Golden Corral

I know it can’t be helped if the air conditioning is not functioning but we should’ve been told before we were seated. Then the vegetables are overcooked. The file mignon was not out of any grade meet I recognized. I’m sorry but this franchise owner needs help.

If you’re looking for date-​night dining, this clearly isn’ the place for you. Its a bit loud and informal. It’s casual buffet dining. For what it is, it gets 4 stars. There is plenty of selection, to the point of being a little ADHD about the food choices. But that means its perfect for large groups and families that may not agree on a type of place to eat at (Mexican, Asian, American, etc.). So, if you’ve got a group with divergent tastes, Golden Corral is a decent place for casual dining. Everyone can find some greasy good food to fulfill their hunger. If you’re looking for a waitress to be super attentive or to have a more traditional dining experience, GC isn’t for you. The waitresses are there to fill your glasses and clean your tables… you won’t get much more attention than that because the rest is serviced by you!

When my girlfriend and I refer to this place, we informally call it the «slop chute.» And that’s pretty accurate. Large quantities of indifferent quality food arranged in a helter skelter manner.
I claims to be a steak house. Don’t be confused. It’s a bad buffet restaurant. You pay when you come in – a flat price as best I gather, and then go get your food. Yes, they do have «steak». It’s small quantities of larger steaks that they will carve off a few bites for you. I suppose that you could come back for more, but I’ve never had a piece that I thought was good enough to want more. Expect well done to dominate. On those occasions I’ve asked for something rare or medium rare, the carver looks stumped.
But fear not! They have friend chicken, baked chicken, etc. So maybe it’s a home cooking restaurant? Well, I’d leave home if this was the daily fare. But wait! Like Ronco, «There’s more!» They have Mexican Food. Don’t like it? We’ll make it two for one and give you Chinese food, too. You get the idea. If you hunt long enough, you can generally find something fit to eat, but it’s lots of work. You might think that veggies would be a good bet in this type of place. Think again. They’re not.
The salad bar COULD be the one redeeming thing about this place. Lots of options, and who could screw up salad? Well. .. . Yep, they could. Some times it OK. Other times, I’ll find slimy tangles of rotten lettuce in my salad greens.
Partially in their defense, I’d give the place one and a half stars if I could. You can find something to eat, as Glenn M pointed out. But you really to have to hunt carefully for it. And most of the things that they’re trying to do – setting aside for the moment the Tex-​Mex and Chinese — are basic items that aren’t that hard to do well. It’s frustrating to see something that could be a half way decent approximation of a cafeteria like Luby’s down the road in Longview, be so utterly inconsistent and underwhelming.

I’m surprised at the negative comments. .
We’ve never had a bad experience at any Golden Corral…
Big Jack is so nice.
Clean & friendly…

Worst place ever!!! $ 70 for nothing. We all got sick as soon as we got home. Disgusting!

It is what it is… there is enough food to find something to eat that you like. I would not eat here by myself, but trying to satisfy a family on a trip it is easy. Have eaten here twice and both times about the same… BUT I would not eat here in evening or weekend again as the prices are higher but they don’t add enough value to warrant that.
The fried chicken is for some reason always better than most, I like the veggies and my son like the new cotton candy machine (the staff hates making it, so you will have to hunt someone down).
Very attentive service attendants —
This is just a spot for mass quantities of food, or to keep a family on the road quiet as they run back and forth — loading themselves up at the desert bar for the sugar rush high on the way home.

It was a Sunday night, right around 7:30pm. We had come from Shreveport and needed to find something to eat before making the almost 6 hour drive back to Austin. We stopped at Golden Corral. It didn’t take us long to wish we had kept driving. The waitress was really nice and offered to get us anything we needed, but the rest of our experience left a lot to be desired. There were only 5 other tables being used (maybe) yet there were empty/​dirty tables here and there. The food on the buffet had obviously been there a while. If it looked appetizing, it certainly wasn’t when we got back to the table to take a bite. I had the fried fish, which was ok, but the hushpuppies were so rubbery, I couldn’t even bite into them. The meatloaf was cold as was the fried AND baked chicken. The vegetables had a skin over the top of the broth they were in and from 10 feet away, I didn’t even want to look at the salad bar. We sat by the dessert bar where they have the chocolate fountain. The chocolate was really thick and almost smelled burnt. I wonder how many hours or days that thing has been on, using the same chocolate.
The place was dirty. We sat next to a half-​wall, dividing two areas of the dining room. There was a layer of dust on the top that I could see as I was sitting there eating. The miniblinds on the windows were dirty and had been totally damaged by misuse. I was afraid to go into the restroom, however it seemed cleaner than the dining room. For $ 27 and some change, my boyfriend and I had a few bites to eat and went on our way. We went to the gas station right up the road to wash our hands and ‘clean up’.
It’s bad when a gas station restroom on the interstate feels cleaner than the dining room of a restaurant. If we’re ever through there again, I think there is a Whataburger a little further down the road. We’ll stop off there instead.

My family ate here four years ago during a roadtrip. We liked the vast selection of mostly delicious food and dessert. However, our waitress was the worst waitress we’ve ever had and only came by a few times while she attended to the couple sitting next to us most of the time. We’ve always tipped fairly, but this is the only time we tipped unusually little (less than $ 1) because we were furious with the lack of attention.
I’d definitely come here again but I’ll make sure I don’t sit in the area that waitress is assigned to.
The price is very cheap. The restaurant is off US59 at a major intersection in the small town of Marshall; you’ll easily spot it off the road.