I view every meal as an opportunity, and when in a culinary Mecca like Las Vegas (like it or not, this place is teeming with fantastic dining opportunities), I hate to waste a meal. We hit the buffet at Monte Carlo before Blue Man so that the kids could get the Vegas buffet experience, and because I remember it being pretty good (for a buffet) before. The emptiness of the seating area should have been a clue. Variety was reasonable - lots of comfort food staples, including buffet greatest hits like shrimp and sliced beef. The taco section had a decent chile pulled pork, and the beef was at least average. Crab legs looked scrawny, salmon was dry, most other meats were drowned in mystery sauce, and I spat out the popcorn "shrimp" that nabbed from my daughter's plate just to see how it was. Beverage stand was on par with the 7-Eleven. Desserts were thankfully small and not sickly sweet. One word to describe the experience? Hmm... Either "bland" or "disappointing." Even at 50% off, I regretted going there and am officially done with Vegas buffets!