# Is Golden Corral as awful as it seems in the commercials?? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 9, 2012, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-golden-corral-as-awful-as-it-seems-in-the-commercials/615306 "2012-03-09T18:50:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-golden-corral-as-awful-as-it-seems-in-the-commercials/615306/41 "2012-03-10T07:57:57Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > What were people hoping to accomplish by pushing on the armored truck? Have you seen armoured car drivers? There’s hardly any gristle to them at all. ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-golden-corral-as-awful-as-it-seems-in-the-commercials/615306/42 "2012-03-10T08:53:15Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > There seems to be something missing from this story. What were people hoping to accomplish by pushing on the armored truck? Did they think there was food in the truck, or that the restaurant would open sooner if they took a hostage? It was blocking the door. I think they have to park as close as possible for security reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-golden-corral-as-awful-as-it-seems-in-the-commercials/615306/43 "2012-03-10T13:51:19Z")
The quality of the food is decent, but not amazing (most economic all you can eat buffets do not have amazing food though. Aside from a handful of chinese restaurants I’ve tried). However most restaurants in general do not have ‘amazing’ food. I like the golden corral though, but it runs about $10 a person so I don’t go often. What I like about the golden corral is the all you can eat steak. That is one of the few chains I know of (if not the only one) where steak is part of the all you can eat buffet. I usually get 2-3 steaks when I go there. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-golden-corral-as-awful-as-it-seems-in-the-commercials/615306/44 "2012-03-10T15:06:41Z")
The breakfasts aren’t bad, but then again it’s really hard to mess up breakfast food. Also, people don’t expect as much variety for breakfast. So when you go to a buffet place where you can get waffles and cheese grits and steak AND fried chicken…well, it’s hard not to feel like you aren’t at a food amusement park. Really, I don’t think the food is that bad. But I do feel like a snob when I go there because most of the customers aren’t exactly upscale and can be quite ridiculous with their food choices (cheese sauce on a heaping mound of fried chicken? really?). I’m not upscale either, but I guess I don’t want to be reminded of this fact. My parents love the place, so when I come down to visit that’s where they want to eat. I go begrudgingly, but it’s not like it’s ever been an unpleasant experience. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-golden-corral-as-awful-as-it-seems-in-the-commercials/615306/45 "2012-03-10T15:47:33Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I have this mental image, though, of large, cow-like humans shuffling alongside a steam table, piling large mounds of greasy food on a tray. Yeah, I get that, too, along with “moooo” sounds in the background. I have never been to one nor plan to since “all you can hold down” buffets just do not appeal to me. Altho, I confess when my kids hit their teens it may be another story as mentioned upthread. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-golden-corral-as-awful-as-it-seems-in-the-commercials/615306/46 "2012-03-10T16:07:35Z")
Went to Golden Corral once. Never again. It’s the kind of place who see “all you can eat” as some kind of challenge. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-golden-corral-as-awful-as-it-seems-in-the-commercials/615306/47 "2012-03-10T16:17:57Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Went to Golden Corral once. Never again. It’s the kind of place who see “all you can eat” as some kind of challenge. If I shove enough steak down my throat it will muzzle the sound of my insides screaming for help. Is that unhealthy? ---
**Author:** ![jacobsta811](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jacobsta811/32/2893_2.png) [@jacobsta811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacobsta811)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-golden-corral-as-awful-as-it-seems-in-the-commercials/615306/48 "2012-03-10T16:28:39Z")
Golden Corral gets the thumbs down from me because you can neither get your own drink, nor do you get a large enough cup. I don’t know why they won’t let you get your own drinks, but I like to drink a lot and the cups are too small & the “servers” too inattentive to keep my cup full. So I don’t go there. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-golden-corral-as-awful-as-it-seems-in-the-commercials/615306/49 "2012-03-10T16:33:58Z")
It’s a buffet? I haven’t been to a Golden Corral since the late-'80s. At the time, IIRC, this is how it worked: You got into a cafeteria-style line to order a meal, then you went to your table and it was brought to you. There was a good salad bar, which was AYCE. Otherwise, you got what was on your plate. In short, it was like Sizzler but with better steaks. (The one I used to go to is now Crazy Otto’s secondary location.) EDIT: (I just looked, and Crazy Otto’s now has six locations. Not that it has anything to do with this thread.) . ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-golden-corral-as-awful-as-it-seems-in-the-commercials/615306/50 "2012-03-10T16:53:04Z")
I must defend the rolls. The rest is just normal edible restaurant food, but the rolls are great. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-golden-corral-as-awful-as-it-seems-in-the-commercials/615306/51 "2012-03-10T16:59:56Z")
> [@Lasciel](#): > > I was still nauseated by just about everything, and the ability to pay a fixed low price and then sit there for about three hours eating randomly selected bites of something that didn’t make me want to urp that particular day (and I never could figure out how to tell beforehand what would or wouldn’t) was totally worth it. Hey **Lasciel** , Golden Corral’s on the line, they’d like you to be their full-time spokesperson. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-golden-corral-as-awful-as-it-seems-in-the-commercials/615306/52 "2012-03-10T17:00:04Z")
