Las Vegas Buffets Fade as Food Halls Rise, ‘Pawn Stars’ Boss Touts Barbecue

Las Vegas buffets, long a cornerstone of the Strip experience, are fading as casinos push younger, cooler dining concepts such as food halls, industry observers say. The shift comes as tourism and dining preferences evolve, with critics and restaurateurs noting that variety and value now matter more than the omnipresent buffet model. Rick Harrison, the Las Vegas–based star of Pawn Stars, said in a Fox News Digital interview from his Rick's Rollin Smoke Barbeque & Tavern that the buffet decline is a case of Darwinism in the dining world, arguing that tastes and expectations have evolved. "You know, 100 years ago, lobster was considered poor people’s food, so everything has changed," Harrison said, framing the evolution as a natural progression toward more varied and selective dining options.

Las Vegas has long blended high-end experiences with mass-market appeal, and the buffet era in its current form has given way to a proliferation of food halls that offer curated menus, pitched to a broader range of budgets. The changes are visible across several iconic resort properties. In 2020, Rio’s Carnival World Buffet closed and later reopened as Canteen Food Hall in January 2024, marking one of the more conspicuous transitions from all-you-can-eat arrays to compact, market-style dining spaces. The ARIA Buffet also shuttered in 2020 and reopened as Proper Eats Food Hall in 2022, while Circus Circus opened the Big Top Food Court in 2021, replacing portions of the former buffet footprint with a more casual, fast-casual lineup. Despite the shifts, Rick Harrison’s own Las Vegas restaurant remains rooted in slow-cooked barbecue—meat that's smoked for 16 hours and sourced locally. The emphasis on technique and provenance marks a broader trend toward high-quality, craft-driven offerings within the city's evolving dining ecosystem.

Harrison described his own concept as a counterpoint to the spectacle of all-you-can-eat options, noting that his burn ends—one of his restaurant’s signature dishes—are emblematic of the region’s barbecue tradition. Born and raised in North Carolina, he framed his menu as a nod to the barbecue capital of the world, emphasizing pace and flavor over volume. "We don’t cut the time,” he said, underscoring a contrast with buffet mindsets where service times and pacing often dominate the guest experience. “It’s not 15-and-a-half hours. It’s 16 hours, every bit of it.” He added that everything at his restaurant is locally sourced and that guests from abroad often discover American barbecue for the first time and respond enthusiastically.

Beyond taste and technique, price remains a talking point for many visitors. Harrison has criticized the most expensive dining options while acknowledging that affordable, solid American fare is still available in Las Vegas. He referenced steak options that won’t break a budget, suggesting that there are still places to enjoy a quality steak for roughly $50 to $80. The conversation around value comes as industry groups note a softer tourism market. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) recently released July visitation figures showing a 12% year-over-year decline, with 3,089,300 visitors, down from more than 3.5 million in July 2024. Strip occupancy also fell, down about 7% to roughly 86.5% for the month, underscoring broader economic headwinds facing the city’s hospitality and entertainment sector.

Harrison attributed the downturn in part to inflation and the resulting hesitation among travelers to take vacations, but he stressed that Las Vegas remains a multi-faceted dining destination. "You have everything from a food court to five-star restaurants," he said. "So, it’s a little bit of everything here. … You got something for every budget here." The thriving food-hall model reflects a broader industry shift toward experiences that combine ambiance, variety and approachable price points, even as some visitors continue to seek the tradition and abundance once offered by expansive buffet lines.

As Las Vegas continues to recalibrate its restaurant mix, observers say the trend toward food halls is likely to endure, even if some players keep experimenting with hybrid concepts that blend curated menus with the spectacle of classic dining formats. The city’s ability to offer both high-end experiences and casual, high-value options may help sustain its status as a premier global destination, even as the buffet era recedes from the spotlight.