China Buffet

I’m surprised at all of the bad reviews… I really like this place. It’s exactly what I expect from a Chinese buffet… crab ragoons, lo mein and those ambiguous desserts. Mmmm… mmmm…pretty good.

How does one decide on how many stars to award? If I were to consider quality and value, China Buffet would squeak by with 1 star. If instead I wanted to indicate how good a restaurant is at giving you exactly what you should expect, I would have to go with 3, maybe 4, stars.
Seriously, be disappointed with the sad heaps of colorless, bland food wasting away under bad lighting if you must. Go ahead and be filled with indignation at the absurd price and would-​have-​killed-​Oscar-​Wilde décor. But keep in mind that dining at China Buffet requires two things: ravenous hunger and a little perspective. If this warning doesn’t get through to you, one look at the self-​loathing and helpless faces of your fellow diners will provide any additional convincing you may require.
This is the kind of restaurant you know you hate, but keep going back to because SOMETIMES what you’re really looking for is a dose of the familiar bad Chinese food of your youth and the inexplicable satisfaction that comes from being able to cut out the uncertain outcome involved with ordering from a menu and try everything with impunity. In other words: it’s Saturday morning, full sentences are beyond you, and you really just want to eat somewhere that your yoga pants/​flip-​flop/​bleary eyes combination will blend in that doesn’t involve waiting an hour in the company of dozens of post game day casualties.
It’s not good. It’s overpriced. You’ll feel terrible afterwards. But it’s China Buffet and during your most desperate and confused hunger, you’ll at least find comfort in predictability.
I’ll go with 2 stars. One for being a straight-​shooting example standard buffet dining and one for those fried chinese donut things. Those are always good.

This is among the worst offenders in the Chinese Buffet world. 99% of the food at this place is bad. Just not good, even a little bit. I would never recommend going to this place to anyone, almost.
The only reason this place get’s 2 stars is because of one, delicious, unlimited item. Crab Rangoons. I don’t know how most other places mess these little guys up so badly. You go to your GFS, you buy a 500 pound bag for $ 10 and you fry them until crispy. This place knows that is all it takes it does it to perfection. When I would go to this buffet with friends I would start my meal with one plate completely filled with the Crab Rangoons, and always leave somewhat pleased because of it.
So, if you are like me and Crab Rangoons are your favorite Chinese food, it is worth eating here. They are delicious and unlimited. Mmm

Wel, you get what you pay for, so I can’t complain about all-​you-​can eat for $ 6.00. Actually, I’m fond of China Buffet. Nobody seems to care how long you hang out, there’s a real diverse customer base. American, Asian, Russian, Polynesian, German. You name it, and you’ll run into them there. The food’s not great but it’s not that bad either. Better than I’d fix. I’ve got a jones for the Sweet and Sour soup. Even though I’ve had better, this is what I always head for. I also like the crab rangoon. In fact, I’ve had what is considered better crab rangoon, and, again, I prefer this.
This is place to go when your life is screwed up and you’re alone on Christmas day.

You get what you pay for, and for lunch, its discounted. Some old favorites, the crab with coconut, the dumplings, the wanton soup, the pepper steak. Plus the endless soda machine and the beer. Set aside an hour, bring a good friend, and just chill out with a few plates of Chinese.

Awful, just god awful. Dirty, smelly, inedible and sickening. As a youngster, I was dragged to go here by my parents. At first, I actually liked China Buffet as my tastebuds were not very mature. Honestly, the food initially tasted very good (12 years ago) and I could enjoy the ice cream machine in my youth. As my tastebuds matured a little bit and the sanitation started to go downhill fast, my relationship with China Buffet went downhill. My parents would have to drag me to eat there. Finally, when I was about 8 or 9, my families relationship came to an abrupt end with instances of food poisoning. Because of the food poisoning, I was left with stomach problems for a year that became so severe that I had to see a GI doctor.
After my divorce with China Buffet, I have heard disgusting stories. The health department has closed this place down for poor temperature control in the food. I also heard a story that a cook used the bathroom without washing his hands.
If you want to be introduced to such exotic bacteria such as salmonella or e coli, Clintonville China Buffet is the perfect place to go.

Inedible. Avoid avoid avoid! Greasy and bad and awful.

