Las Vegas Dinner Shows

Are Las Vegas dinner shows a good deal?

Some Las Vegas dinner shows represent good deals, others less so. Be aware that with all dinner shows, your drinks will be extra, and invariably expensive. Food quality at dinner shows varies. In general, it can be characterized as acceptable, but certainly not exceptional. What you are buying is limited-menu banquet service for 300–500 people. Whenever a hotel kitchen tries to feed that many people at once, it is at some cost in terms of the quality of the meal and the service.

Excalibur Hotel Las Vegas

At Tournament of Kings, shown at the Excalibur, all shows include a dinner of Cornish hen with soup, potatoes, vegetable, dessert, and choice of nonalcoholic beverage for about $59 per person, plus taxes and gratuities.  Tony ’n’ Tina’s Wedding at Bally’s integrates the meal into the unfolding story line of the show. At Tony ’n’ Tina’s, you’re a wedding guest. You’re sucked into the story and expected to role-play as the show demands. The same goes for the murder mystery production Marriage Can Be Murder at the D.

Several casinos offer show-and-dinner combos where you get dinner and a show for a special price, but dinner is served in one of the casinos’ restaurants instead of in the showrooms. Many restaurants provide only coffee-shop ambience, but the food is palatable and a good deal for the money. At each casino, you can eat either before or after the early show.

Early versus Late Shows

If you attend a late show, you’ll have time for a leisurely dinner before the performance. For those who prefer to eat late, the early show followed by dinner works best. Both shows are identical, except that for some topless revues the early show is covered and the late show is topless. On weekdays, late shows are usually more lightly attended. On weekends, particularly at the most popular shows, the opposite is often the case.

Interested in a Cirque du Soleil Show? Check out our blog HERE. For complete coverage of all shows pick up Bob Sehlinger’s Unofficial Guide to Las Vegas.

Photo credit: By Blane (Own work) [CC BY 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons