Golden Corral

First off when got there and everything was old. You could see it. And they were just stirring to hide the dark colored food. Secondly there was hair in my food. Third one of the ladies was talking crap in Spanish when I completely understood every word she was saying as I stood there starring at her. Told the manager and he did go towards the direction but who knows. You wanna talk shit ok but go behind the wall and not in front of the person. Geesh.

One reviewer indicates that this location is closed. I can assure you that it is not. I went there with my wife yesterday and in all honesty the food quality was what we expect from this type of an establishment. If we want prime food there are other places to try, but dollar for dollar this is not bad.

I’m not really a Buffett person because of the amount of scumbags that come to them but my kids like the variety. I really liked and would come back for the pot roast and real mashed potatoes and the fried chicken is better than kfc. The steak is good if you can get it well done. The washroom makes them lose one star. The Mexicans not watching their kids running around like its a chuck e cheese was really annoying. Management should make them leave if they can’t control them it’s a restaurant not a zoo. I saw four of them sticking their filthy hands in the chocolate fountain and told a worker. They had to tear the whole thing down but did nothing to the parents not watching their kids. I would have told them to leave. Kids should not be allowed unless they are at least 10 to go by food. Employees should enforce the running around kids too. Place was out of control with little kids running everywhere touching everything.

Absolutely disgusting! Food is terrible, dishes and silverware are almost all dirty and even the restrooms were so bad I had to walk out due to a strange smell (not coming from a stall). I wouldn’t return if I were paid to eat there!

2 star only because my kids like coming here. Cashiers and the drink prep are usually the friendliest, Servers here have no kind of service manners, Food is usually over cooked, we have to Literally sit around until a new fresh batch comes out, Btw your Steak cook is horrible! Never been here once when we have a good experience with the steak cook. I ask for med he gives me rare I ask for well done he says there is none, he can stressful day it’ll be 10 min ect… The only… only reason i continue to come is by my kids request they love the fruit bar, ice cream and desserts.

I choose one star because I don’t have an option to choose zero. We were there Saturday night 3÷7÷15. We sat in Jasmine’s section and Jasmine’s way of cleaning tables was to stack all the dirty plates on one of the back tables and her and her friend (?) would scrape them in the dining room into the slop bucket in the dining area and then stack them almost 2 foot high by color. Everywhere you looked there were dirty plates. It was disgusting!!!
Lots of people were asking for silverware (all dirty and piled up too on a tray at the back table). Had to ask repeatedly for our drink refills…
Needless to say we quickly lost our appetites!
I would have complained at the time to a manager but being almost to the point of being physically ill, We decided to go home.

$ 30 for 2 people. Way overpriced. The lady walked us to a dirty table and wiped it down for us to sit next to a bunch of other dirty tables. We traveled all the way from chicago so we figured lets give it a try. We then sat and watched the disgusted faces of other people that walked in. Our server Jesse was polite, but my wife overheard another girl screaming… «They cheap! Nothin but cheap muthaf******s come here!» The food was good on a positive note… Never again.

Kids like it for the deserts, husband likes it for the steak, I like it for the salad. Its a win win. The quality isnt the best but we all leave full and pretty happy =)

Don’t get fooled by those happy succulent commercials. A family of 4 w/​2 kids still costs $ 42 and the quality of meats is pretty sketchy.
I don’t get why dinks is not all-​u-​can-​drink and the cup of coffee is not self serve.
Oh well, you live and learn. Not coming back.

When you roll up to the Golden Corral, it occupies a large corner of a strip mall that looks like a ghost town. And though this might not be my first, second, or third choice for eats, there were some positives, to go along with the negatives, at this exceptionally large international style buffet.
A friend selected this spot so we could «munch» as we discussed work. Our group of 4 soon realized that at peak time, Golden Corral is more entertaining, in terms of people watching, than it is a place to be in work mode.
After forking over bucks to eat until we dropped, we were offered beverage choices, and although several of the iced teas sounded wonderful only one was available. We were ushered to our table, conveniently located smack dab next to the selections of colorful plastic plates and utensils.
It definitely takes awhile to peruse the choices when you actually hit the buffet line; and height dependent, some folks were underneath all protective barriers when scooping up food. Hmmm. Was it my imagination or did I really see one, make that two, okay three really cute kids select plates and put forks back in the containers after they had hit the all purpose rug.
Choose wisely. Many options are cooked to order; that appealed to me. And many of the items were easy to label as super fresh due to massively high turn over.
The staff behind the barriers as well as those continuously removing used plates were not only friendly, but efficient, and several made a point of providing brand spanking new portions if anyone’s lower lip quivered in sadness; IE. the super great cinnamon bread pudding.
My meal was tasty and hot; and my salad was fresh. Though I didn’t venture off to far in buffet-​land, I was able to discover some awesome garlic and herb biscuits that melted in my mouth. The dessert section was interesting; they have quite a few sugar free options (look for that blue handled serving spoon), as well as a fountain of chocolate.
The appeal here is no doubt for families; and the place was packed. Kudos to the serving staff, but maybe it is literally too tough to corral the hygiene factor when feeding the hungry masses. Still, a great value with a lot of choices

