Food and Loafing in Las Vegas #3: Cannery Row Buffet

To begin, I’d like to thank those sending in Emails asking why part 3 was taking so long. Instead of answering them individually, I’ll answer en masse here.

Part 3 has taken so long because I foolishly tried to follow the “rules”. Since I am using Logos and names of the Vegas Buffets I review, I decided to do it ‘right’, and sent Emails to each Casino’s PR department, stating my intent to Review their Buffet, and requesting permission to use their respective Logo. Long story short, those that bothered to answer merely asked me to forward my request to somebody else – which I did. Each of those secondary Emails have been largely ignored – so be it. I’ll use them anyway, and because I’m a fair guy, I won’t even take it out in my review – I’ll be fair because YOU, the reader, deserve that.

The Cannery Row is nestled in the confines of the Cannery Casino & Hotel, a casino that caters primarily to the Local crowd. Located @ 15 minutes from the Strip towards North Las Vegas (I-15 & Craig), I can honestly say I’ve never stepped foot in the Cannery without there being a good amount of people there. So obviously, this place must have something going for it.

Now, I’ve tried & enjoyed their various Restaurants (Their cafe in particular) several times, but the Buffet has pricing and scheduling issues that have made me stay away until recently. What changed you ask? They decided to send out some BOGO coupons to their players, so any excuse about pricing I had evaporated, so I grabbed the family and headed on in.

On first glance, the buffet appears to be quite small. There are 5 serving areas (Technically 6, but 2 are copies of a Salad station) with seating for maybe 150 – I  assumed they expect a quick turnover, and I was correct, but more on that later.

The Salad/Soups were of course your standard fare – this is after all a Local’s draw, and the majority of those tend to be Seniors. However, they were kept stocked and properly chilled/heated as needed, and for me this is a definite selling point. I can’t count the number of places I’ve gone to that have limp salads and tepid soup – atrocious. The ‘Star’ of the Salad presentation was called an Antipasto, which in reality was several meat cuts with white cheese (I know cheese, but even I couldn’t guess what type), artichoke pieces in a tasty marinade. Even without knowing exactly what each piece was, it was still enjoyable. there were 2 soups present, the obligatory Chicken noodle (Which would have been great had it not been overly salted) & a decent Bean soup.

Moving on to the Entrees displays the weakness of this buffet. Without exaggeration, what you find being offered is either delicious or so bland as to make you wonder what is being served. For example, a dish labeled as Chicken Oscar was quite good, even if it didn’t have any of the items that make it ‘Oscar’ (Namely, no Asparagus, Hollandaise OR Crab). this had various vegetation in a cream sauce. As I say, tasty, but not what it’s supposed to be. There was also a Seafood Fra Diavolo that again tasted great, but finding the Seafood proved difficult. On the bland side were items such as Chicken Ala King – done properly this average dish can impress. Cannery’s version however tasted as if the Cream sauce contained only Flour and water – in looser terms, thin library paste with Chicken and veggies.

One thing that really confused me was their attempt to make some dishes pull double duty. For instance, Beef Fajitas which were quite good were also to be found labeled as ‘Beef tips’, the difference being a sickly sweet sauce added. To say that the ‘tips’ failed is an understatement. The Prime Rib was well cooked – but again, a flip side – with very little herb crusting, the flavor was not what one would have hoped for.

Now, the ‘Ethnic’ offerings suffered the same hit and miss complex that the rest of the Entrees did. On the Asian side, delicious Gyoza (Potstickers) were teamed next to bland Egg Rolls. Broccoli Beef hit the spot while something claiming to be Szechuan missed the target entirely. Mexican food fares much better, but this is mostly because this is one of the few buffets I have encountered that actually have sauces and toppings to modify your experience as you like. Still, beware the ‘closing time’ curse – you know what I mean, the time where they stop putting out fresh food, and your Enchilada ends up being dryer than a bone…

The desserts here follow the same pattern of cost cutting most buffets are using these days – outsourced, standardized fare. It’s almost inexcusable for an establishment that shares a residence with a Steakhouse, a Mexican food place and a Cafe to have boxed pies & cakes – especially considering that having tried desserts at the Cafe, I can attest that their Strawberry Shortcake is far better than ANY dessert at the buffet.

Now for where the Cannery Row really displayed a complete lack – customer service. On a night where the room was less than half full, my family was made to wait excess amounts of time for refills on beverages, having to go so far on two occasions to flag down someone to take care of our requests. And then, the most ridiculous thing of all happened.

At 30 minutes before closing time, a major change underwent the area and staff. Without warning, the wait staff we had been familiar with vanished to be replaced with what I like to term a wrecking crew. By this I mean simply that in less than 10 minutes, all unoccupied tables had been cleared and cleaned, and these vultures swept down on each table as it was vacated, picking it clean as.. well, like a vulture would. The worst part was the expectant, often accusatory looks they gave those of us taking our time to complete our meals, as if we were some foreign matter that needed to be cleaned as they cleaned the tables.

Overall, I can say that *IF* you go at the right time and day, pick your foods carefully & possess a BOGO coupon, Cannery Row is better than some of the lower price buffets in Vegas. However, at all other times – if you want a decent meal, pay the price for one of the Cannery’s other restaurants.

• Cannery Row Buffet in the Cannery Casino
• 2121 East Craig Road, North Las Vegas