Well, when lunch time hits, as soon as the initial rush of students ends, I am heading down to Monument street and picking up lunch at Soho Teriyaki, where I can load up my plate with somewhat authentic Japanese food. I may not be Shark’s fin and chicken liver, but at least it is okonomiyaki and kimchi coated cabbage along with the usual chicken and beef dishes. Now, it is pay by weight and not all-you-can-eat, but it is fairly priced. Does anyone else have any authentic/semi-authentic buffets near them? Oh, and I mean authentic for whatever kind of food they serve, not just eastern style food.
I’ve got a Ryan’s nearby that serves the finest in authenic white trash cuisine. 
Notice the picture of the food on the plate in link I provided, I’ve never seen anything at this place look this good, I’d settle for looking like the picture 25% of the time, but that’s asking too much.
A couple of the local Chinese places are supposed to have really good buffets from what I’ve heard, but I haven’t tried them myself.
D. Pirahna
There is at least one Indian restaurant in town. The food is pretty good, but makes me sick the next day so I don’t eat there. The Korean buffet is closed and has been for a while and i’ve never checked up on the other one, but there are several chinese buffets here in town. There are also Thai, Greek, Caribbean, Tibetian and Turkish places to eat (at least, there are probably more too) but i’ve never been to them.
The only ones i’ve gone to are the chinese and indian buffets.
Near me we have:
Countless Indian Buffets - Most every indian restaurant serves buffet styly at lunch and there must be about 15 indian places within 8 miles of my house
3 sushi buffets - nothing but sushi. two are a standard go get it buffet and one is a sushi-
go-round style where the conveyor belt brings it past your table
Japanese buffet - well it’s kind of pan-asian. It’s part of a big chain called Todai
3 Chinese buffets - all of varying degrees of quality
One thing i have wonderd… why no mexican buffets?
Refried beans + unlimited servings = WMD? 
I’ve noticed this too. They have chinese, Indian, steakhouse, Korean & Sushi buffets but no mexican, no italian (excluding pizza) and no american (hot dogs, hamburgers, french fries) all you can eat buffets.
More responces than I expected, but so far a pirahna brother is the only one to post on topic. I know that buffets are everywhere, but only he has stated that his is authentic. Soooooo… Wesley Clark, does the chinese buffet have the usual bread sauce coated chicken, or does it have more exotic dishes? BurnMeUp, same question.
Re: Mexican, their are not buffets, but mexican resturants that sell out of trucks to construction workers, and they are sure authentic.
More responces than I expected, but so far a pirahna brother is the only one to post on topic. I know that buffets are everywhere, but only he has stated that his is authentic. Soooooo… Wesley Clark, does the chinese buffet have the usual bread sauce coated chicken, or does it have more exotic dishes? BurnMeUp, same question could you tell me.
Please?
Re: Mexican, their are not buffets, but mexican resturants that sell out of trucks to construction workers, and they are sure authentic.
Well I guess mine don’t count. The chinese buffet is run by black guys who wear FUBU clothes and the Korean restaurant is owned by Danny Devito and Jackie Chan.
I honestly don’t think i’ve ever seen a non-authentic ethnic restaurant in my life other than chain restaurants (ie taco bell). The indian and Chinese were authentic and all the employees were of that ethnic group and the food was actually ethnic in nature, I haven’t been to the others though.
As for the food at the Chinese restaurant, I don’t know for sure what constitutes authentic. They had various kinds of noodles, rolls and meats but they were mostly western favories (honey chicken, General Tsaos chicken, egg rolls, wontons, sweet & sour soup, etc). I think its still ethnic, its just a small selection of the most westernized foods they have. The indian restaurant was authentic though, I can’t remember all the foods but they were all new to me.
I was taken to a Chinese place in Bossier City LA (suburb of Sheveport) of all places, by some Mexican immagrants and was quite impressed by the selection that they had to offer. I think it all depends on who you know and where certain groups decide on where to start a business. Wheter it was authenic or not would have to be decided by actual Chinese people, but I was quite impressed compared to the offerings in say Chicago . . .
A place called the Jade Garden in a strip shopping center beside the Food Lion and pack&ship shop. Run by young Chinese couple with their preschool son lounging on the booths or running around in the aisles. All the Chinese fixings you want, including iced tea, for $5.08, including tax. Tipping optional for delivery of first beverage and silverware. Clean plate required (by state law) for refills. Fortune cookie and toothpick on the way out.
Or, Carolina BBQ, 400+ mainly blue collar seats and red/white checkered tablecloths in (all of) a big former supermarket. $6.99.
Well, I said Authentic/semi-authentic on the title, so what I guess I mean is a beffet whre you can get something like octopus, or at least one item of something else that is a common food item of the country of origin, but not commonly seen on a “Chinese” buffet. It sound like the last two posters have the idea. Another place in Maryland is http://www.purimoakrestaurant.com/, I can’t pronounce most of the things on the Menu, but sure enought, it is an all you can eat place, and it is not adjusted for Western tastes.
There’s plenty of good Polish buffets 'round these parts: Bobaks (on Archer near Cicero and in Burr Ridge), The Red Apple, and countless others I forget.
Indian Food: Anywhere on Devon Street. My current fave is the buffet at Tiffin.
Japanese: Todai in Schaumburg. Although the idea of a sushi/Japanese buffet scared me in principle, I was quite pleasantly surprised by the place.
Home Run Inn pizza on 31st Street has a decent Italian-American buffet during lunch.
There’s a fantastic Italian “market style” buffet restaurant in Overland Park, Kansas called Cinzetti’s. My dad, usually quite discerning when it comes to Italian food, absolutely loved the place. The selection is broad, the food very fresh – no glop sitting in steel tubs for hours like a Chinese buffet – and the atmosphere upscale. I’m surprised the concept hasn’t taken off elsewhere.
The seafood buffet at the Rio in Las Vegas also earns my thumbs up.
Where’s the ::thumbs up!:: smilies?
An on-topic post after so many days. :eek: Thank you. I should probaly contribute something here, but I can think of no more buffets I have been to that arn’t ameican style.