensive, although not the highest in Vegas. I'm not into spending much on buffets. If you're playing in the casino, or even small stakes poker, you can get comps for the buffet - be sure to ask!