Dining at the Colorado Belle and Edgewater Casino in Laughlin, Nevada
** This post was updated in July of 2014 (red notations)
Both of these properties are under the same ownership. Each one has their own Players (Access Card), however, you can use either card at the restaurants in either Casino that accept them. For some odd reason they still track your play/gaming and give out comps separately.
The Colorado Belle
Dining options have diminished greatly in the past year and a half. Three restaurants have closed. First Tortialla's closed (they used to serve Mexican food). The Galley (which was their 24 hour cafe) closed and Pints Microbrewery and Restaurant on took over being open 24 hours. Pints now serves breakfast as well. Finally, the more upscale Italian restaurant, Mangia, closed.
Today, that leaves only
Deals to note:
Pints Microbrewery.
See a slightly older review of Pints here, including their Steak Special and Ham Steak Special.
Details of a newer visit are at the end of this post....
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| Captains Buffet one recent Wednesday |
The Captains Buffet has a special offer, on Monday and Wednesday buffets are $6, regardless of the time. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner are all $6. You must have an Access card (available for free). This price just increased this week, from $4.99. Players can earn a certain amount of points on their Access card and get a "free" buffet pass. Check with the property for details.
We have not tried this Buffet in a long time. The lines seem to be long on the days with the special pricing. We do know that in the past we preferred the Captains Buffet over the Grand Buffet (at the Edgewater). Given the same ownership one would expect the food to be from the same source and similar. The quality and atmosphere at Colorado seemed much better in our opinion.
If you have tried the Captains Buffet or the Grand Buffet recently and would like to share a review with us, drop us a comment at the end of this post and we will contact you.
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| Mark Twain's in the Colorado Belle - Special |
Now closed
Mark Twain's offers a special of All You can Eat Chicken/Ribs for $12.99 (again with an Access card). This price continues to increase as well. We have seen it rise from $9.99 by a dollar regularly. Just recently when it went from $11.99 to $12.99. While this is still a pretty good value, we wonder why the prices keep rising. You can also get the Prime Rib Dinner for $12.99.
Colorado Belle Snack Bar
The snack bar has a very good Shrimp Cocktail for a reasonable price. Reminiscent of old Vegas but unfortunately not 99 cents. They also have other light snacks and sandwiches. This is located right by the large staircase and tiny sports book.
A Recent Visit to Pints
We normally only drop into Pints for a drink or appetizer. Once again on a recent visit the service was lacking. We were seated right away but it was a long time before anyone came to take even a drink order. Finally one of the servers (not ours) did a double take and noticed we had not ordered. He asked if our server had come by and when we said no he took our drink order. Finally our server came by and we just ordered wings, potato skins and a side salad.
As on our other visits these appetizers were very good. Wings are done crispy the way we enjoy them. There are several types of sauce to choose from. The blue cheese on the salad is chunky, good quality.
As usual the beer is a highlight--when you can get the one you want. Once again there seems to be a lack of general knowledge by the servers of what beer is or is not available. There was a chalk board by the entry describing which beers were available. When we tried to order them, we were told they weren't available. Being that it is a microbrewery, beer should be their "thing". Perhaps they should include a place card on each table regularly letting customers know what they can choose from. Not to mention training their staff on what should be their primary product (brand).
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| Plates not cleared at Pints |
Service was bad, food was slow coming out even though it was not crowded. Our server did not even bother to come pick up dirty plates, ask if we needed anything else, or bring our check for a long time after we had finished. Prices were reasonable, the apps were good, the beer we did manage to get was good...but we sometimes wonder if it is worth the poor service.
As a side note, people at the next table over ordered the Sweet Sixteen Steak Special (see our review here). We would never try it again and apparently they were not very pleased with it either. We really do hope Pints will either do away with this special or improve it with a better cut of steak. *Please note, the price of the Steak Special and Ham Steak special have also increased since our last review.
In summary, dining at the Colorado Belle is very unpredictable. Playing it safe with appetizers or a sandwich is the best move. At this time we would not recommend anywhere in the Colorado Belle for a good or more upscale dinner. This is a shame because they have the facilities and potential. Their prices keep increasing as well. Is this a sign of the economy or their does it reflect the Casinos viability and bottom line?
In our opinion, increasing a special by a dollar every few months instead of providing a better product and experience to the customer is counterproductive. The specials can bring people in. Only the food quality, value, and experience can build loyalty. Do this and it is bound to build the amount of play in the Casinos. Colorado Belle seems to be doing it in reverse at this time. It seems they would rather collect an extra dollar off a Buffet rather than give a great value and a good time. Happy people will be more encouraged to play a game or two in the Casino before or after dinner. If a patron has a positive experience and "saves" an extra dollar on their meal, chances are they just might get play it back (plus more) on a table or slot.
What do you think? Leave us a comment below.
The Loading Dock Restaurant opened when Mark Twains and the Captain's Buffet closed.
For more about Laughlin, visit http://www.laughlinbuzz.com
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ReplyDeleteI haven't eaten at the Colorado Belle buffet in a long time. I'd complained to management several times about some of the staff's LOUD and incessant whistling. It's great that they're so happy, but I go out to eat for a soothing, relaxing environment. This made it an unbearable and distasteful dining experience. This coupled with the fact that MUCH of their staff doesn't speak English and can't understand a simple omelette order, I'd had enough and haven't been back. The Avi is closer to me, offers great pricing, and most of their staff are legal American citizens!
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