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Bonanza Casino
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
4 reviews for Bonanza Casino
During my last few trips to Reno, I have noticed that all the Resort Casinos are getting more and more crowded. And ask anybody, I hate crowds, but I like to gamble. So a friend recommended Bonanza Casino. This casino is way off the beaten trail so if you want to be in the heart of action, this is not your place.
From the moment you enter, you are greeted by friendly staff and wall to wall gambling. The gambling floor is fairly large and as soon as you walk in, you run right into a Craps table...real convenient for me. The center of the casino floor is all table games with an army of slots surrounding them. The theme of this place is the "Old West" so you can say that the slots are surrounding the tables like Indians circling the wagons!
The slots and table games are low limit not like the bigger casinos in Reno so you really get more bang for the buck here. In fact I really recommend you to sign up for the players club here because this is the only place I know on Earth where no matter what you spend your money on in this place, you earn points toward comps. You heard me right, if you eat at the restaurant or buy something at the gift shop, just present your card and the purchase will go towards your rewards points. However, don't get too excited, because unfortunately there is no hotel here so you cannot use the points for lodging. But then again, you can use it for meals and besides this is a locals place.
To sum it all up, if you like gambling, hate crowds, low limit gaming, and have a place to stay, this is where I would go and hang out. The Steakhouse is good as well. It is not the Harrah's Steakhouse, but you can't really expect that much for a locals joint.
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Have eaten lunch in their Coffee Shop twice now and have received good, basic food and very good, friendly service. For a long time I refused to patronize this place because of their long running advertisements " If You're Not A Tourist, Why Pay Like One". I just thought it in poor taste for a tourism based economy. But they changed their ads around so I returned. Have previously eaten dinner in their steakhouse and had very good food and exceptional service.
If there is a negative it is the overwhelming "smoke" smell throughout the Casino areas. A regular squirting of Freebreeze might help.(and I'm an ex smoker too)
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I've gambled here (slots) a couple of times - it is just like anywhere else really.... they were VERY slow with the drinks, even though all I was drinking was soda. Its a laid back place that is mostly filled with seniors and a handful of locals.
However the reason I'm writing this review, and only giving it one star is because (they dont let you give less then?) of an experience I had while at the buffet a few weeks ago. July 2008
Let me start by saying that I've eaten at the buffet 3 times, the first two times were just OK - nothing great but not terrible obviously I went back for more! They have that good kind of homestyle "comfort food" that I crave sometimes!
But this last time I ate there will surly be the VERY LAST TIME....
We got there at 4:30pm was told the dinner buffet was just starting so we were seated..... only to get to the buffet and the chefs and staff behind the buffet telling us they dont start serving buffet until 5:00 pm..... they were kind enough to let us get a salad from the salad bar - which is a pretty good spread...... so I ate my salad slowing trying to kill 30 minutes till the actual buffet started....... the main attraction and high price was for the supposedly "delicious" Prime Rib........
30 minutes passed and my friend and I run to feast on the buffet we were STARVING!!!! The prime rib was bleeding and the blood was running over onto the ham - so I passed on both....... but they had fried chicken so I got that, mashed potatoes w/brown gravy, and a few other items I can't even recall now....... NOTHING on my plate was eaten - it was AWFUL... the buffet had been opened 3 minutes but the fried chicken was hard, old, and rubber-like surely it had to be left over from the lunch buffet.... it was NASTY - everything on my plate was gross.... I was sitting there like WOW are we on candid camera??? I couldn't believe it... So being that I was starving I went back and got a few other items. They had giant size hot dogs and chili but NO BUNS!! Those frozen meat patties that are supposed to be chicken fried steak - NASTY also.... and cold.
My friend also was unable to eat anything on his plate and went back only to be let down a 2ed time. The biscuits and rolls - were hard as bricks impossible to have been freshly made for a buffet that was now about 30 minutes old. OK so the food was terrible except for the salad I had before the buffet........
Next....... our waiter ignored us. What more is there to say? He never came to our table except once when I flagged him down for more drink to wash the nasty food taste out of my mouth, and to take away 4 - YES FOUR FULL PLATES OF FOOD THAT WE COULD NOT EVEN EAT!!!!
I guess he knew better then to ask WHY we didnt eat the food!! I think he knew the answer and was clearing off the plate so the other customers were not alarmed!!
Some other lady came to the table and asked "is everything ok" I said "NO not really" and she didn't say a work just walked off and never came back..... So we get to the check out and I tell the girl working the register that the food was terrible, and she said I could speak to the manager and have the ticket adjusted...... truly that was not my intentions when I complained but it did kind of take the NASTY taste out of my mouth when our bill went from about $28.00 to only $9.00!
Now here's the kicker....... you sitting down??
While I was standing ahead of the line waiting on the manager to come speak to me about my issues..... there was a really sweet old lady (which is mostly what goes to the Bonanza!) behind me paying for her meal....... I seen the lady give the ticket and a $20.00 to the cashier.... when the cashier gave her back only a few cents change and no bills the lady said "I gave you a $20.00 bill" of course the cashier argued..... and when the manager came I was ignored and this ladies problem was handled before mine (which was fine) and the manager argued with the elderly lady and said she would resolve the issues by calling the security office and have them review the security tape which would show them if she gave the cashier a $10 or a $20. She has this little "secret code" conversation with the security people on the phone and hung up and told the lady - You gave her a $10.00 and walked away...... I was appalled because I had seen her give her a $20.00!!!!!! When the elderly lady argued their solution was she could go to the office and file a former complaint..........
My solution to this problem for myself, the elderly lady who they robbed, and everyone else is simple..... stay away from Bonanza! The food sucks, service sucks, they rob old people and that's really not cool. It makes me wonder how often they do this..... since most of their customers are senior. SHAME SHAME SHAME
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Now THIS is a casino. To me, anyway. It's dark, smoke-filled, serve strong drinks, have low bet minimums, burnt-out table-dealers and WAY off the main strip. What more could you ask for?
There is one drawback that does come to mind, though: the food. Not to say it's all bad, but I do recommend skipping the lunch/dinner buffet. To their credit, they do have an excellent country-style breakfast that I found to be quite delicious.
Overall, when I'm in town (usually during Street Vibrations), I make it a point to do my gambling/grab a breakfast here.
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