Eastside Cannery opens with five restaurants

The Eastside Cannery opened Thursday with five restaurants, which isn't unusual for a Las Vegas locals casino. But there is something unusual about a couple of the restaurants at the Eastside Cannery -- notably Sweet Lucy's Tableside Buffet. Here's how it works:

"Once you're seated, we kind of bring the buffet to you," said Luc Akellino, corporate director of food and beverage for Cannery Casino Resorts.

A basket of housemade potato chips and warm garlic breadsticks is brought to the table as soon as the guests are seated, said Mark Carillo, Eastside Cannery's director of food and beverage; guests also are given a menu of about 20 entrees and nine side dishes to peruse. After a server takes beverage orders, he or she returns with a bowl of pre-dressed house salad.

The server then takes orders for entrees and side dishes, adjusting portions according to how many people at the table want each dish. The food is cooked to order -- in five to eight minutes, Carillo said -- so that it's fresher and hotter than on a traditional buffet. And then it's served family style. As the serving dishes near the empty point, the server returns to see if more of the same -- or something else from the menu -- is desired.

"Just because you order fried chicken doesn't mean you always have to order fried chicken," Carillo said. "You can order as often and as many as you want."

What's key, representatives said, is the sit-down aspect.

"The concept is to make you comfortable at the table without going through the line and piling up your dishes," Akellino said.

And the concept is at least partially driven, Carillo said, by the fact that Eastside Cannery's projected market is somewhat on the older side.

"They don't have to worry about fumbling plates, they don't have to worry about spilling soup," he said. "People who have walkers and scooters don't have to worry about balancing."

Another time-honored buffet tradition -- a member of the party baby-sitting the pocketbook while his or her companion gets food -- also is eliminated.

"They have more time to spend at the table talking," Carillo said.

Another plus: The tableside service eliminates the chance of somebody cross-contaminating by putting a serving implement from one dish into another, or of a kid running by and sticking his finger in the pudding.

The dessert part of Sweet Lucy's is a traditional 25-foot buffet. However, it features not only the small desserts so beloved of buffet fans because of their mixing-and-matching potential, but also supersized versions -- Akellino said closer to the sizes of those desserts served at The Cheesecake Factory and The Claim Jumper -- created by a specialty baker.

If it seems a little daunting, know that the staff did dry runs at the original Cannery for about four weeks.

"We've worked out all the logistics, all the little idiosyncrasies," Carillo said. "We're very confident that what we have is very unique."

For those who want wine with dinner, four varietals are being offered, for $10 a bottle. The lunch buffet is $8.99; dinner is $11.99.

Some ground also is being broken in the Eastside Cannery's prime-rib room and steakhouse, Carve. For this restaurant, managers took a page from the Lawry's the Prime Rib playbook, but instead of bringing carving carts to the customers, there's a central carving station in the dining room.

"The carving station is kind of a focal point," said Ken Torres, executive chef. "You can actually watch the chef doing things."

Akellino said Carve's wine service also is offbeat. Wines are divided by characteristic -- "clean, crisp, lively," "big, ripe, fuller," "richer, heavier, oakier," and priced by category at $24, $27 and $29. There also is a reserve wine list in a more traditional form, so that oenophiles and novice wine lovers both are served.

The Eastside Cannery also is home to The Deli, which overlooks the sports book and has a carving station and a broad menu that includes Frito Boats and similar types of finger foods, plus cold sandwiches, pastas and panini.

Casa Cocina is a clone of its sister restaurant at the original Cannery, and Snaps 24-Hour Restaurant is a traditional coffee shop.

Contact reporter Heidi Knapp Rinella at hrinella@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0474.