Buffets get a bad rap. Images come to mind of overweight people grazing at counters full of metal pans placed over steaming water, with much of the food overcooked, prepackaged or long having overstayed its welcome on the serving line.

Casino buffets, however, have come a long way since the cabaret comics used to describe them as "all you can hold down for $5.99" or "food fit for a king – here King, here King." For one thing, the $5.99 price tag is far more often for breakfast, if that, than for dinner. For another, the quality has gone up immeasurably.

Still, at many buffets, quantity outweighs quality.

So, let's say you find yourself in Reno on Thanksgiving Day, and say you're alone on a holiday that emphasizes family gatherings. Where do you eat?

A buffet. You will not be alone there. In fact, in Reno, you will be in a crowd. Thanksgiving buffets are immensely popular. Not everyone sits at home and waits for the turkey to roast.

Buffets are such a popular way of dining in Reno and Lake Tahoe, primarily because of their abundance, that they are not unique treats like they may be on a cruise ship, for example. Neither are they just for the gluttonous. Their fare has become more diverse and more healthful. For every piece of fried chicken, there's a slice of rotisserie chicken; for every slicing station, there's a salad station; for every slab of chocolate cake, there's fresh fruit and yogurt.

Gregg Carano, vice president and general manager of the Eldorado, has always been keenly interested in food preparation and presentation. He's particularly keen on that hotel's new buffet, a $5.4 million remodel, which he claims is "definitely one of the five best in the country."

After a tour, there is little doubt he's correct. The Eldorado Buffet has set the standard.

The food is not on steam tables. It is on porcelain platters replaced regularly. A great deal of it is prepped on site, chefs working in full view of patrons and ready to answer questions and make sure the food is fresh. There's a wok, a pizza oven, a salad station, a carving station, with each offering personal contact. There are no people emerging from mysterious back areas doors loaded with trays, placing them on the line and disappearing.

"We smoke our own salmon," says Carano. "We smoke our own kielbasa. We have Texas-Louisiana style hot links, our own green corn tortillas, and our ribs are made like they are at Arthur Bryant's in Kansas City."

It's impossible to overstate the importance of a buffet to a hotel-casino. For a club to have one is expected. For a club not to have one is a disaster. Every major club in Reno and Tahoe has one, and the competition is intense. Carano visited and studied 48 casinos across the country before starting work on his own.

There are other trends in the buffet business. The décor of the Eldorado buffet, for instance, puts out a different energy than is found in traditional buffets. It is more spacious, lighter, brighter, more modern. In all buffets, the clientele has become more diverse – families, single folks, thin, heavy – and the philosophy has moved from eat-all-you-can to pick-and-choose. It's not so much that you can eat everything as it is everybody will find something to like.

On Thanksgiving, expect turkey to be on the line, but the chefs carve roast beef and lamb, too. Check out the corn chowder or the butternut squash and pear soup. There is no requirement you eat traditionally, so a little mushroom ravioli can't hurt, or smoked salmon with capers. There will also be braised short ribs, roast pork loin, turkey pot pies, wild rice pilaf, bacon-and-cheese bread and candied sweet potatoes with butter pecans.

Even desserts have evolved. This buffet offers miniature apple pies and a selection of fresh gelato (check out the vanilla with caramel and brownies).

Of course, turkey is on the menu everywhere Thursday, enticingly labeled as, for instance, Oven Roasted Free Range Diestel Turkey at Roxy in the Eldorado, or Diestel Farms Wood-Roasted Tom Turkey at the Carson Valley Inn. At the Steak House in John Ascuaga's Nugget, however, it may have to step partly aside – American bison medallions wrapped in pancetta sounds good.

Buffets allow you to be part of a crowd, and remember the best part – you don't have to cook.