Riverside Buffet
Cuisine
Meal Periods
Dining Format
Phone
Cuisine
Meal Periods
Dining Format
Phone
EXPERIENCE
The best seat at Riverside Buffet is the one that puts the Colorado River in the frame. Floor-to-ceiling bay windows look across the water toward the Black Mountain range, giving this straightforward casino buffet something Las Vegas rarely can: a meal organized around desert light, moving water and a view that grows richer toward sunset. The room is not chasing contemporary Strip glamour. Its appeal is closer to old Nevada resort dining, where scenery and abundance carry the occasion.
That atmosphere fits the Riverside unusually well. Don Laughlin opened the property here in 1966 with eight motel rooms, a dozen slot machines, two gaming tables and 98-cent all-you-can-eat chicken dinners. Today’s buffet is not a historical recreation, but unlimited dining is woven into the resort’s origin story. In a town built along the river by the man whose name it carries, a generous buffet above the Colorado feels like a surviving piece of Laughlin’s character.
It is also important to place Riverside at the correct distance from Las Vegas. Laughlin is roughly 97 miles south, about an hour and forty minutes by car. That is too far to treat Riverside as a casual Vegas buffet detour. It makes considerably more sense when a quieter day or two in Laughlin is already part of the plan: riverwalks, casino time, perhaps a boat ride or overnight, and then brunch or dinner with the river in view.
In that context, value becomes part of the charm. Standard brunch and dinner prices sit well below the modern Las Vegas casino-buffet tier, while Sunday adds unlimited champagne and Friday turns toward seafood and crab legs. Riverside is best understood on Laughlin’s terms: broad, unfussy, scenic and pleasantly old-school, with a riverfront setting that gives a modestly priced buffet a genuine sense of place.
FOOD
Riverside’s menu is built less around one signature cuisine than around the familiar logic of a classic casino buffet: recognizable breakfast foods in the morning, broad American and international comfort cooking at dinner, a carving station, salad and deli bars, desserts, and themed evenings that change the emphasis without changing the basic format. The appeal is breadth at a price that still feels connected to Laughlin rather than to the premium-buffet economics of the Las Vegas Strip.
Brunch is the easiest place to see that traditional buffet personality. Scrambled and Denver-style eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, pancakes and French toast cover the dependable breakfast side, while egg burritos and rotating lunch dishes let a late-morning plate move in a more savory direction. The daily omelet station is especially useful in a buffet this broad: eggs can be built to order while the rest of the meal remains self-directed.
The carving station gives both brunch and dinner a stronger center. Roast beef, prime rib and turkey have all been part of the Riverside spread, giving the plate something more substantial than a collection of steam-table tastes. Sunday Champagne Brunch expands that idea with more than 40 hot dishes, three carving items, salad and deli selections, dessert and unlimited champagne. It is the buffet at its most celebratory without abandoning the property’s value-minded character.
Dinner widens the international range. Egg rolls and potstickers bring a familiar Chinese-buffet note; pasta, sauces and meatballs supply the Italian side; Mexican and American dishes move through the regular rotation. The resort also assigns a theme to each dinner night: International on Sunday, Asian on Monday, Island Luau on Tuesday, Down Home Cooking on Wednesday, Italian on Thursday, Seafood on Friday and Country Cookout on Saturday. Those themes are best treated as a reason for repeat visits rather than as rigid menus, because individual dishes can change.
Friday is the clearest specialty night. The Seafood Buffet specifically advertises snap-and-eat crab legs, pushing the meal into a more indulgent category while still coming in below the price of many big-city casino seafood buffets. For a visitor who wants the fullest version of Riverside abundance, Friday makes the strongest case; for someone more interested in the view and a broad, inexpensive meal, the regular dinner offers the same riverfront room with a lower entry price.
The salad and deli bars preserve another bit of old-school buffet grammar: cold cuts, cheeses and build-your-own combinations alongside the hot food. They are not the glamorous part of the room, but Riverside is designed for mixed appetites and multiple trips. A plate can move from carved meat to pasta or potstickers, then reset completely with salad, fruit or something cold before dessert.
Dessert stays equally traditional. Pies, cakes, cheesecake and no-sugar-added options fill out the sweets, while hot bread pudding is one of the more distinctive Riverside finishes. This is not a buffet that needs luxury ingredients to explain itself. Its food story is about recognizable abundance, changing nightly themes and a few strategic upgrades—made-to-order omelets, carving meats, Sunday champagne, Friday crab legs—served in a room where the Colorado River remains the most elegant thing on the menu.
FOOD HIGHLIGHTS
♛ Snap-and-Eat Crab Legs — Friday night’s seafood headliner and clearest premium draw.
♛ Made-to-Order Omelets — a daily brunch station for a fresher, personalized plate.
♛ Prime Rib — classic carving-station richness within Riverside’s old-school casino spread.
♛ Roast Beef — a dependable carved centerpiece for brunch or dinner plates.
♛ Turkey — another carving-station staple for a more traditional comfort-food plate.
♛ Denver Eggs — peppers, onions and ham bring diner-style character to brunch.
♛ Blueberry Pancakes — a sweeter breakfast choice with more personality than plain griddle cakes.
♛ Egg Burritos — breakfast moves toward the Southwest without leaving familiar territory.
♛ Potstickers — a savory Asian bite that fits easily into a mixed buffet plate.
♛ Egg Rolls — a crisp, familiar bite among the dinner buffet’s heavier comfort foods.
♛ Pasta and Meatballs — straightforward Italian comfort food within the rotating dinner mix.
♛ Hot Bread Pudding — a warm, nostalgic finish especially suited to Riverside’s mood.
LATEST FROM THE WIRE
November 1, 2026
Sun Sushi and Grill Plans AYCE Restaurant in Former Phoenix AZ Cantina
A 5,750-square-foot proposal would bring sushi to a longtime West Greenway Road restaurant address.
November 1, 2026
Waterman’s Crab House Launches Saturday Land & Sea Buffet in Rock Hall MD
Crab legs, oysters and prime rib headline a $45 buffet as the harbor restaurant explores off-season service.
NEWEST RESTAURANT PROFILES
Witch Topokki
Troy,
Michigan
5th Tavern
Bloomfield Township,
Michigan
The Whitney
Detroit,
Michigan
Shaad Deshi Cuisine
Warren,
Michigan