> [@jacobsta811](#): > > Golden Corral gets the thumbs down from me because you can neither get your own drink, nor do you get a large enough cup. I don’t know why they won’t let you get your own drinks, but I like to drink a lot and the cups are too small & the “servers” too inattentive to keep my cup full. So I don’t go there. I’ve noticed that at a lot of AYCE places. I think it is so you will tip more since it gives the wait staff ‘something’ to do other than bus the tables when you are done. ---
**Author:** ![Tamex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Tamex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamex)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-golden-corral-as-awful-as-it-seems-in-the-commercials/615306/53 "2012-03-10T17:16:55Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > It’s a buffet? > > I haven’t been to a Golden Corral since the late-'80s. At the time, IIRC, this is how it worked: You got into a cafeteria-style line to order a meal, then you went to your table and it was brought to you. There was a good salad bar, which was AYCE. Otherwise, you got what was on your plate. In short, it was like Sizzler but with better steaks. > > (The one I used to go to is now Crazy Otto’s secondary location.) > > EDIT: (I just looked, and Crazy Otto’s now has six locations. Not that it has anything to do with this thread.) > > . That sounds more like Bonanza or Ponderosa. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-golden-corral-as-awful-as-it-seems-in-the-commercials/615306/54 "2012-03-10T17:25:24Z")
> [@Tamex](#): > > That sounds more like Bonanza or Ponderosa. We didn’t have those there. It was definitely Golden Corral. It was the first job for a friend of mine. He was inordinately proud of being ‘in charge’ of the ‘29-item salad bar’. I never knew it was a chain. Apparently the manager was a good one who treated his employees well. He’d give away free meals to the needy or those who had nowhere else to go at Thanksgiving. Is/was that a chain-wide thing? ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-golden-corral-as-awful-as-it-seems-in-the-commercials/615306/55 "2012-03-10T18:02:15Z")
They’re hit-or-miss. The one near me is fine (at least for breakfast, never been for lunch/dinner). The food isn’t scary, I’ve never seen lepers rubbing their ass in the biscuits but I have seen the staff throw away entire trays of food that might have had a dropped item put back in them. The one near my sister is apparently a hellhole; I once mentioned GC to her and she said she went once and it was terrible. I looked up the one near her online and it had uniformly terrible reviews. I will say about the one near me that you can get a piece of steak with breakfast that, while nothing to write to the culinary magazines about, isn’t worse than what I’ve been served at Applebee’s or Friday’s. I can’t speak for the Coke situation but we can get our own juice at our leisure and refill it as often as we’d like. The passion fruit juice is yummy. The waitress walks with the coffee. We originally went because we have a baby (now toddler) and the ability to be seated and get food immediately is a blessing. Plus one person can feed him while the other eats and switch off without someone’s omelet getting cold. But it’s really not that bad and actually in the realm of “perfectly acceptable for cheap breakfast”. Much better than the local Old Country Buffet – which just went out of business. ---
**Author:** ![2sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e47774/32.png) [@2sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2sense)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-golden-corral-as-awful-as-it-seems-in-the-commercials/615306/56 "2012-03-10T19:07:52Z")
Yeah it’s a buffet. If you don’t like buffets then you won’t like Golden Corral. We go every couple of months. The all you can eat steak is nice but the centerpiece for me is the pot roast. Potatoes and carrots soaked in the juice of tender roast beef. The small drink glasses are not a plus though. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-golden-corral-as-awful-as-it-seems-in-the-commercials/615306/57 "2012-03-10T19:20:07Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > There used to be an Old Country Buffet around here … The one in Crosstown Plaza? That’s closed now? ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-golden-corral-as-awful-as-it-seems-in-the-commercials/615306/58 "2012-03-10T19:37:13Z")
> [@Tamex](#): > > That sounds more like Bonanza or Ponderosa. Are those still around? My first job was at Bonanza. I still have nightmares about the codes violations we were forced to commit. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-golden-corral-as-awful-as-it-seems-in-the-commercials/615306/59 "2012-03-10T20:08:00Z")
There’s a GC in Lebanon, PA that’s not too bad. The food is edible and the individual pieces are small, so portion control was fairly easy. The behavior of my fellow customers was, on the other hand, atrocious. We ate there on a Saturday, fairly early in the afternoon but after the major lunch rush, so the place was busy but not horribly so. I saw a lot of people completely fill their plates, eat maybe half of it, and just leave the rest. It was so wasteful that I felt a little queasy. ---
**Author:** ![Tamex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Tamex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamex)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-golden-corral-as-awful-as-it-seems-in-the-commercials/615306/60 "2012-03-10T21:37:16Z")
> [@Batsinma\_Belfry](#): > > Are those still around? My first job was at Bonanza. I still have nightmares about the codes violations we were forced to commit. Looks like there are. Their website shows 4 locations (all Bonanzas, no Ponderosas) within 200 miles of me. Closest one is 55 miles. Don’t think I’ll be making the drive. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-golden-corral-as-awful-as-it-seems-in-the-commercials/615306.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-golden-corral-as-awful-as-it-seems-in-the-commercials/615306.md?page=4)