The Las Vegas buffet, from 1946 to today

The Las Vegas buffet has been an institution for decades, but now there are only a handful remaining. It started out as what Tejal Rao, a chief restaurant critic at the New York Times, called a genius marketing move.

“This hotel called the El Rancho, they started this thing they called the Chuck Wagon Service in 1946 for the really late night gamblers at the casino,” said Rao. “It was like, OK, keep gambling and spending your money, and we’ve got food for you. You don’t even have to go to a restaurant and waste your time sitting and ordering and waiting.”

Rao visited a few of the Las Vegas Strip’s extravagant buffets for the New York Times. Click the audio player above to hear more of the story.