South Bay Buffet

I come to this place solely for their boiled crab (whole)
Anyone knows a spot that offers the same thing? Thank you!

I can’t believe this place finally closed. Their food was disappointing and bland. It’s sad yet another locally owned restaurant has closed down wish this family owned business had a fighting chance.
I still can’t believe my dad used to buy their food all the time worst rolls and fish ever. Blegh

Even as I slouch ever so lazily on my couch, rubbing my bubbling tummy, thoughts of the latest version of Chinese buffet food strolls through my mind– and my intestines.
The place is huge. Very spacious, you don’t feel like the next table is going to sit on your lap, or afraid to scoot your chair out. Our waiter was very attentive to our needs. We never ran out of drinks and our plates never stacked up on the table. The bathroom was surprisingly clean and spacious as well. So… all in all, one star goes to the comfort that welcomes you here, and the other goes to great service.
FOOD!!! I personally liked it. It wasn’t the best that I have had but neither was it the worst. They did have a Mongolian BBQ section that was awesome. You got to choose from chicken, beef, lamb and shrimp; also an assortment of veggies, fruit, and a sauce bar. The cook at the station worked fast but was very thorough. I wasn’t scared that the food was under cooked plus, it was oozing with flavor.
On the buffet line was a generous amount of choices to feast on. The usual Chinese food, pizza, garlic bread, frog legs, chicken wings, ribs, salad bar, sushi bar ect. My favorite was the Hawaiian Chicken. It was unique and frekin awesome. I ate it with fried rice and stuffed crab and cream cheese pockets. It was literally the highlight of the whole trip there lol! I kno… pathetic! Anyways, moving on… they even had cheese sticks! Thought that was cool. I was a little disappointed with the desert selection. They didn’t have almond cookies! Like really? Never been to a china buffet that didn’t have almond cookies, big let down there! But, the soft serve ice cream was bomb diggidy! So much so because they had a mango flavored ice cream on the other side of the machine. .and, if you push down the middle lever you get both vanilla and mango!!! Say WHAT!!! :-)! Plus, their little sugar donuts were fresh and hot and more cinnamony then the usual ones every where else. So, well… there goes another star.
The forth and final star went to the price. Before we came here we were driving all over the place Unilocaling different buffets that were in the area. Most of all of them were out of our price range. We were starving and close to broke… shoot, we almost ended up at jack in the crack. On a Sunday, which we buffet goers all know is dinner price all day, was very reasonable. Dinner and drinks were about 13 bucks each. Not bad. Our total bill came out to $ 72 bucks for 5 adults. Love it! Only down fall about this whole review was that my phone died way too early and I only got one picture. .of sushi :-(next time more pictures, promise!!!

Had not been there for a long time. This place started several years ago as King Palace Buffet and was very good. Then it closed and after some time it re-​opened as South Bay Buffet. Went there and never went back. That should tell you enough.
We got the Best Buys booklet in the mail and in the back was a full page ad for South Bay Buffet. There were coupons and most importantly the comment «Under New Management.»
We arrived at about 6:45 and were promptly greeted at the front door. The young man introduced himself as the new manger and promptly showed us to a seat. There was one server that brought us our water. She was going to take our coupon but the manager said to keep it for next time. (Nice).
Went to the sushi station and saw many different variations of: California Roll” that appeared to have been there for some time. Passed.
Went to the Mongolian Station and there were many choices of vegetables, shrimp (still frozen) sliced beef also frozen and chicken? frozen too. Passed on the Mongolian.
We were shown boiled stone crabs and were told they were delivered that morning. Took one and went to our table. That crab may have been delivered that morning but it tasted like it had been dead longer than that.
We then tried the pepper beef, pepper chicken, coconut shrimp, beef roll, stuffed shrimp, stuffed sawi and grilled (burned) pork chop and fried rice. It all tasted the same. Sweet/​salty and barely warm except for the fried rice and it just tasted dry.
For dessert we had flan (don’t know how old so didn’t finish it) Apple pie that was very good and vanilla soft serve.
For two adults our bill for dinner was $ 21.76 with the coupon. A vey expensive piece of pie.
Would we return? Only at gunpoint. Save your money, go to McDonalds or Jack-​in-​the Box or anywhere else. Keep your money in your pocket and have a serving of Cup Noodles.

