Happy Buffet

I have been coming here for over 2 years I take a group of adults with disabilities and they enjoy it too, but today we went and after being there an hour the waiter comes and tells us that we have been here too long and that his section is full and we have been here too long. He needs the seats for new customers but if we gave him a tip it would be okay to stay. Really bad customer service and the cashier was not too far behind.

I was about to take my family here but after seeing the picture of him coming out of the restroom, I told myself nah. Lake Perris seams cleaner that this place.

We had eaten here several times. The food was always fresh they were really busy so the food kept coming out fresh all the time. We went for an early dinner two Saturdays ago. Sunday morning about 3 a.m. I woke up with violent vomiting and diarrhea. Never having had food poisoning or anything similar to that. I continued vomiting through Sunday into Monday morning. Calling Kaiser advice nurse Center to find out what I needed to do because I felt so deathly ill. I’m thinking either we got lunch items on the dinner menu or some of their Seafood was not prepared properly. We have a favorite waitress there but unfortunately we won’t be getting to see very much anymore. Finally able to eat solid food on Wednesday wow I wish that someone would have put me out of my misery. So you take your chances if you did Happy Buffet in Riverside.

this place has cockroaches running around and when mentioned to staff they don’t seem to care.

i actually love the food here. but the customer service sucks. they are so rude and you can not understand one word that comes out of there mouth. then they give you the bill to pay and they stand there starring at you. employees get on my nerves there.

Wow, We had not been here in some time. I don’t recall how busy it was the last time but it was superpacked today, Sunday (about 30 people in front of us). In spite of this, we were seated in less than 10 min. and it was on from there. This place does not dissapoint. There is an extensive food selection (from sushi to ribs, from salads to desserts. The service is awesome (The servers are constantly moving, picking up empty plates and refilling your drinks). An excellent value for the price.

I was at the Tyler mall food court and decided nothing appealed to me there when I decided to google the nearest buffet. $ 7.99 for lunch sounded like a good deal so I came and piled my first plate with the normal dishes, orange chicken, pork chops, french fries, I wasn’t too impressed and decided to do all seafood next plate and boy did that next plate improve. There’s a dish called seafood party which is a must have, the crab dishes are great and the salmon was also really good. They have these tiny baked seafood pies I dipped into the seafood party sauce… and anyway. Just get the seafood when you come, you won’t be disappointed.

I just ate at Happy Buffet last night. Since 4 in the morning, I’ve regretted that decision, and will never go back.

My boyfriend and I stopped by to have lunch and the price was reasonable but the food was so disgusting I told my server it made us feel sick and was cold and he told me he didn’t understand so called someone else. She said she could give us a discount but I refused to pay because of the shitty food. Then as I was about to leave she stands in front of me telling me I’m not leaving or she’ll call the cops as if that’s supposed to scare me! And my boyfriend and I left, this place is a huge mistake and will never be returning
SPEND YOUR MONEY ELSEWHERE

One of my favorite buffets nearby. The food is good. I usually come for the coconut shrimp, I get sad when they are not serving them. The sushi lacks in variety, but the California rolls are to die for. The reason why I take 2 stars off is because the service. Every Time I come the server comes around every so long, when I am desperate for another refill. The fruit is really good as well

My entire family had diarehhea after eating foods from this place. My dad who never threw up even threw up after eating. Very bad place.

Larger in size and in the numbering of offerings than most Chinese Buffets, and often pretty crowded, which is a good sign. Since several have closed in around Corona within the last year, this place is one of the few still left. Prices are reasonable, and they offer a senior discount; but if you qualify, you have to ask for it. There are a lot of food choices and most are pretty good, based on Chinese buffet standards. Going on the weekend when it is usually more crowded ensures that the food is turned over quickly. Food items are regularly restocked. Service is good; empty plates are removed quickly and drinks are refilled, usually without asking.
There are also several American entrees, such as a pretty decent salad bar (including several pre-​made salads and fruit), hash brown potato patties, seasoned french fries, pizza, corn on the cob and ribs. They have several different shrimp dishes and all are pretty good. One of the only buffets I’ve been to that has onion pancakes, crayfish and frog legs. They also have crab legs, but I’ve never tried them — as is often the case at buffets, people take big plates of crab legs, regardless of how many people might be waiting to take some. They have mussels, soft shell crabs, large shrimp (with the heads on), smaller peel and eat shrimp on the salad bar, and a couple of imitation crab dishes. They have both egg rolls and spring rolls and both are better than the ones with pasty fillings often found on Chinese buffets. They have about 8 – 10 sushi selections, and the guy making them seems to take the time to make everything look nice. Soups are pretty good (4 selections).
Complaints about food are typical of Chinese buffets: salmon way over cooked and often waterlogged; hard to keep all the food hot; desserts not the best (puddings and jello are ok). The «ice cream» offered in the soft serve machine is really pretty bad — very icy and not a smooth texture at all. Fried rice is a little strange — doesn’t taste much like Chinese fried rice and looks more like yellow Mexican rice.
There are several cons about the place that are not related to the food. The carpet definitely needs to be cleaned or replaced — it really makes the place look creepy and dingy. The women’s restroom is GROSS! Unfortunately, people can be pigs, and it’s up to the restaurant to try to keep up with the mess they make. Happy Buffet definitely needs to give the restrooms more and consistent attention — PLEASE! The soft serve ice cream machine is usually a mess — melted ice cream all over the place — SO unappetizing! Another fault of the clientele is that people let their little kids (and there are a LOT of families at this restaurant) run around the restaurant — usually while a big table of adults just ignores them. On more than one occasion, I’ve seen a server almost collide with the unsupervised kids. While the service is good, I don’t especially like to see the servers standing around (or hiding behind booths or walls) on their cell phones. It happens so often, it must be allowed by management. Not cool — there’s always work to be done serving guests or busing tables. Even the sushi guy was crouched down using his phone! PS: the sushi guy should also wear gloves at all times. Servers who use the restrooms, do not remove their aprons before going in — yuck! Most of these complaints could be easily corrected by management if they cared enough to pay attention. Come on, Happy Buffet — a few changes could make this place a lot better!!!

