The Boomtown buffet is back. Here’s what South MS diners can expect after 5-year wait
Just like that, five years melted away and the buffet is open again at Boomtown Casino Biloxi.
The new Biloxi Bay Buffet returns Friday, more colorful and open than it was five years ago when all the casinos closed in March 2020 during the pandemic.
Biloxi Mayor Andrew “FoFo” Gilich cut the ribbon Thursday afternoon for the Mississippi Gulf Coast Chamber of Commerce and recalled what it used to be like. “We were here with a lunch crowd almost regularly every week,” he said.
Things have changed, but the new look is still reminiscent of the buffet that was one of the favorites on the Coast.
“Expect a lot of good food,” said Barry Regula, general manager of Boomtown Biloxi.
“First of all, we’ve got snow crab, we got blue crab, we got boiled shrimp, we got fried shrimp,” he said. These are just a few of the more than 100 entrees, sides, sauces and desserts.’
New look and tastes
The walls are a sunshine orange. Framed Biloxi Seafood posters add a local touch. Windows overlooking the bay let people admire the view or they can sit closer to the food.
Many who got a preview Thursday started with a bucket of crab dipped in regular and cajun drawn butter for an extra kick. Next were all the makings of a crawfish boil, with potatoes, carrots and sausage, and then it was on to chilled shrimp and sauces.
“The boiled shrimp are very good,” said Adele Lyons, executive director of the Coast Chamber. The remoulade sauce for dipping is like the locals make it, she said.
Around the room was heard, “This is good,” and talk of how there are selections for those who don’t eat meat or seafood.
Lots of choices
Each station offers more options as customers can choose whole crispy catfish or catfish nuggets, fried oysters, steaks and sides like fried okra and au gratin potatoes.
The country grits tempted. “They have seasoned sausage and shrimp in them so it’s really, really good,” said Beonkia Reynolds, who was overseeing the Southern station.
On the Italian station, pasta primavera, chicken Marsala and shrimp scampi shared the space with several kinds of pizza.
Hai Doan, chef de cuisine for sister property Hollywood Casino Bay St. Louis, said the General Tso’s chicken and lo mein are what people like and expect. “We’re going to try to rotate the menu,” he said, switching out lemongrass mussels and other entrees.
Salad and desserts take center stage
The centerpiece of the new buffet is a salad bar and “tons of homemade desserts,” said Sandra Jones, pastry chef at Hollywood Gulf Coast and Boomtown.
In addition to their famed Oreo and peanut butter pie, she makes tasty cream cheese icing and her favorite, cheesecake.
“I think the texture is just great and a little different from everyone else’s,” she said of the cheesecake.
Biloxi Councilman Felix Gines represents that area of the city and said the reopening of the buffet brings back the crab leg delicacy.
“Our community missed that so much,” he said. “Boomtown has always been a hometown place,” he said, and it’s in walking distance for many people in Ward 2.
The return of buffets
Most of the casinos reopened May 21, 2005, but the buffets returned more slowly and with the staff dishing out the food initially.
The reopening of the Boomtown buffet brings the number to seven of the 12 casinos with a buffet, and Hard Rock Biloxi opens its buffet for special occasions like Easter.
If you go:
Boomtown Biloxi is at 676 Bayview Avenue. The buffet opens to the public Friday, April 4, from 4-10 p.m.
After the April 4 opening, hours and prices will be:
▪ Friday — Lunch frenzy 11 a.m.-2 p.m. $15.99
▪ Friday — Crab feast dinner 3-10 p.m. $49.99
▪ Saturday — All day crab feast: 10 a.m.-10 p.m. $49.99
▪ Sunday — All day crab feast: 10 a.m.-9 p.m. $49.99
▪ Kids 4-12 50% off. Kids 3 and under eat free
The crab feasts include all you can eat snow crab legs, blue crab, crawfish and shrimp.
Add-ons like lobster, beef tenderloin and broiled oysters, along with a bottomless cocktail, are available for an additional price.
This story was originally published April 4, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
