Harrahs Casino Buffet Joliet

Harrah's Casino Catches Buffet Line Bandit - Joliet, IL - Joshua Foster's criminal charges are misdemeanors, so he's not currently detained at Will County. The Reserve Steakhouse set inside Harrah's Joliet Hotel & Casino, located just blocks away from Joliet's historic Rialto Square theater is a truly fascinating dining experience. Choose from our exceptional prime cuts, fresh seafood, and a seasonal driven menu promoting local farming. HARRAH'S JOLIET CASINO AND HOTEL & FLAVORS BUFFET @harrahsjoliet thanks JOL Flavors for another excellent #buffasino.com. The Abacaxi roasted pineapple is the best, worth the drive from anywhere.

'Located along the Des Plaines River in picturesque downtown Joliet, Harrah's Joliet offers the most exciting and finest hotel and casino in all of Chicagoland,' according to its website. While it's very pleasant, I wouldn't go quite that far. 'Boring and downtrodden' is how one person describes it, but that's a little strong. 'Not a vacation destination,' says another. That's one I would agree with. An overnight is about all I could stand. However, I did not encounter one employee who was anything but cordial and professional.

Hotel guestrooms

The 200 rooms are nothing special. All rooms have complimentary Wi-Fi, and small flat-screen TVs. The rooms also have ice-makers and coffee-makers, but there is coffee service in the lobby from 6 to 11 every morning.

The 9th, 10th and 11th floors are designated as 'VIP Floors' and require a room key to access.
All rooms on this level have high ceilings, complimentary soft drinks and bottled water in the refrigerator, and terry robes. (At left is a view of the river from one of the rooms on the 11th floor.)
There are eight suites, but they are difficult to reserve. The suites have Jacuzzis and large walk-in showers with two separate toilet areas. There is a sitting/socializing room separate from the sleeping area with a large TV and entertainment system, wet bar and ice maker. In addition, there usually are bottled water, soda and candies, coffee and terry robes. The water is softened, so a little soap goes a long way.
While they last, complimentary newspapers are available in the lobby, and there is a complimentary 'business center' off the lobby offering two computers and a printer.
All hotel guests, including Platinum, Diamond and Seven Stars cardholders, as well as those with validated tickets from the restaurants, have access to complimentary valet parking, located at the casino entrance.

Casino overview
The casino opens daily at 8 a.m. and closes at 6 the next morning, so there is a two-hour gap for play each day.

The Caesars Rewards Center is open Sunday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to midnight, and Friday and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 a.m.
The totally non-smoking casino has evolved from a riverboat to a floating barge with more than 1,300 slots and table games.Casino
Table games are located in the center of the room surrounded by slots. Video poker machines are located in and around the large casino bar, as well in a rear corner video poker room.
There is a World Series of Poker Room where Harrah's spreads live Texas Hold ’em and Omaha games. The casino currently runs a variety of games and limits. The Poker Room is from 8 a.m. to 5 a.m. daily and you may call 815-740-7480 up to one hour ahead to be put on the waiting list and 72 hours ahead for the casino's PLO interest list.

Beverage servers make the rounds at the table games, but at the machines it's best to use the 'Press 3' option or visit one of three self-service soft drink and coffee dispensers.
Dining and entertainment
The only restaurant within the casino is Cross Street Grill. Cross Street Grill’s menu includes everything from burgers and sandwiches to tacos and entrées. Open daily for breakfast, lunch, dinner and late-night snacks, the layout allows you to place your orders from both on and off the casino floor.

Meanwhile, at The Reserve, I had one of the best meals ever in a casino's fine dining restaurant. The menu has since changed and items I had are no longer offered, but I continue to hear good things about this restaurant. Caesars Rewards cardholders get 10 percent off all menu items, except alcohol. You can pay with Reward Credits, cash or credit card. Wednesdays are 'Wine Wednesdays' where all bottles of wine (except Champagne) are 50 percent off.