Driving down PCH towards the neighborhoods of San Pedro, Lomita, and Carson, there weren’t many choices for food. At the intersection of Normandie and PCH, I was faced with two options — antojitos at a strip mall or South Bay Buffet. I decided on the latter since I was starving.
TERRIBLE CHOICE.
South Bay Buffet served one of the worst lunch buffets I’ve ever had. Although I wasn’t expecting much before stepping in, I left disappointed. I’ve eaten numerous Chinese buffets in LA before but the food was never as salty or oily as those at South Bay Buffet. Variety is the only strength I see at South Bay Buffet, with over 30 choices at steam tables.
Most of the dishes were in the Americanized-​Chinese category as expected (string bean chicken, black pepper chicken, teriyaki chicken, egg drop soup, etc.) with Mexican snacks on the side (churros and a «beef filling taco»). Their «taco» was a creative mutation of Chinese green onion pancake stuffed with beef/​chicken and cheese.
Previous reviews have raved about the crab legs but they were not available during lunch. The best seafood available during lunch were clams in Chinese wine sauce, cheese mussels, and raw shrimp.
Unfortunately, the sushi at South Bay Buffet was limited to California roll or tuna roll variations. The rice appeared to be stiff, which is typically the case when it is exposed to air for long periods of time. Expect to find «sushi» with no fish that was prepared several hours ago with odd combination of ingredients. When there is no «sushi chef» behind the counter preparing the «sushi», the freshness of the sushi becomes questionable.
At the Mongolian station, slices of cut meat were not available, which was a surprise because it is a key ingredient of Mongolian BBQ in America. Instead, the toppings at the table included skewers of marinated chicken, packaged squid, fresh vegetables, and frozen shrimp. Although stacking food may be fun, I would avoid the Mongolian section because the product is just another oily plate of Chinese noodles full of carbs that usually goes to waste. How often does a plate of Mongolian BBQ get finished at a buffet anyways?
Some of the safe items at the lunch buffet included the grilled chicken on a skewer (thoroughly marinated), stuffed shrimp wrapped in bacon (creative), glutinous rice (similar quality to dim sum restaurant), and steamed fish fillet (used a light sauce).
If you decide to try South Bay Buffet, come with low expectations and a simple goal of just eating your money’s worth ($ 8 for lunch). The $ 8 is probably better spent at an Asian restaurant in Torrance which is only 10 minutes away.

it’s okay. Service is good… never have to wait too long to get refills. i only went here because of a graduation party.
coconut shrimp n green beans… that’s all i went to get…3 times. husband said the best thing had had were the cherries.
go down the street to China Buffet, on PCH, past crenshaw. In the same parking lot as Cuppies. That place is way better.

There was a lot of choices, especially seafood. But not everything was good; their fried scallops tasted artificial. However, the servers were friendly. Our favorite were coconut shrimp and the steamed crabs. It was alright.

Been here twice now and still have to come again to try more things !
Though it’s not in the title, there are primarily Asian dishes. A great variety is offered, especially at dinner:
Sushi, Soups, Crab Legs, Mussels (both cold and baked), Spring Rolls w/​peanut sauce, Crawfish, Oysters, Shrimp (several styles, including Coconut Shrimp at dinner.) Fresh Fruit (including Papaya and fresh Pineapple), Chicken dishes including Hawaiian, Orange, Kung Pau, Teriyaki, Fried wings, and Skewers. They also offer a large selection of goodies at their Mongolian Grill station (including good size shrimp.)
Some favorites, so far: Coconut Shrimp, Hot Sour Soup, Green Beans, Mushrooms, Cream Cheese Wontons, Orange Chicken, Banana Fritters, Tiramisu, Apple «strudel» Pastry (guess who was in a dessert mood !)
A nice surprise was to find that a clear looking jello was like Lychees. I didn’t know what I was getting into, but it was quite tasty and refreshing.
I liked some items more than others of course, and some dishes I prefer elsewhere, but overall the food has been quite enjoyable. Service has always been very friendly and attentive (more than you might expect at a buffet.)
Give it a try (or several !)

