When Cosmopolitan opened the Wicked Spoon Buffet in 2010 it ripped up the Las Vegas Buffet Rule Book! No longer were Buffets a place for cheap low-Quality gluteney but now you could get your fill of real quality high-end restaurant-style dishes on an all-you-can-eat plan. They introduced the Mini-Dishes of restaurant classics, along with a few specialties, focusing on real quality, not just huge portions.
The Competition was quick to respond with the Bacchanal at Caesars quick to respond in kind and all other high-end hotels kicking their buffets into touch. But is the Trendsetter still leading the field today or have standards slipped with the fierce competition? Find out with our Wicked Spoon Buffet Review.
Naturally, we were keen to research the Buffet on Tripadvisor and Yelp to see what people are saying, and for many reviewers, this is enough, not for us. We needed to be on the ground to see how things go down. So we took leave from the pool to head over for a boozy brunch as a bit of a storm swept through Vegas.
How Much is the Wicked Spoon Buffet – 2023 Prices
Brunch
Brunch is our favorite time at the Wicked Spoon. Midweek is only $38 and we feel that is pretty decent value, especially when compared to other restaurant prices. Remember with a Buffet like this it really counts as two meals, if you go early, there will be no need for lunch and if you are going later then you should skip breakfast to ensure you are properly hungry, you will also only really need a light dinner as well.
- Mon – Fri: $38 adults – $19 kids (5-10)
- Sat-Sun: $49 adults – $24 kids (5-10)
DINNER
Lunch is still amazing at the Wicked spoon but the bump in price doesn’t really reflect the increase in menu items. There are more “prime” foods available but the real stand-out items that make the Buffet special are all available at Brunch. $49 for a weekend dinner is very expensive and is verging on high-end restaurant prices.
- Mon – Fri: $45 adults – $22.50 kids (5-10)
- Sat-Sun: $49 adults – $20 kids (5-10)
Currently closed for dinner!
Bottomless Beverages
- All Times $24
- Speciality Bottomless Drinks $40
Mimosas, Bloody Marys, and Champagne at Brunch – Red or White Wine, Moscow Mules or Bud Light Draft at Dinner. All with a 2 Hour limit. We love the Bottomless Beverages at Wicked Spoon, we go into a bit more detail later but suffice to say, you will not be waiting for drinks! It is worth mentioning all soft drinks are included in the price, so only go for the Bottomless if you are drinking, and then 2-3 drinks at normal prices would be more expensive than the bottomless.
Wicked Spoon Buffet Menu
The Buffet menu has everything you would expect from a Las Vegas Buffet and a few surprises you wouldn’t expect. There are FAR too many possible options to list them all and they change daily, even hourly at times so instead, we will point out our favorites and what kind of foods you can expect.
Brunch
- 8 am – 3 pm Mon – Fri
- 9 am – 4 pm Sat – Sun
Brunch is our favorite time at the Wicked Spoon. We tend to treat it as a Brunch/Lunch rather than breakfast, as it’s quite an expensive breakfast. As a Boozy brunch, it really hits the spot. And you are on vacation so it’s the perfect time to indulge in a Boozy Bottomless brunch as you can plan on not having much to do after.
The Brunch menu is quite varied and covers pretty much anything you might fancy for breakfast, lunch, and even dinner. There is a strong Asian Theme with a selection of Dim Sum and other oriental dishes. Duck Wings, Char Sui Pork, Fried Rice, Diy Ramen Bowls, Stir-Fries, and Noodle Dishes. The Asian Section is really strong, probably more than we would like for brunch but it was all so good it was irresistible. Oddly the best of the Asian section was the Tuna Poke. We Adore Poke and it was great to find at the Buffet. Ok, we know this is not Asian but where else would it go?
Breakfast Items are all present with Pancakes Waffles, Fres cooked Omelets, Bacon, sausages, Eggs Benedict, and a large bread, cheese, and charcuterie selection. There is also a large selection of fresh fruits and healthy options such as blueberry yogurt granola, Freshly squeezed juices, little individual salads, and super cute little veg pots.
Lunch Items are similar to what you expect from dinner. With Italian stations with fresh pizza, and individual pasta dishes. There is the BBQ Carvery Station with Pork Shoulder, Sausage Links, and Jerk Chicken. The Angry Mac And Cheese is one of many awesome sides along with Cheesetopped Has Browns and homestyle Mash. With America Classics such as Wicked Fried Chicken and Roast Sirloin Carvery.
It is a huge selection and almost everything we tried was fresh, hot, and delicious. The only downsides we found were the huge amount of choice meant we had to miss out on certain things we really wanted. There were also some choices where the food had run out or there were only a few left. If we checked back these were normally refreshed but there were just a couple that seemed to have run out. However, we were a long way from running out of options.
Dinner (CURRENTLY CLOSED FOR DINNER)
- 5pm – 9pm Mon – Thurs
- 3pm – 10pm Fri – Sat
- 3pm – 9pm – Sun
Dinner see’s the Breakfast style options removed for more entree- style dinner options. There are more meats added to the carvery and hot seafood options are added, snow crab legs. hot shrimp, Salmon, and mussels. There is a Sushi Station, which serves basic California rolls, salmon nigiri, and such like.
There are a few other random items added which will change daily such as Tacos, Paella, and other Entree-style dishes but the bulk of what makes the Wicked spoon special is available at brunch as well as dinner so we resist paying the extra for dinner.
