Meh. We used to go to a local one about once a month, what with some coupons. I used to like to go, and take my time, read a book, make lunch last two hours.
Recently I went twice like a month before the Virus hit.
Sad. Hardly anything that tempted me. It had gone downhill quite a bit. So the virus just finished them off- they were already pining for the fjords.
When I first got to Los Angeles, The Soup Exchange was the standard. Fantastic!! Then they closed and were replaced by Fresh Choice. Everything looked better but did not taste as good.
Then there was Souplantation. It was the last full salad bar. (If you try to bring up Sizzler’s salad bar, I will spit in your general direction)
It was there a long time and the quality was consistent. And dammit, sometimes you just need a big salad and no one can assemble one better than me!
I have missed it for a while. I moved out of L.A. for Sacramento, and there are no salad bars. (Again, do not try to bring up Sizzler!!)
When I first got to Los Angeles, The Soup Exchange was the standard. Fantastic!! Then they closed and were replaced by Fresh Choice. Everything looked better but did not taste as good.
Then there was Souplantation. It was the last full salad bar. (If you try to bring up Sizzler’s salad bar, I will spit in your general direction)
It was there a long time and the quality was consistent. And dammit, sometimes you just need a big salad and no one can assemble one better than me!
I have missed it for a while. I moved out of L.A. for Sacramento, and there are no salad bars. (Again, do not try to bring up Sizzler!!)
There’s one in Santa Clara, in the Mercado center off 101. Dunno if it’s still there–I’ve never eaten there.
nmn
Drat. When I craved a salad for lunch, that was my go-to place. I’ll miss it.
I wont exactly tout the merits of Golden Corral, but every single time I’ve been there the place has been so packed the food never had an opportunity to get old.
Did you try any of the salads or vegetables?
During those years of going when I visited my parents (because Dad liked it), I invariably found the meats and starches were okay, but anything with non-starchy vegetable matter tasted pretty “last week.” Ick.
I don’t mean to insult the typical Golden Corral clientele, but I have a feeling they’re not exactly fans of salad. So that stuff gets put out night after night after night…
Last time I went, I was unimpressed.
I’ve never been crazy about Golden Corral; the one reason I’d go there was for steak, but the last time I went, the “steak bar” was in fact a man in chef whites carving slices off a rather fatty roast, and referring to said slices as “steaks.”
There used to be a chain called Fire Mountain which had a decent buffet, but no steak bar. Haven’t seen one in years.
And now, I’m durned if I could tell you where I could build a decent salad in these parts. I weep.
Golden Corral is the Walmart of restaurants.
Golden Corral is the “buying thawed shrimp out of the trunk of an 85 Dodge” of restaurants.
Called it. Golden Corral is re-opening with cafeteria-style service.
So in Vegas we have a wide variety of really awesome buffets. Now - I’m sure you know about the super fancy ones on the strip that are $60 per person and serve high end food. But that’s not the only option. They go all the way down to little locals casinos which will have buffets that cost $6 for breakfast or $10 for dinner. And they’re good, too. Way higher quality than a Hometown Buffet or Golden Corral. And there are a ton of them.
So a few years ago they were constructing a golden corral near me, and I thought “how in the world can that place get any customers when there are 5 better and cheaper buffets within 10 minutes?”
Then they were open. They were absolutely fucking packed for months. People would wait in line to go to a fucking GOLDEN CORRAL when there were a ton of better options that were cheaper. Even now, that place gets really full. I have no explanation for it.
Transplants familiar with the name?
Someone wanting to avoid a casino?
Easier parking?
Is the Golden Corral smoke free? Is the local casino restaurant smoke free? Even if so, is it enforced or a wink and nod to old timers who will still light up?
A few years ago on my way to Burning Man my Suburban lost its coolant on US-95 halfway between Las Vegas and Beatty. Since I couldn’t give an address in Beatty the AAA tow driver’s best option was to take me to the nearest AAA garage (luckily the Chevrolet dealer) in Pahrump (Hi, Art Bell). It being evening already, on the way there I fussed about finding a place to stay that night. “I’ll drop you off at the Nugget,” he said. “They always have vacancies in the middle of the week.”
“I swear there’s a state law that every town of 500 or more must have a ‘Nugget’ in it some place.”
He laughed and said, “Yeah, and most of them’re pretty crummy, but this one’s all right, except for the buffet – don’t eat at the buffet.”
Yeah, smoke free could be it, as even walking thru a casino to get the the buffet means I have to wash my clothes and hair afterwards. IIRC Most restaurants in casinos are smoke free but there are smokers just a few feet away.
I went to a CA Indian casino for the food- talked to the management. Yes the restaurants were non-smoking and they had about 1/10 of the casino smoke free. I was kinda surprised as CA is only 10% smokers, but they said the non-smoking area wasnt used much, that nearly everyone smoked. I guess addictive behaviours go together. Most gamblers were older, more than 3/4 were women.