Expansion continues with new buffet at Santa Fe Station

It's finally arrived. The Feast Buffet inside the newly remodeled Santa Fe Station opened with a buzz on Dec. 4.

"This is, of course, the crown jewel," said Jeff Lovari, Station Casinos public relations manager. "We were probably the only casino in Las Vegas to not have a buffet."

The Santa Fe has not had a buffet since Station Casinos acquired the property in 2000.

The buffet features five cooking stations serving Italian, Chinese, Mexican, barbecue and dessert. Breakfast is served from 8 a.m. until 11 a.m. on weekdays, lunch is from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. on weekdays and dinner from 4 until 10 p.m. daily. Weekend brunch is served from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m.

The Turf Grill also opened on Dec. 4 adjacent to the new 259-seat race and sports book, which features a five-screen, 114-foot video wall, 23 plasma TV screens and 197 individual monitors for race and sports viewing. There are an additional 13 plasmas in the VIP area and 14 in the adjacent R&S Bar.

The Turf Grill serves breakfast, snacks, burgers and salads priced from $4 to $10 from 8 a.m. until 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and from 8 a.m. until midnight Friday and Saturday. Customers can eat at the restaurant or have their food delivered to the race and sports book.

"It was time to bring on new entertainment," said Lori Nelson, Station Casinos director of corporate communications. "When I moved to town in 1995, this was a very different Santa Fe."

The $130 million expansion also includes a five-level, 2,900-space parking garage on the north side of the property. A three-story, 900-space parking garage opened in June, which brings the total self-park and valet spaces to 5,200.

"We tried to create several entrances to add convenience," Nelson said. "Having a covered parking spot, especially in the dead of summer, is very important."

The expansion decor was done with a contemporary flair making the new areas similar to Station's newer properties, the Red Rock Resort and the Green Valley Ranch Resort.

The additional casino floor space at Santa Fe now has more than 400 slot and video poker machines and a new high-limit slot area that opened on Dec. 7.

Almost 6,000 square feet of additional meeting and convention space was added, bringing the total to more than 14,000 square feet.

The property added approximately 185 new team members with the expansion.

Delia Shaw, a server at the buffet, used the expansion as a way to move up.

"It was a good opportunity for me," she said. "I was a busser (for four years at the Grand Cafe). Now I can take care of the customer and this place is beautiful and the food is great."

The rest of the expansion is planned to be complete by summer 2007. A new poker room, two additional restaurants including Tides Oyster Bar and Salt Lick BBQ, and a center bar concept similar to the ones at Green Valley Ranch and Red Rock are planned.

Santa Fe Station is located at 4949 N. Rancho Drive.