East Buffet

We first visited shortly after they opened and had a fine time. The usual buffet food but it was hot, fresh, and tasted fine. Exactly what you would expect from a local Chinese buffet, a good four star rating.
But we went back on May 31, 2016 and things had changed. We arrived pretty late for dinner, around 7:45pm. Since they close at 9:30pm we figured we would still be getting some good food. Every single one of my wife’s selections tasted «off» to her except for the ice cream. My palate is a lot less discerning (my wife calls me a human garbage can) and even I could tell the food was not fresh. Everything other than the fried rice had been sitting out a long time. The sushi was surprisingly ok, but skipped the wasabi since it was three different shades of green. The chocolate cake had some sort of congealed and bubbled skin on top, pretty sure it was not supposed to be like that?
The service was good and the restaurant did not feel dirty at all, but the food was not fresh or particularly appetizing. I thought it was because we went so late, but others in my neighborhood have said that their recent experiences mirror ours and quality has steadily declined over the past few months.
With other Chinese buffet options only a few minutes away, we will not be back unless there is a massive turnaround in quality and outpouring of praise from others.

Love the place, food is good and indoors was very clean and neat. And the prices are awesome! Will definitely be returning !

When we are in the mood for Chinese, East Buffet always knocks it out of the park My wife and I visit here typically twice a month and thoroughly enjoy it. I highly recommend East Buffet !!

Staff was friendly and place seems clean. That is the only reason for 2 stars. Food was sub par at best. Cold and crunchy a lot of it had been out for a while and it was quite noticeable. Traveled 35 mins to get here and it was definitely not worth the trip. They did not offer any drink refills, one drink and that was it. Not impressed, food is the whole reason for going to a restaurant and i don’t recommend this place if you want good hot and fresh food.

Out of the 3 Chinese buffets I’ve tried in the Kyle/​San Marcos area, this one is my favorite because unlike the others everything is always hot and not lukewarm. It’s not huge but big enough, which is probably why everything is able to stay hot. The food quality is decent, though the sushi could definitely be improved. I’m from California though so maybe I’m just spoiled. Anyway, I’ll be back.

Very good, consistent chinese (American version) food. Definitely will return there when we want a Chinese buffet. A real plus is the «dip it yourself Blue Bell» ice cream for dessert!

I will never go back again! Went at dinner time. Buffet food was cold, stale, unflavored like it had been sitting there for days! Desserts were not good either. The sweet tea was overly sweet. Service was ok I guess we were asked if we needed anything once. Over priced $ 10 per person drink not included. Don’t waste your money.

My friend & I visited this buffet for the first time. We were both very impressed. We paid $ 10 each and the drinks were approximately $ 2 each. There is a very large spread for a small town. A couple of shrimp dishes including coconut shrimp, a couple of fish dishes, a couple type of noodles dishes, a couple beef dishes, a couple chicken dishes including hibachi chicken & General Mao’s chicken, frog legs, etc. Everything looked fresh. For a week day, that is amazing. The employees were nice but not intrusive. The décor was nice, not run down. Try East Buffet and enjoy your meal.

Another disappointment in the Buda/​Kyle area. Just moved into Hays county not impressed with food or culture. Read great reviews about this place and not satisfied. I rather drive into the city and enjoy authentic food. The drive is definitely with it.

Typical Chinese buffet; the soups were horrendous and salty, the sushi was really good, fresh and clean. Selection on the hot bar was a little sparse with jalapeño chicken, generals Tso, and beef and soggy broccoli. There was something there called butter shrimp. That was pretty good especially over their Mei Fun, which are Singapore rice noodles stir fried.
Much of the food was only luke warm room temp, which pissed me off, including the egg Foo Yung and gravy that goes with it. You rarely find egg foo young on a Chinese buffet but it’s one of my favorite dishes and I’m glad they had it here.
The restaurant is very clean. There was no salad but a cucumber concoction, a little lettuce, and some heavily mayonnaise imitation crab salad. There was a lot of fresh fruit including leeche fruit and kiwi, and there were plenty of the typical desserts including Blue Bell ice cream in 5 gal buckets.
I would definitely go back when I wanted an MSG fix, because believe me everything definitely had it from the way my lips felt dry up to two hours afterwards, and I would come back for the sushi. There are no other buffets around except that disgusting Super China in San Marcos.