Flavors The Buffet gives a 10 percent discount to police officers, firefighters, EMTs and their parties. Proper ID is required.
In addition, there is Flavors the Buffet and a Starbucks.
For cocktails, try Sheer.
Special Seven Stars benefits*
Harrah’s gives Seven Stars cardholders staying in the hotel a daily $25 folio credit. Previously each day of their stay they received a voucher good for the breakfast buffet or a $25 food credit at Cross Street Grill. Now you just charge it to your room and it’s comped at check-out. One added benefit is that any food outlet will accept the $25 credit – even Starbucks (but not on purchases of prepackaged items, just handcrafted drinks and prepared food like pastries). However, unlike a typical folio credit, you must use the entire $25 at one time. Because it’s no longer a voucher comp, taxes don’t come off, so the benefit is devalued by eight percent.

Seven Stars cardholders get a complimentary dessert at The Reserve.
Other than a separate cage window off the high limits area, additional benefits are limited to priority seating at the restaurants, a special Seven Stars menu at the Laurel Lounge, and bottled water if you valet.

Seven Stars Lounge

There is a separate Seven Stars Lounge within the Laurel Lounge (formerly Diamond Lounge), along with a special Seven Stars menu. The buffet is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., but the bar remains open until 10 p.m. (11 on Friday and Saturday). Alcohol is not complimentary and you cannot bring your alcoholic beverages to/from the lounges/restaurants to the casino. For more information and to view the current month's menu, click here and scroll down to Diamond Lounge.

Should you choose this for your Annual Retreat?
This is not the place to go for an extended trip. Other than the casino, there is the Rialto Theater a few blocks away, as well as the Joliet Jackhammers baseball team. Unless you are going to the theater or a game, according to those who have been to Joliet, use caution and don't wander around town in the evening. However, during the day, those familiar with the area say it's OK to journey out in a four-block radius which includes a couple of churches, a convenience store, a diner, the library and several banks. Bottom line, you need a car if you want to do anything, though there is a train station nearby if you want to travel into (or from) Chicago.
Where Harrah's Joliet is located

151 N. Joliet St., Joliet, IL 60432


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Toll-Free Number: (800) 427-7247
Rooms: 200 Price Range: $89-$249
Suites: 4 Price Range: Casino Use Only
Restaurants: 3
Buffets: L-$17.49/$20.99 (Sat)/$26.99 (Sun)D-$21.99/$36.99 (Fri)/$26.99 (Sat/Sun)
Casino Hours: 8am-6am Daily
Casino Size: 39,000 Square Feet
Games Offered: Slots, Video Poker, Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, Three Card Poker, Mini-Baccarat, Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em, Mississippi Stud, Poker
Overnight RV Parking: No
Special Features: Casino is on a barge docked on the Des Plaines River. The buffet is closed Tue/Wed.

Casino Profile - Harrah's Joliet, Illinois

More than any other casino company, Harrah’s Entertainment has long been all about imprinting its brand on the consciousness of the nation’s gamblers. Not every Harrah’s is identical, ofcourse. Local conditions call for adaptation. But when you go to a Harrah’s casino, you know you’re going to get the multi-tiered Total Rewards players club, décor that emphasizes the purple inthe Harrah’s logo, an expansive and solid buffet, and employees who are well-trained in customer service.

Harrah's Casino Resort in Joliet, Illinois

You’re not necessarily going to get the best games in town. It’s deeply ingrained in the Harrah’s philosophy that a smile-on-the-face entertainment experience will keep more customers comingback than an extra few tenths of a percent for the player in the blackjack rules or video poker pay tables.

So it goes at Harrah’s in Joliet, Illinois, right in the downtown area of this growing city of 146,000, located 40 miles SW of Chicago. It’s bright, lively, and has plenty of Harrah’s purple.The full Total Rewards package is in place here, with its Gold, Platinum, Diamond and Seven Stars levels bringing extra rewards depending on your play.

Harrahs Casino Buffet Joliet

Foodservice options include a Flavors buffet that offers a wide variety of cuisine including Brazilian BBQ, house-made deep-dish pizza, and build-your-own stir fry. Restaurants are on thecasino side of the turnstile, so there’s no taking the kids to dinner here. Harrah’s is a steadfastly adult experience. In addition to the buffet, there’s the elegant steakhouse, The Reserve.And if you just want to grab a burger or a dog on the run, you’ll find the Cross Street Grill on the casino floor.

