Las Vegas was once renowned for its spectacular array of lavish buffets, which drew visitors from around the world.

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, these dining destinations shuttered their doors, and many never reopened.

Now, local entrepreneur and restaurant owner Smeet Gandhi is working to revive the buffet experience with a lunch offering at Taj Palace.

“The reason to bring (a) lunch buffet is to make everybody in the town experience what Indian food is, rather than just ordering one item,” Gandhi said.

Taj Palace’s core philosophy is based on a phrase from India that translates to “guest is as good as God,” Gandhi said. The restaurant welcomes guests and seeks to give them each a unique experience.

When the restaurant opened its Summerlin location, for example, Gandhi said Taj Palace introduced a bespoke menu to accommodate the nearby population of transplants from the region of South India. The original location is on Eastern Avenue in Henderson.

Though Gandhi co-founded the establishment, he said, he didn’t begin overseeing its day-to-day operations until 2017. He originally came to Las Vegas from India to study hospitality management at UNLV.

Gandhi said he worked the restaurant’s floor for three years when it initially opened to get to know his community and guests, and to better meet their expectations. Those first three years are crucial in any business, he said.

“Your first baby — you have to focus on that particular business and grow that baby that way,” he said. “Once the baby is grown up, (it) can start walking or running on its own.”

Las Vegas local Ami Parikh, who has known Gandhi for well over a decade, said Taj Palace had become one of her family’s favorite places to eat out.

“It’s like a very warm feeling to be around there,” she said. “You feel that you’re being taken care of by everybody.”

Taj Palace once catered a four-day wedding event at which Parikh was a guest, and every single day, she said, the restaurant served something new and delicious.

It was there that Gandhi made it clear to Parikh he wanted to change up the restaurant’s menu to fit the modern world and its increasingly common dietary needs. Taj Palace has a wide variety of menu items catering to vegetarian diets, vegan diets and so on. And the food is cooked to order, Parikh said, so guests can customize their orders to their different dietary needs.

“The food at Taj Palace, time and time again, has always shown to be very, very well balanced,” Parikh said. “… And it’s a harmony of all the ingredients that come together. The presentation is beautiful and the flavors are really, really great, just because they’re so well balanced and they’re so fresh.”

One example is the kheer at Taj Palace, Parikh offered. Because kheer is a milk-based dessert and can spoil quickly, many restaurants just don’t carry it.

But Gandhi told Parikh he made it fresh daily just in case a guest requested it.

He’s an exceptional and humble person, Parikh said, who works incredibly hard. She’s incredibly proud of him, Parikh emphasized.

“He’s so eager to learn and always make better,” she said. “And I think that that speaks volumes. I think that’s one of the reasons why his business is so successful, is because he actually cares, and he really wants to listen to what people say.”

His goal with Taj Palace was to serve authentic, homemade Indian food like what his mom or grandmother would cook, Gandhi said.

The buffet features beloved Indian favorites: butter chicken, lamb korma, tandoori chicken, saag paneer, garlic naan, butter naan, mango custard, and gulab jamun.

It’s not his only business venture.

Gandhi also owns and operates a string of franchise hotels including a Best Western, a Comfort Inn and others.

Gandhi cited Southern Nevada’s lack of a state income tax, low cost of living, high levels of global traffic and the constantly growing economy as proof of its friendly relationship to business and entrepreneurs like himself.

“I think if anyone wants to open a business in Las Vegas,” Gandhi said, “they should not even think twice.”

His advice to aspiring entrepreneurs: Take in as much feedback as possible and don’t take weekends off.

“Make your team feel like they are special,” he added. “And they are special.”

If you ensure your team understands your objective and put your trust in them, Gandhi said, they will help grow your business.

“When they will feel valued and empowered, they will give their 100% to the business,” he said.

The lunch buffet is $18.99.