Golden Buffet

It’s okay. Given the price. It makes me have diarrhea after I eat here. Also not everything is fresh. Being that I’m vegan and very picky there aren’t any vegan options unless you get the grill. The grill sauces are mediocre I’d rather go to Genghis Khan pay a higher price and get a variety of veggies with better sauces. For the price you pay its okay, it could be better.

Hate to do this but had the worst meal here last night. I have had better experiences in the past. In their defense we got there at 9:00 PM. Should have known this was a bad time but went in any way. almost everything was only warm. Mostly dried out and just bad tasting. It was embarrassing how bad the food looked. I should have left but it was so late and I had school age kids with me and just wanted to get them fed. I think they should close earlier when the food is still fresh or offer a deep discount this late in the prep cycle. Just do not go there after the main meal time. This was mostly my fault.

This is consistently mediocre. My toddler had to use the restroom and they were out of order!

First of all, I am rating this as an Americanized Chinese buffet, not as an authentic Chinese restaurant. Given that caveat, this is the best AC buffet in Midland. The variety is good and the flavor s are good. Also lots of. Non-​Chinese items like good deep fri fish and poached salmon. The jalapeño chicken is not authentic, but it is excellent. Good spiced sour soup and not over-​vinegar end as at most places.
Staff is very polite and attentive. Prices are very fair, especially the take out. To our great surprise when we recently ordered off menu take out, it was very good. A nice option.
The old Bamboo Garden under Mrs. Chow was better, but with her passed away, the new Bamboo Garden is a poor shadow of what it was and Golden Buffet is the best of what is left.

I don’t recommend eating at any restaurant buffet, so this one is no different.
The take out at Golden Buffet is rather good. I frequently get the veggie chow mein or rice noodles. They offer steamed veggies and sauces on the side.
The staff is always friendly and I love the free calendars they give out every year!

I have gone to this establishment quite a few times and have always had decent food and a fine experience. Today however, was HORRIBLE!
Upon entering the restaurant the overwhelming odor of musky fish filled my nostrils, I wanted to gag but thought maybe it was just me. On the way to the table we had to pass by the staffs young children who were sitting on a bench up front playing a video game and getting really loud and excited. Every time I have ever eaten here I have had to endure the staff’s children running around, kicking the backs of booths, trying to play like kids would if they were at home. The sad thing is this is not home, this is a place of business, it is actually a place where we have chosen to come eat and generally I do not think grabbing some friends and heading to a day care is the best place to grab a bite to eat… PLEASE GET A BABY SITTER!
We were sat and the server did take our drink order, she was actually pleasant which is very normal, the staff have always been very friendly in my past experiences. The first plate I grabbed actually had dried up food on it, I grabbed another one only to put my hand on something slimy! I turned the plate over and discovered a pickle! They DO NOT have anything that comes with pickle! The 3^rd plate I grabbed was from the middle of the stack and that one contained some rouge hair that looked like a very long nose hair!!!
The crab rangoon tasted very spoiled, the veggies were good as were the honey chicken balls, but I was afraid to taste anything else because I was afraid that I might get sick. The waitress never came back to give us refills and actually stopped picking up our plates, we ended up with a huge stack of plates, bowls, and food that did not taste fresh. We were there for a better part of an hour and I had to get my own drink, which I did not ever have to do myself.
One one of my trips to the buffet, I had to endure a staff member yelling at her child at the buffet line, one of the people from that back came out to escort this child to the kitchen, I could not help but wonder if maybe he had escaped from the food assembly line and was getting yelled at for being away from preparing food! I do not know why they have their children running around like it is a playground!
Since there were 4 of us, we wanted the check separated, which usually is very easy to do, I have worked at 2 Applebees and a 5-​star restaurant in Grand Rapids in my past so I am not one of those people that just expect too much or will never be happy when I am eating out, I have experience at how things should go and what to expect when dining out. The woman behind the counter could not understand the following request…
«Can you please separate this bill? There are 4 of us and we all are paying separate.» She kept wanting to ring me up for the entire bill. I had to repeat myself a few times and actually re-​worded my request to try to be as simple as I could be but she could not grasp that we each were going to pay a portion for our bill. The total bill which included the tax was $ 43.00, 2 of us had Iced Tea and the other 2 had water, but we all had to pay $ 11.50 each! I am not understanding the math on that one, since we were over charged I did not leave a tip at all. I brought to this woman’s attention that we were left parched the entire time she just gave me a very evil look, not once apologizing for the experience, since she did not offer me an apology I decided I would also include the fact that the plates had piled up at least 6 high which also had bowls and remnants of food. I also added that usually the service and the food has been good but this time it was a very HORRIBLE experience! She just proceeded to ring the other people in our party up! A person in my group even brought up the fact that she was over charging us and she instantly went into «I do not speak english mode» I am totally disgusted at the fact that we were not only treated poorly, left to sit in filth, tolerate their childrens temper tantrums, dehydrated, and the food this time around was terrible! NO ONE APOLOGIZED for our bad experience!!!
I purposely joined Unilocal just to share this experience and will be talking to my friends about it as well. I do not want people I know having to endure what I just had to sit through!
I definitely will not eat at this place again!
******UPDATE********
I was able to reach a manager and explained the entire situation over the phone, she put the phone down several times to yell at someone but I finally did receive an apology; however, also received an excuse that the lady that over charged my group does not speak english and must have gotten confused! WTF!!! Why is she taking money then if she cannot understand?! The manager did offer me a $ 10.00 gift certificate but I have yet to pick it up, I do not think $ 10.00 off their food warrants another outing at this establishment.

The food was old and repulsive while the bathrooms were a mess!

This place opened up when I was in high school — right next to it, actually. All of my peers were eager to head over to Golden Buffet on our lunch hours, so one day I finally decided to try it. It was the most disgusting food I had ever had in my life. The place smelled horrible, the food was stale, hard, and it all smelled like fish. The staff was not polite, as I recall I hardly left a tip (and I am ALWAYS a good tipper!)
Needless to say, I have not returned and do not plan to ever do so. There are much better choices in the area for the same price.

Good value — The food is generally quite good, although sometimes items stay a bit long on the buffet. Best choices are chicken & broccoli and sweet & sour chicken. Crab legs are good when they’re fresh. Staff is attentive.