Buffets at some MS Coast casinos will close for good, even after COVID. Here’s why.
At least two all-you-can-eat buffets won’t return to Mississippi Gulf Coast casinos as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Harrah’s Gulf Coast’s buffet will not reopen, general manager Jonathan Jones said.
LuAnn Pappas, CEO of Scarlet Pearl Casino in D’Iberville, also confirmed the buffet there won’t come back.
Caesars Entertainment will reopen only one buffet at any of its casinos nationwide, Jones said;, and that’s the Bacchanal Buffet at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. With nearly 100 new dishes on the menu, it costs $94 a person for the feast.
Casinos lose a lot of money operating a buffet, Jones and Pappas said during a discussion Thursday at the Gulf Coast Business Council Thursday at the Knight Nonprofit Center in Gulfport.
The coronavirus pandemic showed that casinos don’t need to operate buffets to bring in bring in business, they said.
Jones said Harrah’s Gulf Coast has “good ideas” on what to do with the buffet space, and he’ll be seeking corporate approval to do something different.
In the buffet area at Scarlet Pearl, “We’re going to make that something that’s going to be pretty, pretty awesome,” Pappas said. She also has plans for a new amenity in another area of the casino. While she didn’t provide specifics, she said one of the new features will debut before Memorial Day and the other before Labor Day 2022.
Since the coronavirus, buffets have reopened at Beau Rivage Casino, Palace Casino and Treasure Bay Casino in Biloxi, Island View Casino in Gulfport, Hollywood Gulf Coast in Bay St. Louis and Silver Slipper in Hancock County.
Some of the casinos that have reopened aren’t serving crab legs, or include them at an additional cost, because they are in short supply and expensive.
Besides Scarlet Pearl and Harrah’s Gulf Coast, the buffets at Boomtown Casino, Golden Nugget Casino, Hard Rock Casino and IP Casino in Biloxi have been closed since March 2020.
This story was originally published October 29, 2021 at 5:50 AM.