I don’t think ill ever be back. Food has always been just… eeh! Decent deserts. Good staff, always very friendly and attentive. What really turned me off was the bathrooms. Just disgusting. I always figured if they cant keep the facilities clean, the kitchen is probably not much better. Also dinner is a pricey for what you get. Not impressed at all. Beware!

I was shocked when she told me that it was $ 27.45 for my 13 yr old son, and myself. Seems pricy. Very polite staff. Ample parking. I have to say this again, the staff (Veronica) did an excellent job of keeping our drinks filled, coffee hot (which was good), and our table clean. Wide variety of food, including Chinese & Mexican. Much better Salad bar than OCB. The dessert bar even has a running Chocolate Fountain! Did I say the coffee was good too? I give 4 stars, would have been 5 except for price. I’d come back.

Great NASCAR supporter, but cleanliness my concern … food was cafeteria fare and tasteless. Expect to be grossed out by some patrons coughing and sneezing next to food buffet bar. Holding 2 plates does not allow them to cover their mouths. Not trying to sound snooty but come on…

Off all the Golden Corral, this is one of the Mediocre ones… This is what you say you paid cheap for cheap food. Everything tastes bland. Soup was missing flavor. Asian dishes? Come on!!! Pork Steak, hard and over cooked…
Our server? Looked irritated that she was working that day, never even bother to check if we still have drinks.
Bad food and bad service… You should take it from the GC ALGONQUIN. Manager is in the storefront making sure everything is filled up and customers don’t wait. Where servers really take care of customers…

4 stars because it’s fairly good value. $ 20 dinner for 2 on Mon-​Thu, lunch priced at $ 7 – 8 (ends at 4pm). Nice salad bar and desserts. Usually like their steaks. Awesome onion rings. They have 3 – 4 types of soups. Really like their banana pudding thing the best. More variety than what Old Country Buffet offers. Better value than Sweet Tomatoes. They also have soft serve ice cream, ribs, cotton candy, a chocolate fountain, a variety of fruit.
EDIT May 2013 — I’m downgrading it to 2 stars because I came here on a weekend for dinner. It was during their wings promotion and was priced at $ 11something/​person. I would’ve been okay with the price, except that the wings were poor in taste and selection. They were frequently out of their non-​original flavors and the sauces weren’t good at all, generally overly sweet and artificial. After that experience, both of us agreed that Golden Corral wasn’t for us anymore. The onion rings were still my favorite though haha.
EDIT June 2013 — 4 stars only for the brunch.
I was extremely against going here again after my lackluster dinner experience during their wings promotion, but I was outvoted. I’m glad I gave Golden Corral another shot because it turned out to be a great local breakfast option mainly because of their massive, made-​to-​order omelettes and their fruit/​salad spread. You can select the ingredients that you want in your omelette, and it’s made right in front of you, ready in a few minutes. Love their fruit & salad bar, a ton of variety. Our waitress was very friendly and attentive, so we usually try to sit at one of her tables :)
The price was under $ 9/​person, free drinks before a certain time (I forgot when exactly).

Of all the Golden Corrals I have been to, this is my favorite one. They serve Horchata which is delicious. The food is great and I usually drive up from Chicago when I am with a group of friends just to eat something different. I prefer this place over Old Country Buffet.

My husband and I decided to give the Golden Corral a try after seeing all the ads on TV.
First thing that they did was assign us a server — what do we need a server at a buffet for? To refill drinks because GC opted not to put a soda fountain on the floor where you can refill your own drinks. The server assigned to our table did not refill our drinks once, I had to get up and go over to the cashier to ask for a refill (which he made me wait 5 minutes to get). The server then had the nerve to give us a nasty look when she saw we did not leave a tip.
At first we were exicted to try all of the food since there was a large variety. Between my husband and I, we tried just about everything available. It was all cold, dry, and disgusting. The only things that tasted even remotely good were the mashed potatoes and the salad (because honestly, how could you mess up a salad?). Everything, and I mean everything, else was cold. The dessert bar was terrible. I just about cracked a tooth on a rice krispie treat and the cake was so dried out that it was inedible. The orange chicken looked like the food I feed my dog, the rice was cold and hard, and the ribs were all fat. It was really terrible food, my husband and I left feeling sick.
I would never waste my money here again. I would rather just cook than go back to the Golden Corral.

