Lok Tao Chinese Restaurant

Posthumously
I walked right in on July 3^rd for lunch and realized I was no longer at Lok Tao. I first discovered the place when I moved into the Neighborhood in 2000, it took me a long time to unpack and so I ate there every night for several weeks. Much as I love to cook, I still ate there about once a week. I also took my friends, who initially would turn their noses at a buffet but came around when they ate the food.
I moved out of the neighborhood in 2004, but still ate there when I was in the neighborhood usually driving through to Hwy 4 (that and shop at Fry’s), so it got down to 3 – 4 times a year but the lady at the desk recognized me — said how long had it been since I been there, acknowledged if I brought a date, a friend, or a relative.
As the others said, it was really the food. Other larger buffets opened up in the same mall and they survived all these years. Like me I hope people knew it was better to be at a small buffet that served good choice dishes than a large buffet that served all mediocre ones.
Get there early for lunch and you get the teriyaki wings, you almost had to fight people for the Garlic Green Beans (no other restaurant has ever had them), and the Chow Fun was great, even if it one the steam table for a while. I also loved the won ton and the fried chicken wings — among others.
Their bathroom has been besieged by vandals and taggers and I admire the way they kept it up.
I wish I wrote this review earlier, if they are reading they can know what I thought of them.
Oh that day I went to the other buffet at the other end of the Mall. I give it the same 2 stars I gave them when I first ate there when it opened.
I will miss Lok Tao

Woe is me!!! Went for lunch the other day and it is no longer there. It was my favorite place to eat and I’ve been going there for some time. The lady owner and wonderful waitress were always pleasant and with a smile. My only disappointment is that they did not say one word about closing. So many loyal customers, they could have at least let us know they were going to close. We wish them all the best, including the beautiful Koi with the fancy tail. Alan and Ken

With a Heavy Heart we had to say good bye to our Lok Tao and Kim and Amy. Tonight was their last night in business. We always enjoyed the great tasting food over any of the other area buffets and the two main ladies watched my kids both grow up. It makes us so sad that they will be gone and our prayers and thoughts go with them on what the future may hold. We will miss you.

There is a reason this restaurant has survived despite the onslaught of nearby mega competition a la … Buffet City and Great Wall. The answer has to be loyal, satisfied customers who appreciate, as another recent reviewer noted, quality over quantity. While I enjoy the great variety of the larger buffets I ALSO return here. For me there are two major reason, one not mentioned by others. Lok Tao has the best Chow Fun hands down. Until recently I never even saw Chow Fun at the larger venues. Even now, Lok Tao’s Chow Fun, one of their signature dishes, has the lightest best tasting noodles. Yes, too much oil and not enough steak BUT still the best tasting buffet Chow Fun to be found.
The lovely, older owner, always has a big smile and greeting despite the fact she sees me only once every couple of months or longer. Next, Chinese BBQ ribs. No other buffet offers genuine Chinese ribs and Lok Tao finishes them off with an awesome sauce, maybe plum sauce. Also their monster lunching teryaki wings and soups are also thumbs up.
Several time, when I have arrived for take-​out, even though there was just enough Chow Fun for my order, the owner has told me to wait five minutes as she has the cook bring out fresh hot off the stir fry pan batch of Chow Fun.
Some have had negative experiences. In general, there is no buffet eatery that does not have lots of negative reviews for all sorts of buffet related things. For me the owner and staff have always been more then courteous and as I have said this small restaurant has stood the test of time despite the huge, nearby competition. This is bolstered by UnilocalS overall high rating.

Consider this place quality over quantity in the buffet world. Good service and lunch is under 8 dollars — for that you can have the egg drop soup, pot stickers and good selection of veggies. Green beans in garlic sauce, mushrooms and chow fun. nuff said.
Dinner has even more but stick to the crab ran goons and the salt and pepper fish. Remember you get what you pay for and this place takes pride in their food.

i went here last nite had to plates of food & to glasses of water i all ways like the food till last nite win i went to pay my bill the casher was like no tip you leve tip pleas she beged me for a tip i was like wow i eat here to times a munth & i all ways tip but the 1 time i forget to leve 1 i get beged for 1 wtf i will never eat ther a gen… no stars

This place offers quick tasty inexpensive/​cheap Chinese food! Nothing more. Nothing less! This place is not a fancy restaurant, nor is it anywhere close to a five star restaurant, so order your food to go. You get a good amount of food for what you pay!

Horrible atmosphere. Food was cold and nothing left at 3pm… dishes were dirty. Nothing was replaced. I am never coming back. Not worth it for even the cheap price.

Bad service I came here to eat they nearly kicked us out after our second plate it’s like I didn’t even eat much at all then when I paid she ask for a tip after there bad service I found a hair on my plate that really piss me off so beware of how they cook there food the restrooms are nasty a real big dump I rate this a negative zero !!!

Amazing take-​out. I always call in my orders and they are always ready when they say they will be. Never tried the buffet but there are always chefs refilling the food and constant customers in and out of the place. This is an amazing hole in the wall spot in the heart of central concord. Its the only chinese place I patronize in the city.

Try the amazing hot and sour soup! Been coming here for many years and really love the food. Staff is friendly and always take care of drink refills. We will contunue to come here every Friday night!