Favorite all you can eat. I’ll admit it has it’s good days and it’s bad but for the price I’m always a go!

The food is ok. but not top of the line… Our only complain here is the receptionist, the skinny woman who is very rude. not even saying hi, or thank you, nor even smiling. i don’t think she knows whats the meaning of customer service.

Been here twice, and found it to be pretty good. It’s a Chinese buffet, and they are all very similar. They have a very large dining room, with a lot of food choices. They seem to offer quite a bit of seafood items. They are also the first Chinese buffet I’ve been to that includes Frog legs!
The fried rice and chow mein are a bit on the greasier side, but flavorful. The standard dishes are good, and they are the only buffet I’ve been to that has both egg rolls AND spring rolls. Both include real ingredients, not a mushed up paste like all the others have. They have a sushi bar, and while I didn’t partake, my wife did and enjoyed it.
We usually go to buffets on weekends, when they are more crowded, and the food is turned over quickly. The food here was your typical Chinese foods, and was fresh and warm. The fried foods tend to cool off a bit quicker. The desserts are the usual soft serve ice cream, fruits, cookies, puddings and jello.
Both times we’ve gone, they were pretty busy, but the servers did a real good job of picking up our used dishes, and refilling our drinks. They have been friendly and always with a smile.
If you are in the mood for a Chinese buffet, this will fit the bill, but like any buffet, don’t expect gourmet food, just a variety of dishes that are pretty decent.

I Love Happy Buffet it’s got everything!!! Frog Legs!!! Sushi and excellent Chinese food

Yep… me and my wife know better but tonight
was the worse… lots a cold food and warm sushi… I hope that guy making it had washed his hands…
All I know is they won’t get another chance from us 2 stars might be too much!

Have been here many times now. One of my parents favorite places to eat. My mom is real picky with food and she loves this place. The prices are very good for the amount of food and options u can get. Lots of desserts too. Nice and calm environment. Kids love looking at the fish lol Would definitely recommend.

I used to come to this place often, until they served rotten chow mien to my sister, this place gets a lot of business, there is no excuse to serve rotten chow mien.
Half the workers speak little to no English. It’s your typically Chinese buffet, the food isn’t over the best but it’s worth the price.
This place is cheap so it was right up my alley. When I started eating here it wasn’t the freshest or the best tasting but it was cheap and I got to eat a lot *thumb up* they have some variety like American /​Mexican foods, churro, chicken wings, pizza just to list a few of the not Asian foods they serve.
They have a lot of Asian foods to pick and choose from, however, choose carefully as not all of it is actually that good. Only a handful of things are worth mentioning here so I’ll just list em off and give a very brief description of it:
Roasted chicken, basically chicken in bbq sauce sweet n savory and juicy.
Chicken on a stick, just as the name states chicken thigh fried on a stick with a light coating that is salty with a hint of sweet, my personal favorite these were always fresh and eaten fast.
The fried rice was plain nothing special, the steamed rice was usually cooked well so no complaints there.
They served rice noodles which is actually pretty darn good here compared to everything else.
The chow mien here is always in question cause sometimes it has this off sour taste like its either rotten or about to go rotten, the time my sister got it fully rotten I could smell it as soon as she started eating, she didn’t notice but I did. I have a very keen sense of smell and recognized the foul smell immediately, sadly I couldn’t warn her before she got a mouthful. We paid our dues, walked out without making a scene and haven’t been back since.
They have okay wontons here but superb pot stickers, sometimes I would just eat a plate full of pot stickers and chicken sticks. They have a really good dipping sauce for the pot stickers too.
Never gave the soups a chance but they have like 2 – 4 soups to chose from.
Beef broccoli nothing special, orange chicken was okay little spicy, teriyaki chicken pretty bland but that was my sisters favorite so proof that everyone’s taste buds vary.
Pretty much everything else here was just mediocre. I’ve only had dinner once here they just change out a few lunch items for like crab legs and they bring out some pretty good shrimp. For me the dinner is so not worth the extra.
This place isn’t the cleanest, they keep the bathrooms in horrible conditions one time they were out of soap so I had to ask for some, another time there was vomit all over the floors. I once got a spoon with something caked on it like it hadn’t been washed right and was sitting around in some sink dirty for like a week.
All in all I would recommend NOT coming here. Yes the price is good but you get what you pay for. As much as I loved their fried chicken sticks and their pot stickers, I haven’t gone back since the incident with my sister, which has now been almost a year. I might give it another chance to see if anything has changed over the past year but I sincerely doubt it.
P. S. I’m only giving this place one star because you have to give at least 1 star to write a review. The whole rotten chow mien thing is really not cool and unacceptable.

Ugh… should have ignore the previous positive reviews and stuck with the bad.
The food that’s edible is mediocre at best. any dishes were cold. Not even warm.
The chocolate pudding had home bad… you know how these places work right? When the pudding gets low you just add more. Well my first couple bites were fine… then it wasn’t. Oh it wasn’t…
The best thing about my meal was they kept my glass full of ice cold water.