Dessert
Whichever you choose, be sure to leave room for the dessert station.
This is a real wonder. Easily one of the best in Vegas and worth coming to the Wicked spoon for in itself. To kick off is the Gelato Stand. Featuring some really great flavors such as cherry cheesecake, Salted Peanut Caramel, Nutella, and Pineapple Jalapeno Sorbet!
There are many other little individual delights to get through as well, Melt in the middle chocolate fondants, Bourbon White Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding, Mini Creme Brulees, Icecream cone cakes, Brownie Cheesecakes, and many other little wonderful treats to explore.
The dessert section is so playful and exciting, unlike so many other buffets where it can feel like an afterthought at the wicked spoon you have to save some room for the dessert. Oh and the little coconut macaroons…heavenly.
Happy Hour – 4-7 pm Daily
Selection of reduced-price drinks – Menu
Food Quality
A big problem with Buffets is the focus on quantity over quality. Food cooked in huge batches that is left to go mushy or dry under the hot lamps. The Wicked spoon was one of the first to address this by offering mini-dishes individually served as a restaurant would. Doing away with the huge trays of non-descript mush most buffets served up.
Everything we tried was really good. Cold items tasted fresh and just prepared, and hot items were piping hot and retained that just cooked air about them. Some dishes are still served in vats but again these were piping hot and tasted excellent.
We can really not fault the food quality and it is still one of the best buffets in town.
Buffet Service
The Service was impeccable, we arrived to nearly zero queues, it was fairly late in the brunch service, and the town was pretty quiet but it made the $25 line pass (previously $10/$15) seem very poor value as we didn’t queue at all. We were ushered to our seats and then a drinks server came straight over, all very efficient. Maybe it was the time of the day but our waiter had no interest in selling us any drinks upgrades and instead pushed the included soft drinks, it’s nice not to be upsold, but we most definitely were here for a boozy brunch so ordered the bottomless.
We started off with the Champagne. We never saw the bottle so we are not sure what type of champagne it was, or if it was French or Californian, but it was decent quality and well to our tastes so we stuck with this as the meal went on.
Drinks arrived very promptly and we headed off to survey the Buffet. After our first course, we left our plates and nearly empty champagne flutes and returned to the buffet for a second course. Mysteriously up on our return, our plates were cleared and a fresh glass of champagne was waiting for us.
This seemed to be the theme for the entire meal. Stealthy snatch and grabs of the plates and ghostly drinks refills. We certainly cannot complain. The Timing of the wait staff was impeccable. By the time we realized we wanted something it appeared.
With bottomless drinks, it is important to have prompt refills to feel you are getting value. This was no issue here at all. While there is a two-hour limit on the drinks we got through far more than we really should have in a little over an hour, in total we were served 8 Glasses of Champagne each! That’s well over a bottle each, and the decision to call time on proceedings was definitely ours. We felt the Server would have continued to pour until we were passed out in our seats! There was little doubt our $21 had gone a long way.
Is the Wicked Spoon Buffet Worth It?
As we have just stated the Bottomless drinks were seriously good value. But was the Buffet as a whole good value? We certainly think so for Mid-Week Sittings, especially the Brunch. Brunch certainly works best as a brunch/lunch, as it is served all morning it covers breakfast, Brunch, and Lunch. However for breakfast, it is a bit weak, some of the best options would not be appetizing to us first thing and you would miss out on the stunning desserts (Unless Creme Brulee, Bourbon Bread Pudding, and Gelato are your morning tipples?).
However, for brunch or lunch, it works brilliantly, especially if you just had a caffeine breakfast. By now your appetite is right up and with the librations flowing you really can get stuck into everything. $45/$49 is a large amount of money but for the huge amount of food on offer, the incredible range, and the high quality of the dishes it is still serious value.
Light eaters may struggle to get full value but really All You Can Eat Buffets should probably not be high on your lists of places to eat.
Dinner is a tougher call. The Offering is every bit as good, but we never feel like it’s so much better to justify the much higher pricing! There are a few more hot seafood options and more Entree-style dishes, but there is never really much to make us think we are missing out with brunch, It seems to be simply hiked in price due to the popularity.
It’s still a good value buffet compared to the competition but $49 is a big price tag. However, that does cover everything you could possibly desire apart from alcohol. In a top restaurant, £49 will not get you far, and even in some good-value Vegas eateries even the national chains you will easily top $49 with a 3-course meal.
With this in mind, we do think the Dinner buffet is well worth it. It is just isn’t quite as good value as the Brunch Buffet. But that is really good value. We still definitely suggest brunch, especially if you head there late and take advantage of the crossover into the dinner service!
We would say it’s still a treat for us. We would not eat here more than once a trip, in fact, we limit all buffets to 2-3 tops per trip. You just get SO much food and there are just SO many great places to eat in Las Vegas. But as a treat, the Wicked Spoon Buffet is still right up there as one of our favorite Las Vegas Buffets!
Have Your Say
Have you tried the Wicked Spoon? what did you make of it? worth the Hype or overpriced gruel? Do you eat here often? Has the quality stood the test of time? What are your favorite dishes? And what do you wish they had? Let us know in the comments below if you have anything good or bad to say about the Buffet! And if you have any questions at all just fire away in the comments and we will do our best to help.