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Shreveport casino buffets: How they compare
We sank our teeth into Shreveport-area casino buffets so you don't have to
04:31 PM CDT on Friday, September 14, 2007
By SOPHIA DEMBLING / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News
Eldorado Resort Casino
Give away the green in the casino? Get some back at the salad bar of the Market Place Buffet at Eldorado Resort Casino. SHREVEPORT, La. – Forty hours, five buffets.
Ever seen Super Size Me?
Buffets are a casino tradition. I guess they tie into the whole theme of "More, more, more!" So on a quick trip to Shreveport-Bossier City, my husband, Tom, and I did a survey of the casino buffets. Nothing prepared us for the effects of all-you-can-eat.
Of course we also happily threw some money away on gaming, and I saw my first horse race at Louisiana Downs. That was fun. And the people everywhere we went, employees and visitors, were notably nice. Shreveport made a wonderful impression, and I'm sure we'll go back.
But we fit all that other stuff in between meals. Big, greasy, carb-laden meals. Big, porky, sugary, fattening, unhealthy meals. Five of them. We waddled out of Shreveport bloated and clogged. We did it so you don't have to. Let us be a cautionary tale. One buffet is plenty. Take your pick.
SAM'S TOWN, INTERNATIONAL BUFFET
Price and specials: Sunday brunch, $13.99; lunch, Monday through Friday, $10.99, Saturday, $12.99; Steak Night dinner, Monday and Tuesday, $15.99; prime rib and crab legs, Thursday and Saturday, $15.99; seafood, Friday, $17.99; dinner, Wednesday, $13.99; dinner, Sunday, $14.99.
The skinny: Arriving in town around dinnertime, we thought we'd go international. Thai, maybe? Greek?
Actually, Shreveport "international" is Cajun-Southern, Italian, Chinese, Mexican, a carving station and, of course, miles of all-American desserts.
Labeling of the warming trays here was loosey-goosey. "Chef's Choice" was an unconvincing pan of canned peaches, and the "steamed mussels" closely resembled chicken. But we took our chances and filled our plates.
The good: Turnip greens and black-eyed peas from the home-cooking station and sautéed mushrooms from the Italian station deserved seconds. The Chinese noodles weren't bad, though I passed on the other glutinous-looking Chinese dishes. Tom yummed over the sweet potatoes, and tomato and cucumber salad. A warm, gooey pecan cobbler didn't need the chocolate sauce we poured on in an excess of buffet enthusiasm, and Tom gave thumbs-up to the cherry pie.
The bad: Tom's chicken-fried steak was suspect, and one bite of thick, gummy pizza was enough for me. The hush puppies were tough and cold. In fact, everything was cold, although the buffet would be open another two hours.
Tom's closing words: "I have buffet wedged under my fingernails."
DIAMONDJACKS LEGENDS BUFFET
Price and specials: Breakfast, $8.99; lunch, $11.99; dinner, Sunday through Thursday, $15.99 (excluding Monday); seafood buffet, Friday and Saturday, $17.99; Prime Rib Night, Monday, $18.99.
The skinny: This was our favorite buffet. It could be that breakfast is better buffet fodder than dinner or lunch: Foods are simpler, selection is limited, fewer items must be kept warm. In addition, Legends Buffet, in the hotel-casino lobby, is spacious and bright. It's the only buffet restaurant we visited that has windows.
A bowl of fat, fresh blueberries made my heart swell with hope, and peering past the crowds at the made-to-order omelet station, I spotted – could it be? – blintzes, of all things! At what would be the dessert station for other meals, a chef made fresh waffles that you could sprinkle with chocolate chips or other extras. Waffles: the dessert of breakfast.
The good: Tom's attractive, made-to-order omelet explained the crowds around that station. A bite-size cheese blintz made me happy, as did a biscuit, French toast and pancakes, even though they came from a warming tray rather than fresh from the griddle. The hot links deserved seconds.
The bad: Nothing we sampled.
Tom's closing words: "Sophie, stop. You don't need a waffle."
HARRAH'S LOUISIANA DOWNS, THE BUFFET
Harrah's Louisiana Downs
A view of the dining room at the Buffet at Harrah's Louisiana Downs. Prices and specials: Breakfast, Saturday and Sunday, $7.99; Sunday brunch, $13.99; lunch, Monday through Saturday, $11.99; dinner, $14.99; Friday night seafood buffet, $18.99.
