Laughlin Buzz: Pioneer Hotel and Casino

Restaurant - Breakfast review of the Breakfast Buffet at the Pioneer Hotel and Casino in Laughlin, NV

Boarding House Restaurant

One morning we were out for a quick breakfast and instead of going to Harlow's again (in the Golden Nugget) we decided to give the Boarding House a try. (See reviews for Harlow's here)

Update: Harlows is now closed and has changed to ClaimJumper.

We haven't yet tried any food at the Pioneer and had heard good and not so good reviews. Arrived just before 9am (weekday) and very few people in the Casino. The visit didn't get off to a great start when we had to wait to be seated for a very long time. There were two other couples behind us waiting as well. No host or even server was seen anywhere. We were on the verge of giving up and leaving when one of the men in line went into the restaurant and found the hostess to seat everyone.

Long Wait!

They have a fairly extensive menu for lunch and dinner and a smaller selection of items for Breakfast. The breakfast buffet is just $7.95 and includes coffee so we chose to try it.

Although it had a few good items, overall it was disappointing. For the price one shouldn't really complain (the old you get what you pay for), however, keeping food fresh and hot shouldn't be negotiable even on a buffet.

We had several people in our party so we tried just about everything on the Buffet.

The Good:

The best part was the omelet station. The chef cooked them to order with many options to include whatever you want in them. These were very good, not and fresh and if you go for the Breakfast Buffet it is the best choice you can make.

For meat lovers, the Sausage was good, nice country style sausage. The bacon was good too, crisp and not a soggy mess in a bin like you see in some buffets.

The sausage gravy was also good. However, the biscuits to put the gravy on were not. They were not fresh at all and even the gravy on them did little to change that.

The hash browns were good as were the sliced breakfast potatoes with peppers/onion in them. The only problem with these were on the first trip to the buffet they weren't replacing them quickly enough and the hash browns were slightly cold before they added a new tray.

There was a fair selection of fruit and it was fresh.

Coffee was good, and they gave you a whole pot on the table so you didn't need to wait for refills.

The not-so-good:

-Corned beef has was average at best. Not very hot.

-The mini Belgian waffles and French Toast would of been good had they been warm as well. No pancakes. No toast.

-There was some sort of corn bread cheese muffin, which was completely dry and tasteless.

-In the pastry section there were Apple Danishes, Mini-Bagels, Small Cinnamon rolls, and 3 types of small donuts. Unfortunately all of these were very dry, not fresh at all. No means to toast the bagel either.

-Two kinds of scrambled eggs, one plain and one with peppers in them. Both were had a very bland consistency and were lukewarm. One person compared them to powdered eggs in quality.

The restaurant and buffet were clean enough. Staff and service was ok once we managed to get seated. The inside of the Boarding House is fairly spacious and keeping with the Cowboy-Western theme of the Pioneer. We did have a nice view of the Colorado River over the River Walk from the booth along the outer wall.

River Walk and Colorado River

We probably will never try this Breakfast Buffet again or recommend it at this point. Perhaps if they strive to keep the food hotter on the buffet and to provide fresh items this would change. Hopefully this experience is not a example of how the food and quality is from the regular menu and specials they offer.