Only one of Southern California’s casinos has brought back a buffet option thus far and that’s Valley View Casino & Hotel. “It’s something you’d like to be able to offer, but also, in today’s situation it’s a little bit difficult.”
The decision to turn the buffet space into another outpost of the sports bar had to do with branding, Duke said, explaining that officials wanted to offer some of the same things at each of the three properties. Officials hope to open the new 360 Sports around the end of 2021 or early 2022, according to Stacy Duke, director of food and beverage for Agua Caliente Casino Palm Springs. The casino’s Oasis Buffet has been shuttered permanently and will be transformed into another location of 360 Sports, a sports bar concept that you can already find at the other Agua Caliente properties in Rancho Mirage and Cathedral City. Officials there have decided to turn the former buffet space into a sports bar.
One of the casinos falling into the second category is Agua Caliente Casino Palm Springs. A number of the region’s tribal-owned casinos have kept their buffets closed with no reopening dates announced while others are turning them into new concepts. As Las Vegas casino buffets begin to reopen from their coronavirus closures, their Southern California counterparts are not.