I live right across the street from this establishment. The day I moved to Columbus, I was overjoyed at the fact that Southern Clintonville almost has a Chinatown-​light twinge to it, what with three Asian markets and a Chinese Buffet all within 3 blocks of my apartment. However, it may be a blessing in disguise for my waistline that I was not at all impressed by China Buffet.
I tried China Buffet out within weeks of moving in and I have not gone back since. I will admit to being a little spoiled by some favorite Chinese buffets of the Northeast: I felt China Buffet’s selection was pretty small. They did not change the food often, and the lo mein noodles were pretty overdone.
For rating buffets it is important to take the following things into consideration, which I am rating on a 1 – 5 scale:
— Hotness of Food: 1
— Frequency of Changing Trays: 1
— Frequency of Drink Refills: 3
— Cleanliness of Buffet Area: 2
I have been to a better (albeit more expensive) buffet over on Henderson, which, despite requiring me to get into my car and drive five minutes besides taking a walk, has drawn me more often. Sorry China Buffet, but I have been able to withstand attending you even though I pass you by each day.

Look, this is not great food. That’s sort of like saying the Los Angeles Clippers are not a great basketball team. But it’s all you can eat, includes a drink and is six bucks. You cannot beat this deal.
And as «not great» as it may be, it’s also not terrible. The lo mein noodles are actually pretty yummy. The crab rangoon is edible, and if you want to pretend you went to Cici’s Pizza, they have cheese and pepperoni slices.
The soups are actually appetizing, and the fruit is at least fresh. There is an ice cream machine! The fish that they sometimes put out is absolutely disgusting. Don’t eat it. There are usually at least a few vegetarian or pescetarian friendly dishes, so there is a little something for everyone.
Plus, you can, like, camp out here for hours and just eat all day while you read a book. You won’t be the only person doing it.

I haven’t suffered quite as much at the hands of this restaurant as some folks ’round here apparently have, but it’s true that i regret my decision afterwards each time i’ve sidled up to their quantity-​over-​quality buffet. I resolved some time ago that i am not going back. The last couple of visits have only happened because a friend wanted to go there and i felt the need to be accommodating. You really cannot be sure what the hell these meats are, and the sauces are very sugary and fatty. Some of the food might taste alright as you consume it, but the sensation for me afterwards is that i’ve insulted my own body. i hate to be too brutal when it’s somebody’s living at stake, but this place simply must improve its quality to be acceptable.

In American, too much is always better than not enough. I think I read that motto on the back of a punk band’s t-​shirt at the Warped Tour when I was 15, but when you eat at a place like the Clintonville China Buffet, it seems fitting nonetheless. The food here is absolutely terrible, but hey, you can have as much as you’d like!
A few years back, I promised my girlfriend at the time that I would take here anywhere she wanted for dinner on her birthday, which happened during the Lent season that required her to give up any single thing of her choosing. She chose chicken. She then chose the China Buffet for our dinner date. Figure that one out and get back to me.
We both tried a slice of the heat-​lamp pizza they had as a peace-​offering for the unfortunate young child or two that gets dragged there by their parents on occasion, and it was the best piece of pizza I’ve ever had at a Chinese restaurant in my life. I ate one bite and threw it into the trash can. We then moved on to some sort of Hunan beef concoction, but it bared too strong of a resemblance to grade school cafeteria salisbury steak, so I skipped it and had the peanut chicken. By the time we made it to the end of the line, my plate was bursting its britches with a greasy glob of chicken and vegetables in a brown syrup. My girlfriends plate had nothing on it but the Hunan beef and a lowly shrimp egg roll, apparently the last one they had left on the buffet counter. She looked like she was on the verge of tears.
I managed to put down about half of the contents of my plate before my stomach became ornery after putting it through such torture, but my girlfriend wasn’t quite as lucky. She ate fought with her egg roll for ten minutes until giving up, after which she had three bites of the Hunan beef. I tried a piece in an attempt to brighten her spirits, but my stomach was clearly not happy with my decision. To avoid causing a scene, I quickly left a 20 on the table and motioned to the door.
Lucky for us, there was a CVS pharmacy right around the corner with all the Maalox we’d ever need, and a KFC right next door with all the mashed potatoes and gravy we’d ever need to drown the pile of sadness we had just consumed.
Do not eat here.

I’ll start the positives: the place has a wide selection, including a couple standard western items like pizza for the non-​asian food liking person who gets dragged along. There’s plenty of seating and most of the food is decent for crap fast food grade chinese. However, it is almost uniformly old and a little dried out from the heat lamps, and a fair minority (perhaps 20%) of the food is just slimy, fatty, or otherwise gross. Really only worth you time if you’re desparate and somehow can’t get the five minutes further north on high street to China Garden