Harrah’s was one of the first generation of riverboat casinos in the Midwest, opening in the spring of 1993 aboard its first boat, the Northern Star. When a second boat, Southern Star,opened the following year and later replaced by the roomier Southern Star II, it enabled Harrah’s to offer the full 1,200 gaming positions allowed under Illinois law. The early boats weresmall, cramped, and smoky, with games on three levels, requiring a lot of stair-climbing for players to see all on the boats.

Illinois required its casinos to cruise at the time, with each Harrah’s gaming session consisting of a half-hour boarding period, an hour on the Des Plaines River, and a half-hour disembarkingsession.

When Illinois ended its cruise requirements in 1999, Harrah’s took full advantage, first bringing Northern Star and Southern Star II dockside, connected by a ramp so players could wanderbetween boats, then constructing a dockside barge that opened in 2001. The barge put all games on a single level, enabling Harrah’s to offer as close to a large, land-based casino as it can getunder Illinois restrictions.

The biggest clues that this isn’t Vegas are the turnstiles that players must pass through to get to the casino area. Once you’re through the turnstiles, you are immediately in a large, opencasino that places a heavy emphasis on slot machines. Harrah’s uses the vast majority of its allotted gaming positions on electronic gaming devices, which include slots, video poker, videoblackjack, and video keno. There are more than 900 electronic games and this is a very slots-oriented casino.

Harrah's Casino Buffet Joliet Il

That doesn’t mean there are no tables at all. One of the quirks in Illinois regulations is that a slot machine isn’t defined as one gaming position --- it’s nine-tenths of a gaming position.The intent is that no more than 1,200 customers be playing at any one time, so taking into consideration that at any given time some customers are walking to a different game or taking time outfor a meal or a bathroom break, the Illinois Gaming Board ruled long ago that more than 1,200 seats were needed to actually have 1,200 people playing.

So in addition to those slot machines, Harrah’s Joliet offers 31 table games. Fifteen are blackjack tables with middle-of-the-road rules. At $10 and $15 tables, the dealer hits soft 17, theplayer is allowed to double down after splitting pairs and to resplit Aces. House edge against a basic strategy player is 0.59 percent. At $25 and $50 tables, the dealer stands on all 17s, withall other rules being the same. That lowers the house edge to 0.36 percent.

The other 15 tables are a mix of craps, roulette, mini-baccarat, Three Card Poker, Four Card Poker, Texas Hold’em Bonus Poker, and Mississippi Stud.
In keeping with national trends and player preferences, Harrah’s has gone for flashy, low-denomination slots with free spins and bonus events in a big way. Higher-level play is strong enoughthat penny games have taken over the Harrah’s slot floor. One-cent games rule the roost and the next-most-common denomination is two-cent games. Expect to find a wide variety of bonusing games,with IGT, WMS, Bally and Aristocrat slots taking up most of the floor.

Harrah's Casino Joliet Seafood Buffet

One thing you won’t find here is big-money wide-area progressive slots such as Megabucks. Games that link jackpots in multiple casinos are illegal in Illinois, so you’re not going to find anymillion-dollar bonanzas.


Video poker players who seek the best pay tables won’t find a lot here. Quarter games are all reduced pay tables, mostly in the 97-percent range. Harrah’s Joliet’s standout game is at thedollar level, 9-6 Double Double Bonus Poker with a progressive jackpot on the royal flush. It’s a 98.98-percent game with expert play at the rollover level of $4,000 for a royal with five coinswagered, and larger royal payoffs sometimes take the game into positive territory. Another popular game you will find here is dollar Illinois Deuces, a game that returns 98.91 percent withperfect play.

For overnight stays, Harrah’s has one of the most comfortable casino hotels in the Chicago area. With 200 upscale rooms, the hotel opened in 2000, and has an elegant feel --- the hotel andrestaurants make for a nice little getaway. The hotel area has its own valet parking, then it’s just a short walk inside to the turnstiles, the restaurants, and the games.

Harrah's Casino Buffet Coupons

A Standard Hotel Room at Harrah's Joliet

Harrah’s Joliet might not satisfy a picky blackjack or video poker player. But those looking for a resort feel, lively atmosphere, solid restaurants, comfortable hotel and lots of slots willfind it here.

Harrah’s Joliet is located at 151 N. Joliet Street in Joliet. Call (815) 740-7800 or (800) HARRAHS or visit www.caesars.com.

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