Restaurant Review
Steak and a chocolate fountain, what more can you ask for! Although in the ads, the buffet looks amazing; the actual quality of the food is quite average. If you go during peak times be prepared to line up the in the «corral» for seating. You are greeted with large grills with large sirloin or flank steak upon entering the buffet. Along the side if the custom seafood station where you can get «crab cakes» (mostly filling with small piece of crab meat), shrimp scampi with noodles, or white fish. The fish is not bad, but your typical white fish cooked by skillet with seasoning. The steak is notably tough and resembles large flank steak that have been marinated to soften the roughness of the meat. Scattered throughout the buffet is multiple food items including yeast rolls (amazing with the honey butter), veggies (corn, carrots, etc.), asian stir fry, salad bar, ribs, pizza, etc. There is slightly larger selection than Old Country. Wrapping up your meal the chocolate fountain with rice crispies, marshmallow, macaroons, and pineapple was a real treat. The soft serve was below Mcd quality. Overall the place is clean compared to other Golden Corral. Wait staff is hard working and the table was always cleared of dirty plates.
Pro– wide selection of food including flank steak, comfort foods, large selection compared to OCB
Con– average quality food, tough steak, drinks not included
Hidden deal– Weekday dinner deal 2 for 20, saves about a dollar per person

Wow, THE WORST BUFFET EXPERIENCE EVER!
I enjoy going to a buffet, whether it’s a Chinese or American.
But this one, Golden Corral in Elgin, I feel bad for giving even a one star to this restaurant.
All of the staff members there were Mexicans.
This means several things.
1. The owner is very concerned about saving costs
2. The food quality would most likely be sacrificed. (In my opinion, Mexicans have work ethics in general. However, they aren’t necessarily a good cook for sure.)
This was my first time eating at Golden Corral, and I had some sort of expectation because I heard that they have good food.
Totally not.
I walked in to the restaurant yesterday, (Friday), around 12:30 p.m.
The restaurant was huge but there were only several groups of people. I thought the whole large dining area was reserved for a party or something, but NO. I just sat there by myself.
None of the food I tried tasted fresh and good.
The french fries were not crispy but soggy. (How can you mess French Fries? Come on…)
The pasta noodle was also soggy.
Mac and Cheese, ehh. Whatever.
Burger Slider, the bread and meat was tough, and tasted like it was made like an hour ago.
Lettuce was turning red, which means it’s not fresh.
And you call those trash-​looking foods (They call it Sweet and Sour pork, Almond Chicken, etc) Asian Food? God, you should be ashamed.
I’m an Asian who spent 20 years living in South Korea, and I know what I’m talking about.
The Almond Chicken was salty and tasted like nothing.
Sweet and Sour pork, the way the pork was fried just looked gross.
All of the Asian foods tasted like they were made several hours ago. Not warm enough either.
Some cheap sloppy Chinese buffet near my house didn’t even cook Asian food the way Golden Corral (at this location) did.
It was nice to have an option of «Asian» food I guess, but I was expecting maybe somewhere close to Panda Express, which isn’t necessarily a good Asian food restaurant.
Finally, for those of you who left good or positive reviews here, you SHOULD BE ashamed too.
The food was terrible, and I’m not even sure they use some crappy out dated ingredients or so.
I literally finished my eating in 10 minutes.
If I go to a buffet I usually grab 5~7 plates. (I’m a huge eater).
But the foods at this restaurant just made me feel gross and want to get out of there asap.
Left a tip just because the Spanish speaking server was very nice.
I don’t know guys. I’m not picky about buffet at all. And maybe just this location sucks.
Anyway, I won’t go back to this location for sure, and I won’t recommend this location to anyone at all.
Stay away from it please, for your and your families and friends’ health.

We don’t do the buffet thing often, but when we do, we usually go to this Golden Corral. The staff is friendly, the food is fresh and the desserts are plentiful. The price is right for a meal in which everyone can find something that they want. My son likes it because he can have Chinese and pizza all on the same plate. My husband likes it because he can have Chinese and a salad. I am a fan of the wide variety of side dishes. For price and variety, we will probably be back.