With buffets gradually — and quietly — slipping into oblivion across the valley, many lovers of the all-you-can-eat extravaganzas are finding themselves asking: Is the Las Vegas buffet dying?

Maybe not.

“To misquote Mark Twain, their demise has been greatly exaggerated,” says Mehmet Erdem, an associate professor in the William F. Harrah College of Hospitality at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Las Vegas is a destination city, and most destination cities are known for a food item or style of cuisine, he says. Think: cheesesteaks in Philadelphia, or Cajun/Creole food in New Orleans. Las Vegas is known for indulgence in pretty much every category. In dining, that often means a lavish buffet.