Tam’s Restaurant

I never write reviews at all, but I just had to for this specific buffet! I’ve been to a couple of Chinese buffet, and this one is simply the worst! A couple of friends and I were looking for a place to eat after the movies so we gave this one a try instead of the one beside it. The hostess did not even greet us, that was the first sign that was it going to be bad already. The waitress then took down notes for our drinks and left. Little did we know it was about to close in 30 minutes so we went ahead and walked over to the food. The food already looked like it was under the heat lamps for a while, stale, not fresh at all. We came back to the table with NO FOOD and our drinks were already there. We decided to leave and perhaps try it another time, so we told our waitress. I guess we were just going to pay for the drinks, but they charged us for the whole meal! It was $ 50 something, yet we didn’t even eat anything, this was absolutely unnecessary! How are we going to pay for a service that wasn’t received, We talked to the one in charge and all she could do was give us 5% off. We will never come back to this place or recommend to anyone, hope they go out of business!

Went for dinner at 6:30. The waitress was nice but the food looked like it had been out since 11am. Yuck. Place was warm and dingy. Will not be going back.

Yeah, I read all the bad reviews, but decided I should try it myself. I am a Chinese food lover (not necessarily a connoisseur) and I don’t want to miss a good place because someone else had a bad experience. But let me save you the trouble my friend. There are many other better Chinese buffets in the north Dallas area. One island at this place had good-​looking food with lots of sauce, but that food was COLD. Not lukewarm or room temp; it was cold! The other island had some really dried up looking food, but at least it was hot! It’s as though they can’t figure out how to run the temp controls under the islands.
But don’t get me wrong; the food was edible, and cheap, but there really are better places to go.

Worst place, the place are dirty not sanitize the restroom smell like hell. I will not be going back.

Avoid this buffet, not only the quality of the food was poor, they tried to scam me and my friend. We paid with our debit card separately and we were charged an additional few dollars than what we wrote on the receipt. This is a credit card fraud and I have disputed the transaction with my bank. I won’t be returning here.

On arrival yesterday, I was greeted by an aroma distictively similar to a Lake Lavon bait shop on a scorching summer day. I really feel bad saying that, because I have the ultimate respect for Lake Lavon bait shops.
The Good:
The waitress filled my tea twice.
The Bad:
Everything else.
The Ugly
The salmon covered in white salmon goo, the floor, the décor, the level of cleanliness, the chunks of tilapia that looked suspiciously like cut up carp. I know, because I’ve seen them at a Lake Lavon bait shop.

FINALLY! CLOSED ITS DOORS FOR GOOD! I tried this place back in the day and we walked out seafood should not smell like its been in the sun for four days.

Look outside and you see the neon lights and Asian font signage. Looks promising? Maybe. You push open the double doors, but the handles are pieces of steel pipe welded together. Odd. To your right is an empty tank filled with gravel. You walk through another set of double doors and you see a particularly strange room. Terra cotta tiles and a smattering of all sorts of colors and designs. But it wasn’t what I saw that night but what I smelled. My God it was far out. It was mixture of old building, but as I walked towards the buffet area, I got whiffs of cheap cologne worn by the partons, bathroom odor, cleaning solution odor, a hint of gasoline, artificial fruit, the sickly sweet of sauce, soy sauce and some other unidentifiable things. There was no door to the kitchen. Just an unaligned break in the terracotta tiles on the floor. The inside had a few depressed day laborer looking folks working. There were boxes with all sorts of tubes coming out of them. It looked grungy.
Honestly this could be a set for a Chinese restaurant in some sort of dystopian sci-​fi film. All the motifs are there. The neon lighting, the Asian font, creepy interior, downtrodden looking patrons (myself included that night), a revolting looking kitchen (I half expected random jets of steam to come bursting out of the pipes or something).
Food was horrible. A lot of it was obviously oriented towards the primarily Hispanic clientele. The water came with a wedge of lime. There was frog leg, crawfish, beef shank, oysters and more spicy foods than you’d normally see at a buffet. The fruit and dessert area had papaya and red, orange shaped gummies. I don’t like wasting food, but I had to make a break for it $ 10.81 for this? Unbelievable.
Why does it get ²⁄₅ instead of ¹⁄₅? Well, the experience here at night can best be described as both disgusting and surreal. I have never felt such a combination of emotions, so the extra star is for the sheer novelty of what I felt dining there.

Came here trying to avoid movie grill prices. First impressions was that the location was sketchy… unfinished flooring, mismatched tables and chairs, bar with cleaning supplies out in the open. Food was subpar even by the standards of Chinese buffets. Extremely heavy on the use of soy sauce. Mussels were ok, dumplings were decent.
Normally not ashamed to go to a good buffet, but this one was way below what I would consider decent, much less good.

It’s a buffet. That’s about it.
The oysters weren’t cold, the shrimp was good but you could really tell it was there for quite some time. There were quite a few things that were basically laying in vats of fat, and it was apparent. The clams and mussels were semi-​warm, in their juices. I would advise other buffets, seriously. We both had water and it was ~$ 24 with tax for two people. Other buffets are less, and have better quality. There are also less languages going across televisions within the same listening area… and a radio.

Very dirty and horrible food.

I’m no germaphobe and I can slum it with the best, but I felt pretty suspect about my decision to try this place. I was simply in the mood for some Chinese and had low expectations. I just wanted that fried MSG rush. I ordered something to go (so bad that Sriracha sauce could help; didn’t even taste close to Orange Beef; probably stray cat). While I waited, I looked around and it’s what you’d expect: a few steam tables with seafood, some faux Chinese, a few rice steamers and soup urns. But it felt run-​down and a few things seemed off: It was hot inside. I know we’ve had a massive heat wave in July, but I noted the thermostat was set at 78. The floor was unpainted cement. The walls were mis-​matched paint and peeling paneling. The clientele seemed to be mostly day-​laborers eating their one meal of the day (sad). The lights were off in some rooms. What this tells me is this place cuts corners. If they cut corners in places that customers can see, how are they cutting corners where we can’t see? My guess is by re-​using food from the buffet and not holding food at the correct temps in back. Do they actually do this? I don’t know, maybe. Maybe not. But when the FOH (front of the house) gives off sketchy vibes, it leads the imagination to wander.
Note: Not really sure why Lisa O’s review is ‘filtered.’ She’s right on track too.

This used to be a really good buffet, but last night I went and wished that I hadn’t. I was really in the mood for Chinese and some crab legs. Well I used to go here with my roommate and we loved it at one time. The crabs legs were few and smelled (not in a good way). Most of the food was so greasy and nasty!!! My stomach hated me after wards. Plus the price you pay for two drinks and dinner is ridiculous for the quality $ 22.90 for crap. MMM I think I will not be here again. Something should have told me it was bad this time when we were the third couple in the whole restaurant. Oh and the main waiter kept eyeballing and smiling at my roommate and I. I felt very uncomfortable. I agree with Lisa avoid this buffet and go someplace else!

Ugh. Some Chinese buffets make you feel terrible about yourself when you eat there. This is one of them. From the water stained ceilings to the sewage smell in the bathroom, ambience is not in Tam’s vocabulary. I’m not above eating in a dive restaurant if the food is good. The food is not good. The cheese wonton was so hard and dry I couldn’t bite through it. A couple of decent selections, most were sub-​par at best. I felt gross eating this food. The service was annoyingly attentive. The waiter came to my table to ask me if everything was alright no less than 6 or 7 times. When I was paying, they asked «how was everything?» «Eh.» I answered. «It was okay.» No further questions. They seemed satisfied with this answer. Skip this place. Your self-​esteem will thank you.