This was my first trip to the Horseshoe in Cleveland and overall I enjoyed my experience and found it to be a much better casino than than the Hollywood in Columbus that I normally play at. I signed up for a players card and after an evening at the roulette table was comped at buffet trip. I certainly was not going to pass that up being hungry and an hour away from my home and free food. I wandered down to the buffet and overall I found the the service to be better than many of the reviews I have read on here. Although I will admit it was a Tuesday evening so I'm not quite sure how the staff handles a more busy time. As for the food itself I found it to be OK (great for a free trip lol). I enjoyed the Kong Pow Beef and found that it really delivered the kick that so often Kong Pow Chicken/Beef is lacking at so many places. I also enjoyed the Prime Rib, as it is my favorite dish, It was just slightly overdone for my tastes but I do enjoy mine quite rare and I'm sure it had been under a heat lamp for a while so overall I will not hold it against them. I also enjoyed the salad bar that featured wedge salad and the Horseshoe Chop Salad which was surprisingly good and one of my favorites of the evening. I tried a bit of the Lake Erie Perch and it was not bad, not good but not bad. I avoided the Pizza and really everything at the Italian Station. The pizza looked far to done and just not that good and really everything else at that station just seemed sloppy and thrown together. For me though I found the two biggest disappointments to be the dessert station and that I was told they almost never feature oysters on the half shell. The dessert station had mediocre selection at best and I asked the gentlemen working the station what he recommended or what was good that evening and he simply told me everything was good. Well that's not what I asked you. I asked you to recommend something even if there is nothing you particularly care for just tell me that such and such is very popular this evening. Its a small thing but I was surprised that no one had ever coached him or the staff on this point. As for the oysters, I understand this was a free trip and a weekday evening so I did not necessarily expect there to be the prime time options. But I did inquire if there was a time or nights when they do feature them often and I was surprised to learn that it is very rarely offered from the wait staff. To me oysters on the half shell should be a casino buffet staple and should be featured or at least be out on Friday or Saturday nights. In conclusion I would say that my casino experience at the Horseshoe Cleveland was good and I do enjoy it better than the Hollywood Columbus but the Epic Buffet at the Hollywood Columbus is slightly better (4 stars out of 5). However The Spread at the Horseshoe Cleveland is not a bad option and I am grateful for free trip! Would consider coming back especially if I had another sort of deal from the Players Card!
Suggestions to get from 3 to 4 Stars- Better dessert station options and better overall options