I stayed at the Rio last week and was surprised to find out that they no longer offer the free shuttle bus that takes you to Harrah's on the strip! I was told that they stopped doing this last November. So now you either have to take a Uber/Lyft or take the 202 bus to the strip, then take the Deuce bus north or south on strip. The bus is $5 for 24hours. IMO the bus isn't bad, just inconvenient. Of course you can walk but I don't think you will want to do that in July! I agree with Jay that the Sports Café (next to the sports book), and Hash House are good places to eat there. If your looking for a cheap buffet, much better to go to Gold Coast or the newly designed AYCE buffet at the Palms. Dinner is $16 at Gold Coast, $20 at Palms, and $35 at Rio (depending on what level players card you have). IMO for $4 more I like the Palms even though its about a 5 minute walk farther.