Restaurant Smackdown: Bellagio Vs Paris Breakfast Buffet, Las Vegas, NV

On our recent trip to Las Vegas, my boyfriend and I were faced with an agonizing decision - which of the multitude of buffets would we be able to fit into our eating itinerary, and which would we have to leave out? With only a few meal slots available, we decided to try 2 popular breakfast buffets on subsequent days to do a comparison. We had heard great things about the Paris and the Bellagio, so off we went. Here are the results of our restaurant smackdown!

Paris
Las Vegas is all about kitsch, and the buffet restaurant at the Paris is no exception, with its cobblestone-street-Parisian-village theme. However, the tables at the buffet were arranged in a pleasing way that made the experience seem a little less buffet-like, which was a plus in my opinion. As for the buffet itself, the spread was simply huge. We found breakfast foods like eggs, sausage, bacon, ham, potatoes, made-to-order omelets, French toast and pancakes, a carving station, a crepe station, numerous hot brunch-type dishes including casseroles, vegetables and seafood, a pasta and bread area, a Mediterranean area with tapenade, grilled vegetables and meats, a cold bar with smoked salmon, crab legs, shrimp, cheeses and salads, and a huge dessert bar with cakes, pastries, ice cream and more. Because we were there on Sunday, the price was $25 and included unlimited champagne, but their weekday brunch is only $12 (no champagne or crab legs, though).

We couldn't have tried everything if we'd wanted to, but we did sample most of the breakfast items, crepes, pastas, breads, smoked salmon and several desserts. We didn't bother with the crab legs and shrimp, which were of visibly poor quality, or most of the hot dishes, which looked overcooked and dried out. Standouts included the crepe station, the sausages, eggs, hash browns and quiche, the crepe station, the pastas, the crepe station and the smoked salmon. Did I mention the Nutella crepes at the crepe station? All of the bread was terrible with the exception of the croissants, and oddly enough, the bacon at the Paris was awful. How do you screw up bacon?

Bellagio
The Bellagio has one of the most beautiful lobbies of any hotel in Las Vegas, but their buffet restaurant is another story entirely. Extremely dreary atmosphere, with an obvious buffet feel. They did start off our meal with fresh-squeezed orange juice, though, which was a nice touch. We checked out the buffet and found the typical scrambled eggs, French toast, fresh-made pancakes, bacon, sausage, waffles, and omelet bar, plus 4 different types of potatoes, biscuits and gravy. There was a huge selection of cereal, yogurt, fresh fruit and toppings, plus desserts, including some unusual offerings like bread pudding. Savory selections included smoked salmon and white fish, a breakfast burrito bar, an Asian bar, a few hot meat dishes (roasted salmon and chicken) and a pizza bar. The price for all of this excess was $14, just a couple of dollars more than the weekday price at the Paris.

Again, we tasted the conventional breakfast items, although we steered clear of the cereal and yogurt. We also both love pizza for breakfast, and since smoked salmon is one of my favorite foods in the world, I hit that section of the buffet pretty hard as well. We avoided the asian bar and most of the hot dishes, simply because they were unappealing at that hour of the day. The pizza, fresh fruit, potatoes, gravy and smoked salmon were great, but most of the rest of the food was seriously underwhelming. The sausage at the Bellagio is TERRIBLE, and I think they use powdered eggs - the scrambled eggs were inedible. The bread and bagels at the Bellagio were also awful. They have a serious bread problem in Las Vegas!

And the Winner is...

The Paris. No question, from ambiance to variety to quality, the Paris has it all over the Bellagio. Here's a point by point comparison on some important features:

Service: Tie (service was flawless everywhere we went in Las Vegas)
Ambiance: Paris
Variety: Paris
Eggs: Paris
Potatoes: Tie
Bacon: Bellagio
Sausage: Paris
Gravy: Bellagio
French Toast: Tie
Syrup/Toppings: Paris (although real maple syrup was not available at either, which was a disappointment)
Smoked Salmon: Tie
Fruit: Bellagio
Sweets: Paris (they won on the crepe station alone)
Savory Brunch Items: Paris
Breads: Tie for last place (all of the bread we had was horrid!)

Hopefully this comparison will help travelers to Las Vegas make the most of their stomach space. I will return to the Paris, but I look forward to trying other breakfast buffets in Las Vegas as well, to see how they stack up in a head-to-head competition. Bon Appetit!