I came here last Saturday for a funeral reception. You know that means that there’s going to be a grip of people. For the most part they kept everything reloaded. Nothing really stood out to me, but the servers were nice.
On our way out, there were a bunch of people waiting to get in. I guess they like it here. I’ll update my review next time I return.

Came this past Sat for lunch. Lots of good choices from seafood, meats, vegetables, sushi, mongolian dish, and desserts. One of the better buffets i’ve had in the South Bay. the waitress always checked on us she was really busy with us cause it was a large group of people we practically took the whole back side of the place. The owner was great since he and dad set up everything for all of us. I’d be back sometime again.

Came to south bay buffet for an early dinner with a friend… we specifically came knowing there would be a lot of seafood and we love crawfish so… we came.
Pros:
There is a good variety of seafood, from salmon, sea snails, oysters, crab legs, crawfish, clams, and a variety of shrimp dishes.
The food on average is AOK. Nothing I ate was terrible, cold, too salty, or too bland, or too greasy except for the crawfish (they were really mushy and overcooked). Everything else was very acceptable…
Service was very ATTENTIVE and polite.
Cons:
The restaurant was awkwardly empty. Meaning, there were only two other parties in this huge 5000 square foot restaurant which made us feel like the staff was watching us.
Also, they didn’t put out oysters or crab legs until we asked. I can’t really fault them on that too much because as soon as we asked «will there be oysters?» the server went to the kitchen and had them out within a few minutes. I can understand why they would do that, since there were only five or six diners in the entire restaurant… and no one seemed to be missing the seafood… however, it was awkward to have to ask. Dining in a place that is so quiet that you can practically hear the staff cough in the other room is also very weird and uncomfortable.
I wish they would do more business, because this place feels like it’s on it’s last leg, or perhaps we came at the slowest time. One or the other, it’s worth a try. The staff is nice enough to cater to you, so just in that fact, it’s worth it.

We haven’t visited South Bay Buffet for a while, just stopped by last night with family to grab dinner. Service was superb, the owner was very pleasant and greeted us at the door, also came by the table to ask how things were; plates were cleaned off the table and sodas were refilled frequently. I like the fact that their food is freshly made in the restaurant, rather than purchased frozen or pre-​made. I also like that food was replenished quickly, as soon as a food item was empty it’s replaced right away. There is a wide variety of selection, you’re not limited to orange chicken or broccoli beef. I didn’t try the soup but my husband liked it.
Certainly everyone is entitled to his opinion, but for those with negative comments about this restaurant, I would encourage them to talk to the owner directly, his English is rough but he will take constructive criticisms and make improvements. When we first ate there we told him the beef vegetable soup didn’t taste right, he sat down and discussed the recipe with us, that never happens in any restaurants we’ve been to.

Yes… another buffet in the South Bay
The good thing about the South bay is that there is a über amount of Chinese buffet restaurants in the area… they all compete. and need something to out– do each other. Don’t expect a 5 star cuisine… but they do have the important things… CRAB LEGS and OYSTERS. There’s not that many people here… so there’s not a mob rush for crab legs. The price is pretty typical for a buffet… the only con is that there’s a lady shouts out the missing orders to the kitchen.
I would say this place and Carson buffet are about on par with each other. This place isn’t too busy… so I would probably come back here again.

Went to this place for the 1^st time. Not sure they deserve all the bad reviews. Most that I read were from people who had no other place to go, or from people who were brought there by some one or some reason. Not coming down on the location or buffets, but (let’s be real) IT IS a buffet in Harbor City. It is what is. The price was decent. Not as much as I expected, compared to other places. Also, the food was fresh. Didn’t see anything left out until it was gone, like some other places. The servers were attentive… our cups never went empty and I always came back to a clean table. They offered whole dungeoness crab (cut in half), which was awesome compared to most places that offer only snow crab legs. I gave 4 stars because I wish they had more choices, and they didn’t have lemonade for my kids. I’ll be back.