For $ 7.95 on a Saturday, here is what we got to eat at Lok Tao. NOTHING
There was 10 – 15 trays of food trays with left over scrap and juice where the cook should refill to keep customers happy. We waited 10 minutes, no new food and there were at least 10 new customers walking in trying to eat good food. Then, a lady rush the cook to fill up the trays, customers are waiting. She told the cook which trays to fill up the food, which one don’t fill up. By the time 5 people went up, all those limited food were gone. While I waited hoping for some food to come out, I saw that same lady watching the customers back just to see how much food they get so she can control the food, how much food each person eats and earn the $ 7.95 basically telling you to come for one plate with a drink and leave.
I wanted to snap a few good pictures for all Unilocaler to see the All You Can’t Eat service that day, the lady I mention above keep watching.
I stay for a hour hoping for some new food, other customers just leave after a plate of leftover on all trays nothing new.

I’ve been going here once in a while since I was a kid. Their food options aren’t too expansive and they vary from time to time. I do not like how it seems Chinese buffets soak all of their vegetables and meats in oil. However, this place offers a salad bar with raw vegetables and fruit that you can be sure are not tainted with excess fat. They also have a little sushi bar which is high in quality as far as Chinese buffets go. They only leave out a few so they are consistently rolling new ones to put out. Keeps them fresh. I’d skip the dessert bar. Oreos and the like are not worth the extra calories being they are not really desserts.
I like this place for it’s fresher options and sushi. It’s also pretty inexpensive for lunch.

For a low cost Chinese buffet this place was great! They were very nice to my young daughter and I. Food was good and fresh. Not crowded at all. No its not a 5 star facy resturant but for what it is it’d great! Ill be back. Actually think we are gonna go right now!

Good food and decent sushi. The staff are very friendly. I recommend this place!

So when I walked in around 530 I was suprised I was all alone inside the buffet. I posted a picture to facebook and one of my friends laughed and called me brave to eat at a buffet that nobody else is eating at. Hmmm, I hadn’t thought about it like that. I enjoyed the emptiness though. I don’t like other people watching me when I eat. Especially when I eat buffet. I like wearing elastic banded pants, getting all cozy in a corner with my eyes facing the food, and starting off slowly for what could turn into hours of eating. Okay, maybe only one hour, but a solid hour for sure. I’m an eater!!!
There are much worse ways I could spend $ 12, but I was a little disappointed with the selection here. China Wall on the other side of this shopping plaza has a much bigger selection. I really like their food too. The food here wasn’t bad, but I would pick China Wall over this place if I had to do it over.
Sadly, my favorite item was the garlic green beans. I do love veggies but I was hoping for more seafood on their menu. Some sashimi or better roll selection, or honey walnut style prawns. The garlic beans were amazing though. Even better than I make at home and I don’t know how that’s possible. I thought mine were the best. They use more garlic than me and had a delicious sauce. I also enjoyed some oysters but they weren’t fresh tasting when I had the first one (though, it must be hard to keep oysters tasting fresh on a buffet line) so that’s not their fault.
One other family came in the entire time I was in there. The two adults and two children left before I did.
I enjoyed an ice cream from a soft serve machine with toppings, and that finished off my meal correct.
Service was good overall, though, my drink was empty for several minutes (which is inexcusable when I’m the only patron) but the lady working was very nice (didn’t say much, but smiled often, and that’s good).

I grew up going to this place. I have fond memories of coming here after minimum days at school to grab lunch. I remember back then, it was a great deal for an all-​you-​can-​eat lunch. I came here recently after many years, and it has fallen off considerably from the glory I used to know.
Selection was limited.
I don’t remember back then the packaged oreo cookies and the other weak excuses for desserts. Gross.
NO MORE ONION PANCAKES??? COME ON.
The only decent things were the sushi and the spicy won ton soup.
I’m going to steer clear next time.

Ok, yes it’s a buffet. But as buffets go this ones pretty good. The food is consistent, the service is friendly and the price is low. They offer a good selection of dishes-​we particularly like the green beans. They offer a to go lunch special-​4 items only $ 6.50 which is perfect for those short, eat at your desk lunch days.
Not gourmet, but a good value. Give them a try.

Review #100! Whoo hoo!
In celebration of my recent Unilocal milestone, I’ve decided to review a place that I’ve been coming to for over a decade, Lok Tao chinese buffet.
Now, I can say that this place hasn’t changed since I started coming here in the 90’s… neither has the food! Its consistent quality has been bringing regulars like me back over and over again. For those that can’t find this place, its just behind mcdonalds in park n shop.
Prices are good, 10.95 per person (plus drinks) for the dinner buffet. Sushi is pretty good for a buffet place too, although you really wanna hit the chow fun, mongolian beef, and the spicy wontons. I’m also a fan of the spare ribs too.
Is this a fancy place? No way! But if you want an awesome chinese buffet that’s cheaper than anywhere else around, this is the spot.

I eat here once or twice a year when I visit a friend in the east bay who loves this place. It’s tucked in the corner of a strip mall near a McDonald’s.
Came last month, and the food is still consistent. For the money, it’s a decent lunch buffet. Love the fried chicken wings, and the dry fried string beans.
What’s nice about this place is that they only cook so much of each food item. The cook is always coming out of the kitchen to take a look to see what should be replenished, and then restocks it. That way the food tends to stay hot.
Yes, I agree. Skip the sushi offering.