I visited them again and went to the Andrew Dice Clay show. It was a good show that displayed his type of humor with a female comedian preceding him with the same type of rauchy humor. The food court was brighter and cleaner. The CW's were courteous and efficient the video poker tables were bad for a low roller. They had a lot of area dedicated to slot machines. Will visit again for comedy show.
The Riv is not a casino we frequent except for taking in a show and dining. R Steak and Seafood opened about a year ago. We had the opportunity to dine there twice in 2012. Here are my comments from the applicable TR's:
March 2012: This is a relatively new restaurant located in the space occupied for many years by Kristofer's. We entered the Riveria via Paradise road and were able to avoid winding our way around and through the casino. The restaurant is fairly casual though we were seated by a maitre d. We shared an odd warm bacon and spinach salad. My wife ordered the grilled salmon steak entrée which was bountiful and very moist. Mine was a mammoth double, more likely a triple, cut pork chop with an apple cranberry sauce. We also shared a bowl of roasted cream corn. Prices were moderate for a Strip restaurant of this quality.
On our second visit in October 2012, I used a $150 comp that I won by posting on the American Casino Guide board.On our second visit, we started off by ordering a bottle of Liberty School cabernet sauvignon. Our waiter brought out a large loaf of warm bread and 3 spreads. For appetizers we shared orders of crispy battered calamari and miso butter seared scallops. The calamari were sliced lengthwise into wide strips that were both tough and flavorless. We fared better with the scallops which were previously frozen but very good.
For entrees we each ordered 6 ounce filet mignons and requested that they be prepared medium rare, but were actually served closer to medium and of average quality. Our sides of grilled pencil asparagus that had little flavor and the garlic mashed potatoes were garlic-lite. We also shared a (not) warm bacon salad that included onions, hard boiled egg and mushrooms. We have had similar salads many times and this one comes up short in the flavor department.
We concluded this feast by each ordering, no sharing thank you, crème brulees with berries and Godiva chocolate hazelnut coffees (French blend coffee, Godiva chocolate and Frangelico liqueurs topped with whipped cream). Both were very good though the coffee should have been hotter.
We went to the Riviera Casino in Las Vegas last week and participated in the signup promo. I lost $500 and got $250 e-cash immediately. I got a voucher for the remaining $250 e-cash and can use it next month and have a year to redeem it. My wife lost $300 and got $150 e-cash immediately and a voucher for the remaining $150 e-cash. The restriction that we didn't like was we could not lose our money on any slot machine that had an in house progressive prize. Also, we could not use the e-cash on some slot machines. Besides that, we had fun betting the max on several slot machines. Too bad we never hit anything big.
How can anybody not like Riviera? It's been around forever and is the only old place left on the strip (unless you count Flamingo which is nothing like it was years ago). The place looks almost the same as it did 50 years ago, they have recently updated all the rooms again. (It's like the 7 year locust, they remodel about every 7 years), and they completely revamped their buffet and now it's pretty darned good!!!
They have a great Las Vegas type atmosphere, relatively low limits on their tables, and the food is good. Besides the buffet, Kady's (next to the poker room) has been around for years and is a great place to eat. Kady's is Riviera's "coffee shop" restaurant. I have never been to their silly show "Crazy Girls" but it's been around a long time so it has that going for it. I'm just not into that type of thing...many of the shows bore me.
But hey, if you can get a cheap room at this place, GO!
