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Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars Palace
Nine live cooking stations, hundreds of dishes, and still one of the buffets I send people to first. Here’s what’s actually true about it in 2026.
See Hours & What to Know →I get asked about this one constantly, usually from people planning a Vegas trip who remember it from a “best buffets” list or a friend raving about the crab legs. Bacchanal is still open, still busy, and still one of the best buffets left on the Strip. It went through a real renovation after the pandemic and reopened as a fully self-service buffet with roving carts instead of the old steam-table setup, so if your last visit was pre-2020, it looks and runs a little differently now. Here’s what I’d actually tell a friend before they go.
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What It Is
Nine show kitchens, one big room
Bacchanal opened at Caesars Palace in September 2012 after a reported $17 million buildout, and it’s been a fixture on “best buffet in Vegas” lists ever since (USA Today named it Best Buffet in 2012 and 2013, and it picked up local awards from the Review-Journal and Las Vegas Weekly around the same years). Caesars put another $2.4 million into it in 2020 and brought it back in May 2021 as a fully self-service buffet, with staff working roving carts through the room instead of the old-school steam tables. Nine show kitchens keep food moving out fresh rather than sitting under a heat lamp, which is the whole reason people are willing to wait in line for it.
Big, open, and built for grazing
The room is large and open with plenty of seating, and the layout is built around those live cooking stations rather than long buffet lines. Expect it to be loud and lively, especially on weekends, and expect a line even with a reservation since it’s one of the most popular tables on the Strip.
Menu Highlights
A few signature stations
The exact dishes rotate, since a buffet this size changes with the season and the chef’s specials of the day, so I’m not going to hand you a fixed menu that’ll be wrong in a month. What tends to stay consistent: an Asian station with sushi, stir-fry, and dim sum, a Southern-style barbecue station, a seafood counter that’s expanded to include whole fish in addition to the classics, live-carved meats, and a dessert station with made-to-order crepes. Crab is a big draw here and gets added to the buffet during the weekend brunch service, not all day every day, so if crab is the reason you’re going, plan your visit around that window.
Drink packages and VIP options
Caesars offers an all-you-care-to-drink beverage package for an extra fee, and there’s sometimes a VIP or expedited-entry option during busy hours. Pricing on both of these shifts often enough that I’d rather point you to book directly and see current add-on pricing there than quote you a number that’s stale by the time you read this.
Before You Go
Hours, address, and what to expect
Address: Caesars Palace, 3570 S Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas.
Dinner: Monday through Thursday, roughly 2:30pm to 9pm. Friday through Sunday, roughly 3pm to 10pm.
Brunch: Friday through Sunday, starting around 9am, with crab typically added to the spread during that weekend brunch window.
Price: Expect somewhere in the $65 to $95 per adult range depending on the day and meal, with weekend dinner and the crab brunch running toward the higher end. Buffet pricing at Caesars changes by season, day of week, and demand, so check current pricing when you book rather than trusting a number you saw somewhere else, including this one a year from now.
Dress code: Resort casual. No swimwear, robes, or see-through cover-ups.
Time limit: Most reservations come with a 90-minute dining window, so pace yourself.
Reservations: Strongly recommended, especially on weekends and holidays. Book through OpenTable or directly on Caesars’ website, and confirm the exact hours for the day you’re going since they shift around holidays and special events.
Making a whole day or night of it
If you’re building out a birthday trip around a big meal, I put together a full roundup of the best places for a fun birthday dinner in Las Vegas, and Bacchanal is exactly the kind of spot that works for a group with different tastes. And if you’re a buffet person specifically, I also wrote up what happened to the old Paradise Garden Buffet at the Flamingo, which closed for good in 2020. Bacchanal is the buffet I point people to now that it’s gone.
Common Questions
Is Bacchanal Buffet still open in 2026?
Yes. It’s open daily for brunch and dinner at Caesars Palace, and it’s still one of the most popular and highly reviewed buffets on the Strip.
Is it self-service or does staff serve you?
It’s a self-service buffet. You walk the stations and serve yourself, though staff run food carts through the dining room and top off items at the live cooking stations.
Do I need a reservation?
Walk-ins are accepted, but this is one of the busiest tables on the Strip. I’d book ahead on OpenTable or through Caesars directly, especially for weekend dinner or a holiday visit.
When can I get crab?
Crab is typically part of the weekend brunch service, Friday through Sunday. Confirm the current window when you book, since these details shift.
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Lori Ballen
REALTOR® with Keller Williams Realty Las Vegas, leading The Ballen Group. A lifelong Las Vegan sharing the best of the valley.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Some links on this site are affiliate links. Portions of this content are generated by AI.
