Village Seafood Buffet Closes at Rio Las Vegas, Merges With Carnival World Buffet

By Scott Roeben, on November 22 2015
2 min read 3 comments
Las Vegas Las Vegas Restaurants

The only all-seafood buffet in Las Vegas, Village Seafood Buffet at Rio, has closed and relocated to the hotel’s Carnival World Buffet.

Here’s a peek over the new curtain at the former Village Seafood Buffet.

Rio Seafood Buffet
No word yet about what will replace the Village Seafood Buffet. Let’s hope it’s not what replaced McFadden’s Irish Pub. Specifically, nothing.

We couldn’t resist slipping inside the now-closed Village Seafood Buffet to bid a farewell, security breach-style.

Village Seafood Buffet
Most boring security breach, ever.

Seafood lovers are still in luck, however. The seafood buffet, or a significant part of it, has been integrated into one of the better-known buffets in Las Vegas, Carnival World Buffet.

The Carnival World Buffet now has two entrances, one devoted to the seafood buffet.

Rio Carnival Buffet
Dinner at the seafood buffet is $47.99, or $46.99 with a loyalty club card. The regular buffet is about $33 for dinner.

It seems a smart move to create the new Carnival World & Seafood Buffet. The Village Seafood Buffet got mixed reviews, but the Carnival World Buffet is one of the more beloved buffets in Vegas.

Here’s the new seafood section at Carnival World & Seafood Buffet.

Rio seafood buffet
Don’t you buffet commoners think you’re getting in here. The barrier is electrified. Or should be. Because then it would win “Best Dinner Show in Las Vegas,” easy.

Changes to the buffets follow on the heels of lots of restaurant news at Rio Las Vegas.

Martorano’s Cafe recently closed. If you have a hankering for the restaurant’s Italian fare, you can find Martorano’s at Paris Las Vegas.

As we reported first, Buzio’s Seafood restaurant will close by the end of 2015.

A new Guy Fieri restaurant, El Burro Borracho (Spanish for “Drunken Donkey”), will take the place of Buzio’s Seafood in early 2016.

It’s great to see Rio Las Vegas shaking things up.

For our money, though, the best offering at Rio is Royal India Bistro. Royal India Bistro is one of the best Indian restaurants in Las Vegas, along with Mint Indian Bistro (at 730 E. Flamingo Blvd.) and Mt. Everest India’s Cuisine (at 3641 W. Sahara Ave.).

Royal India Bistro
You’ve probably walked right by. Next time, less walk, more eat. You won’t be disappointed.

Maybe, just maybe, if the restaurant changes at Rio Las Vegas are successful, the resort can take back the large chunk of its casino floor currently being used as a timeshare sales office.

Rio casino timeshare
Sadly, we’re not kidding.

Seriously, though, Rio. What’s next? A pharmacy in the table games pit?