Restaurant review: Tropical Breeze Cafe' at Flamingo

Lots o' food

Situated midway between the Flamingo Buffet near the flamingo habitat and the sports book on the casino floor, the Tropical Breeze Café is open from 11 a.m. until 10 p.m. daily.

We chose this restaurant because we weren't in the mood for a buffet, and our original lunch choice of Harrah's Cafe' was closed for the switch over from lunch to "Italian Nights" dinner service, which we are very unhappy about (you can read my grumblings about that situation in my trip report posted on the blog in April 2012).

We waited for about 10 minutes to be seated at this restaurant.  It seems that the waiters and waitresses all share the seating duties, and the cashiers do not budge from their seats next to the lineup, even when they have nothing to do.  In fact, they acted as if we were invisible and talked to the other cashiers and various waitstaff while we waited as patiently as we could for someone to notice us.  I was surprised that my mom did not say we were leaving, because she has little patience for such things.

After reviewing the menu and discussing our options when we were finally seated, mom and I shared the Calamari Ringers and Spinach Dip for lunch because we were planning on having a larger dinner later in the evening.  We should’ve just ordered one or the other, because they were both huge appetizers in their own right and we didn’t finish either one of them.  It would've been nice for the waitress to inform us about the size of the appetizer dishes in advance.  

The food was standard cafe' fare and not notable for anything in particular.  There was nothing about either dish that stood out to us, but the food was decent and hit the spot.  The Calamari Ringers were served tempura style with assorted vegetables and two dipping sauces - peanut sauce and hoisin sauce - and it was good but not outstanding.  The Spinach Dip was served in a bread bowl and had a good, creamy flavor, but the chips that were intended for dipping broke off when you tried to dip them.  If I had to pick one of these dishes over the other, I'd pick the calamari because I happen to enjoy my seafood on vacation. 

The waitress disappeared when we wanted to get the bill, and we waited another 10 minutes for her to re-appear from the kitchen.  She actually seemed surprised that we wanted our bill so quickly.  It wasn't that quick at all; she had just been missing and we presumed she had been abducted by aliens.

The appetizers and two teas came to $26.98+tip, which I paid for with my tons of Total Rewards points since Flamingo is under the Caesars property listing and allows their card holders to pay that way.  It's definitely a benefit of being a TR member: being able to pay with points at most of the restaurants, and having the tax removed from the bill when you do so.

I'd give this restaurant a 5 out of 10.  I personally don't think I'll be visiting again, because the restaurant staff apparently doesn't want my business, and the food wasn't exceptional or memorable in any way.  There are far too many other restaurants in Las Vegas to try.

If you'd like to view the menu, follow the link here to open a PDF file in a separate window: Menu