Worst food I’ve ever eaten. I’ll have to give this place a minus 5 stars. Everything was bland even the water tasted bad. Even after we told them we only ate a few bites, they wouldn’t reduce the price. DON’T EAT THERE UNLESS YOU LIKE VERY BLAND FOOD

Meh. It’s a Buffett so it was alright, lots of options which was a plus but not a whole lot of it seemed super fresh.

Asian buffets are everywhere. A few are great, many are terrible and most fall somewhere in between. Consistency is a challenge due to trying to balance being fresh and full but not throwing away a bunch at the end of the night. Having been in the food service world for decades, I can sympathize with this challenge,.
East Buffet does a good job trying to balance these challenges. Fresh veggies, consistent flavors and freshness, decent house-​made sushi and a grill to order station are some of the high points.
I do wish they would keep some favorites but also change up other stations on a weekly or monthly basis so that it wasn’t always the same and I’d love to see Kim Chi on the cold bar, but otherwise my family and I love coming here and it’s consistently good.

This is, by far, the best Asian buffet I have ever been to. The food and preparation are way above average. Unlike other buffets where ingredients are cheap and smothered with greasy sauce, that is not the case here. The selection is nicely varied. The fruit is fresh. The stir-​fry upon request is amazing, especially at this modest price. Cleanliness and friendliness are top notch. I will visit from Austin, just to eat at East Buffet, and I always leave happy and satisfied.

This place had a decent buffet and the food was hot and fresh. It is a little pricey though. I wish they had more parking available rather than 8 spaces on the side of the building. Still… Better than the other buffets in South Austin or San Marcos.

This was my son’s and my first visit to East Buffet in Kyle, Texas. We arrived right at noon and were immediately shown to our seats. The restaurant was cool and quiet… a nice ambience for a pleasant visit with my son.
The buffet offered a wide selection of various meats and vegetables, including soup. Of the 15 different foods we tried, all were delicious. The problem was that none of the food was hot… most were barely even warm. The food would have tasted even better had it been served at the appropriate temperature.
The service we received from our wait-​person was excellent… very attentive to our needs
.
Although I will definitely visit this restaurant again, I will ask that my plate of food be heated for me, if needed.

Having eaten here several times now over the past few months I feel able to make a review. The first time I went, shortly after they opened, it was mediocre at best. However, I chalked it up to growing pains (since I’ve worked in the food industry before I know that inventory management and food prep is hard to do when you don’t know what volume of business you’ll be getting).
Glad I went back! Every other time since has been good. The food has been well stocked, hot and fresh. Sometimes the servers are not as attentive as I think they should be, but honestly, it’s still worth going to. Prices are reasonable and there’s something for everyone to enjoy. Favorites include the bourbon chicken, egg drop soup and crab Rangoon. Enjoy!

Perfect buffet, lots to choose from… crawfish, pickled octopus, sushi, desserts, all the reg chinese dishes and $ 12.38 for lunch buffet (adult).

For buffet standards I wanna say this place is easily 4 Stars. It’s a new addition to downtown Kyle.
Things that were Great:
Fried Wonton — Enough crab/​cream cheese filling to make them creamy and perfectly fried to make the Crispy.
Jalapeño Chicken — Lots of flavor with a lil Kick!
Steamed Green Beans — Lots of Flavor! Green Beans still had a crunch… cooked perfectly
Rice noodles — light, not oily, makes a Great bedding for other dishes
Baked mussels — Perfectly seasoned, great with a lil saricha & soy sauce
Baby octopus salad — good texture not chewy, light palate, excellent flavor using chili paste & fresh ingredients (my Favorite!)
Things that were Not Great/​Avoid if possible:
Fried Catfish — super greasy, fishy taste
Baked fish — very dry, no flavor
Lo Mein — no flavor, very bland taste
Overall the restaurant was Very Clean and well kept. Service was Excellent & Very Prompt to get seated. Staff very very Friendly! **Don’t let the outside of the restaurant fool you; you’re in for A Treat!

First time here, so I tried a bit of just about everything I could eat (battling an active ulcer, so have to avoid spicy for a bit).
The crab and cheese melt was really good, as was the fried zucchini. Loved that zucchini — weird, I know for a Chinese place to rave about that.
The stuffed mushrooms were good, but pretty greasy. Crab rangoon and Chinese donuts made a very nice ‘dessert’ to my meal.
One thing I didn’t like was the eggrolls — not sure why, just didn’t taste right. Lo Mein was pretty dry, so I only ate one bite.
On the fence about if we will be back. They are certainly conveniently located for us, but I have seen plenty of Chinese places in San Marcos to try.