Tag Archives: Dining/Restaurants

Dining

Noodle Shop at Mandalay Bay: Too Refined?

The Noodle Shop is located directly off of Mandalay Bay’s casino floor, between Raffles Café and the hotel’s main elevators.  It is open 11am-11pm during the week and 11am-1am on the weekends.  They do not take reservations, but the line moves fairly quickly.

When we got in line for dinner, we were the only non-Asian group.  I took this as a good sign. There is no place to sit while you are waiting, so be prepared to stand for a while. Our party of 4 was seated about 20 minutes after arriving.  We kept it fairly simple. Hot tea all around, steamed shrimp dumpling appetizer, 2 people ordered Shanghai Noodles and 2 people ordered Mongolian Beef.  All of the food was good, but a little bland or under-seasoned.  I really wanted a bit more of an edge or street version of my Shanghai Noodles.  They were too refined.  The Mongolian Beef had a fairly thin sauce, which my companions enjoyed, but they also thought it wasn’t as flavorful as they had hoped.

The service was attentive when we arrived, but (expect for the water refills) we were left alone once the food arrived. It was nice not to be bothered during the meal, but after we were done, we had to wait a while before flagging down our server so we could ask for the check.  I would think they would want to get us out faster since the line was at least 12 people deep the entire time we were there.

It was a nice place to eat and even though the casino is right there, you never felt like you were at the edge of the casino.  The combination of the quiet environment and being left alone once dinner was served, helped create a very private dining feel.  It is worth trying for yourself, but I probably won’t be back since I was hoping for a more flavorful experience.

Dining, Discounts, News Flash

Total Rewards Dining Discount

Total Rewards now gives you a discount when dining at their buffets, cafes and many other casual dining spots.  The program is currently in effect at all Caesars Entertainment buffets (like Carnival World Buffet at the Rio and Flavors, The Buffet at Harrah’s) and most of the cafes.  The program should be fully implemented by April 1, 2012.

The discounted prices are clearly marked on the menus.  As a general rule, if the casino owns the restaurant you can probably get a discount by showing your Total Rewards card.  This includes places like the All American Bar & Grille at the Rio and Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill at Harrah’s in addition to the buffets and cafes. Planet Dailies, the cafe at Planet Hollywood is not participating.

Another way to look at this is that Caesars Entertainment owned restaurants in Las Vegas are going to charge you more if you don’t join their Total Rewards players club. The Total Rewards card is free and there is no obligation to gamble in order to get the discounted price.

Dining

Rio Dining: By The Meal

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(updated  September 1, 2016)

When you are on the Strip, if you want to get a bite to eat but you don’t like what is offered at your hotel or the places at your hotel are closed, you can easily walk to something else. When you are off-Strip, you don’t usually have that option. The Rio does a good job of making sure that you don’t go hungry.

Here is a list of dining options at the Rio organized by meal. Knowing what is open when can be very handy since the Rio doesn’t have the typical 24 hour coffee shop setup that some of us have come to depend upon.

Breakfast Lunch Dinner Late Night

Breakfast

Hash House A Go Go    (in the walkway to the convention area)

open 6:00am – 1:00pm for  breakfast Mon-Fri

open 6:00am – 3:00pm for  brunch Sat-Sun

Carnival World Buffet (by the Poker Room and Sports Book)

open 8:00am – 11:00am  for  breakfast Mon-Fri

open 8:00am – 10:00am  for  breakfast  on weekends

open 10:00am – 3:00pm for brunch on the weekend

Starbucks (by Ipanema Tower elevators & another in the walkway to the convention area)

Ipanema location open 5:00am – 11:00pm Sun – Thurs ;      open 24 hours Fri – Sat.

Convention location open 6:30am-1pm daily

Rio Java (in the Masquerade Village by the Masquerade Tower elevators)

SmashBurger   (in the Masquerade Village upper level – close to the parking garage)

open 8am-4pm  – they serve breakfast sandwiches in the morning

Lunch

Carnival World Buffet

open 11:00am – 3:00pm for lunch 

All American Bar & Grille (near the front desk)

open 11:00am – 12:00am

KJ Dim Sum (across from the Carnival World buffet)

open 10:00am – 2:00am

SmashBurger  

open 8am-4pm

Sports Deli (by the Sports Book, near the front desk)

open 11:00am – 11:00pm Sun – Thurs; open 11:00am – 1:00am Fri – Sat.

Starbucks and Rio Java are options, too if you just need a snack

Dinner

VooDoo Steak and Rooftop Nightclub   aka VooDoo Lounge (on the top 2 floors of the Masquerade Tower – elevator located on the upper level of the Masquerade Village)

open 5:00pm – 11:00pm

Nightclub is open 9:00pm – 3:00 am

Guy Fieri’s El Burro Borracho

open 5:00pm – 10:00pm

KJ Dim Sum

open 10:00am – 2:00am

All American Bar & Grille

open 11:00am – 12:00am

Sports Deli

open 11:00am – 11:00pm Sun – Thurs;

open 11:00am – 1:00am Fri – Sat.

Carnival World Buffet

open 3:00pm – 10:00 pm for dinner

Village Seafood Buffet (CLOSED – An expanded seafood section has been added to the Carnival World Buffet for an extra $15)

Late Night Eats

KJ Dim Sum open until 2am.

All-American Bar and Grille open until midnight 

Starbucks by the Ipanema Tower elevators open 24 hours on Friday & Saturday.