Las Vegas Healthy Buffets & Healthy Eating Places & Simple Healthy Guide
Vegas Healthy Buffets & Healthy Eating Places including Vegan and Vegetarian Options. Affordable yet healthy spots in Vegas where you can eat wholesome meals, for those on a diet or simply for the health or ethical-conscious:
Las Vegas is an eating paradise for millions of visitors and you can find exactly what you want. Here you can eat all you want for affordable prices (definitely compared to where most of us live!) and of unsurpassed quality as well as chic and world-class restaurants. If you are on a healthy diet or specific nutrition plan, they say, don’t come to Vegas. But it’s not the case, not at all. I talk about Vegas healthy buffet, including for vegan and vegetarian visitors; after that (further down) I also write about the brand new super-perfectly healthy & regenerating as well as vegan restaurant just opened at Venetian. Las Vegas Healthy Buffets are:
♥ The affordable Palms buffet (for directions and information click on the link) deserves mentioning because they have a truly delicious yet healthy salad section which includes artichokes, as well as a whole station dedicated to vegan and healthy options, which include vegan protein-filled hot dishes.
♥ Vegas Healthy Buffets: most buffets (but not all!) will have a salad section as well as beans and chick peas and soups or sauces to create your own healthy dish. Some salad sections you will find are really basic and boring, others are enticing and exciting. The Aria buffet has innovative dishes and you will find plenty of choices no matter your preferences, literally. On the lower budget side yet still on the Strip, the Luxor buffet has a decent salad section which includes a very good tuna salad as well as huge, pitted, deliciously flavorful olives. The Wynn buffet is expensive but it does have gourmet-style dishes (but only for dinner, as brunch has become boring at best) which include hot and cold healthy options. The Treasure Island buffet used to have amazing made-to-order salads but nowadays they are a thing of the past; however, here you can enjoy super healthy wraps, avocado and organic tea and coffee!
The MGM Grand buffet (on a good and expensive day, usually during major holidays and usually only for dinner) has so many options that you will find something healthy, such as tuna steaks (made to order) and, if you are vegan, Indian vegan dishes and a decent salad section. The Mandalay Bay buffet has very few healthy options but for breakfast and lunch they offer fresh blackberries and blueberries (which you can eat with nice yogurt options): to me it’s almost worth going just for that; moreover, on my last trip I enjoyed a Masala dish which I added to the few hot veggies I could find; their baked cod was also good. The Mirage buffet was one of the best for the healthy-minded; it used to have a fabulous made-to-order salad section (in the past), but nowadays it’s just a ‘generic’ buffet; having said this, its dishes tend to be ‘light’ (they are not heavy, even if you eat a lot you tend to feel good afterwards, which is a rare event after a buffet). The Rio buffet has a delightfully large range of dishes (including a good range of seafood and fish) and you will find something to eat no matter your preferences; to name something light and healthy, you can find delicious made-to-order Asian broths here (including spicy tom-yum).
As promised here is more than Las Vegas healthy buffets. The brand new totally and perfectly healthy restaurant at Venetian is Truth & Tonic. As the Las Vegas Journal writes: executive chef Pete Ghione has spent the past 12 years researching ingredients that can improve health and taste delicious, and says that “anything other than plants can slow down, stop or reverse the progress to wellness.” Truth & Tonic is accessible through the third floor of Palazzo’s tower, the fourth floor of The Venetian tower, or a dedicated elevator in the Grand Canal Shoppes.
♥ More & More than Las Vegas Healthy Buffets. As you may already know, if you want to avoid food unhealthy for your heart and overall health, you already know you need to avoid anything which has partially hydrogenated (oils or fats), as well as palm or coconut oils, so cookies and many pre-packaged foods have to be avoided, unless they specifically state on the packaging that they only contain olive or organic canola oil. So, when you go to a restaurant or buffet, ask which oils they use. If you are unsure, the rule of thumb is to avoid the dish. At good buffets they usually take pride in telling you what the ingredients are, and it is your right to know. As for desserts, most will contain glucose syrup rather than brown sugar or (even better) the zero calorie-natural sweetener Stevia. If they read sugar-free, they will likely have artificial sweeteners (and not the natural ones, like Stevia).
♥ In Las Vegas, as in any other city, unless you go to a specifically healthy/natural or organic restaurant, you have a better chance to eat healthy food in most buffets, as long as you resist the tempting ‘bad’ dishes which will always be there too. As general rule always most Vegas buffets have a salad section: however, you need to make sure they have olive oil (many – though not all – offer these days, even extra virgin olive oil displayed by the salad section) and you need to make sure you don’t have to use any creamy salad dressings; if in doubt, always opt for extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I did not see extra virgin olive oil at the Mandalay Bay buffet on my last trip, but it may have been an oversight. You can always ask to take a look at the buffet before you purchase an entry. You are entitled to do so.
♥ If you care for your heart most doctors will say that you should avoid red meat altogether and definitely avoid any meat that’s not totally lean and unprocessed (so, no burgers, sausages and definitely no hot dogs); even more, ideally you should only eat organic free range meat (you won’t find it at buffets and not often anywhere). Then, this meat should only be cooked in extra virgin olive oil (or organic canola) and never char-coaled. Fish is much healthier of course but it should never be deep fried and it should never be coated in batter. Anything cooked in unhealthy oils or margarine/butter-based sauces should also be avoided. The good news is that most decent buffets in Las Vegas will have enough choices for those looking after their heart. Always go for baked fish unless they specify that it’s cooked in olive oil (or organic canola oil – non-organic canola oil is often genetically modified) and never stop asking if you are in doubt! Even the cheapest buffets in Vegas have some options which are heart-friendly, mostly probably to help local seniors stick to the prescribed healthy diet.
♥ Stay away from desserts in general (either sugar or sugar-free, unless they were made with Stevia, a natural sweetener, and without genetically modified palm and canola oils) but feel free to indulge in a little gelato (the Italian version of ‘ice-cream’). Provided it’s the real deal and not imitation Italian gelato, it’s made in a much healthier way (no bad fats) and you can enjoy this at several buffets these days (including the affordable yet very good Palms buffet) as well as the fabulous M Resort buffet (Studio B), the very good Aria buffet and Rio buffet and the expensive Bacchanal buffet and Wynn buffet. Nowadays other buffets have added gelato to their dessert section, but I have not seen it at Luxor or even at the MGM Grand buffet, for example. The Bellagio buffet has added it this year, though it’s a small section.
Las Vegas Healthy Buffets Summary: there is no buffet in Vegas which caters solely to the health-conscious, but there are enough buffets offering enough variety that most people will be satisfied. As a rule of thumb, though, always ask to take a look before you purchase your entry. If you enjoyed this Vegas Healthy Buffets page, you will find our Best 10 Buffets in Las Vegas very useful. Best Restaurants in Vegas – Best Vegas Breakfasts – Las Vegas Coupons