The $17,000,000 Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars Palace offers a feast that boasts more than 500 options and may well take the ongoing battle of Las Vegas buffets to a new level. Bacchanal Buffet premiered on September 11th after a complete wall-to-wall renovation from the previous Lago Buffet and will likely become a culinary mainstay like the Carnival World Buffet, which opened over two decades ago.
The Bacchanal Buffet has a direct view of Caesars Palace's Garden of the Gods pool oasis, nine open kitchens, three distinct rooms and25,000 square feet of space with seating for up to 600 people. Similar to other buffets in Las Vegas, it serves breakfast on weekdays, brunch on weekends, lunch on weekdays and dinner daily. Unlike most buffets in Las Vegas, it has chefs that "own" each station. That way, guests who return, should get a similar experience and food quality.
Open kitchens are the new trend in Las Vegas restaurants and its buffets are no different. During my three separate visits, I was greeted by the chefs at almost each station with a smile. My brother, who attended all three meals with me, observed a dessert chef with an almost permanent smile who was very eager to assist in diner's requests.
Usually when I visit a buffet, I notice that guests are removed from what the cooks are preparing at their stations. Engagement from the chefs was delightful and almost surprising the first time I experienced it. I knew it was not opening day excitement after my subsequent visits.
Caesars Palace hired the Japanese firm Super Potato to create intimate dining areas, with their own unique design elements such as glass, wood and steel. Constructing a vast space like the new buffet, design and building companies needed to be environmentally conscience. To meet these construction needs, materials that are natural, recycled and reclaimed were used.
Bacchanal feels expansive and bright during the day, especially in the first section that I entered with glass walls and sparkling chandeliers. The wood in the warm feeling room was designed with stacks of wood blocks that allow light to flow through them, depicting sunlight pouring through tree branches. The steel in the urban influenced room was reclaimed from factories and warehouses and it has a cooler feel than the other two rooms.
I returned to the buffet a few times, not because I'm a glutton but for a practical reason: The buffet offers so much variety, it would be time and cost prohibitive for the regular visitor to experience half of the gustatory experiences on offer over the course of a week in Sin City.
That means that the virtue of a $17,000,000 buffet is that it allows visitors to sin efficiently. This is gorgeous gluttony on the go.