The skinny: After our big buffet breakfast, we were not even close to hungry by lunchtime, but a job is a job. We looked around – Wok 'n' Roll, Mama's Pasta, La Casa Mexicana and Creole and Cajun – and started understanding that Sam's Town is no more "international" than every place else. In fact, lunch and dinner buffets are all identically "international." Any variations are slight. Somewhere in Shreveport are enormous vats of pasta, Chinese noodles and tomato and cucumber salad from which all buffets are stocked.
I decided that sticking primarily with the local cuisine was a good bet, although I wasn't tough enough for the pig's feet here, impressed though I was to see them.
The good: I had seconds of crab salad (or maybe it's krab salad). Ham from the carving station was nice, and the greens and black-eyed peas were OK. Tom gnawed on Creole chicken that wasn't bad, if a little dry and underseasoned.
The bad: Once again, the hush puppies were tough and the chocolate chip cookies, though warm, were dry and crunchy instead of moist.
Tom's closing words: "I can't go back for more."
HORSESHOE, VILLAGE SQUARE BUFFET
Price and specials: Breakfast, Saturday through Monday, $9.95; lunch, daily except Friday, $11.95; seafood buffet lunch, Friday, $19.95; dinner, nightly except Friday, $16.95; All-You-Can-Eat Steak Night, Monday, and seafood buffet, Friday, $21.95.
The skinny: This casino's upscale vibe gave me the impression that the dinner buffet would be extra special. Well – not so much.
The spacious restaurant had the inoffensively bland ambience of a hotel coffee shop and by this time, we were jaded. Italian, Chinese, home cooking, barbecue. Sigh. Mushroom salad? Check. Cold shrimp? Check. Carving board? Check. Miles of cakes, cookies, pastries and pies? Check. It's all here.
The good: I didn't intend to eat my whole biscuit but it was so tender and tasty, I nibbled straight through it. The fried chicken was the best yet, grading on a curve. (Crisp, if not terribly flavorful.) Seafood salad again called me back for more.
The bad: The peel 'n' eat shrimp were oddly tasteless, the mac 'n' cheese excessively gooey and a little meat pie was a little pie mush. A mini éclair was cold and flavorless and not worth the calories, so I left it half-eaten and started heading back to the dessert station before Tom intervened.
Tom's closing words: "You don't really want more. You just want something good."
BOOMTOWN, CATTLEMAN'S BUFFET
Price and specials: Breakfast, $8.99. Sunday Champagne Brunch, $14.99; lunch, $10.99; dinner, $13.99; Sizzlin' Steak Night, Thursday, $16.99; Surf, Turf & More Surf, Friday and Saturday, $18.99.
The skinny: Oh, dear; oh, dear. The less said the better about this breakfast. The restaurant was dark and uninviting, choices were limited and what we tasted – oh, dear. I don't know what they did to the waffle to make it taste like that, and the French toast had a consistency neither of us could describe. The eggs were watery, the coffee tasteless.
I will say no more.
Tom's closing words: "Try not to think about it."Missed meal:
ELDORADO'S MARKET PLACE BUFFET
Prices and specials: Lunch, $10.99; dinner: $14.99; Champagne Brunch, Saturday and Sunday, $13.50; Mexican and Margarita Fiesta, Tuesday, $14.99; Steaks and Shakes Buffet, dinner, Wednesday, $14.99; seafood buffet, dinner, Friday, $19.99.
The skinny: Though it was our favorite casino for gaming, we ran out of time before we could hit this buffet. I walked through it, though. Guess what they serve? Home cooking, Mexican, Italian, Chinese and dessert. The room is being redone in what appears to be a cheery Cracker Barrel-meets-Italian restaurant theme. We'll try it next time.
Tom's wrap-up, one week later: "I've really tried to eat healthy this week after all that, so maybe it was all for the best."
BUFFET TIPS
•Want to get your money's worth? Avoid breads, rice, pasta and other filling carbs.
•The pizza is often disappointing. Steer clear.
•Local specialties often have an edge over exotic fare.
•The cakes in the display cases are all pretty, but the hot desserts are likely to be better.
•Buffets are so similar that you could be excused for choosing according to convenience – in other words, nothing wrong in eating where you're gaming.
•Some buffets offer discounts or other perks if you sign up for the casino's rewards card.
Sophia Dembling, a Dallas freelance writer, is the author of The Making of Dr. Phil and The Yankee Chick's Survival Guide to Texas. Contact: www.yankeechick.com.
RESOURCE
Shreveport-Bossier Convention & Tourist Bureau, 1-888-458-4748; www.shreveport-bossier.org. |
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