Paula Deen Buffet

I’m giving this place 4 stars because for the price it’s the best option in the casino. Large selections of decent to good food.

I went in May 2013… Price is too high but everything I ate was yummy.

They should rename this buffet to «The Puke and Gag.» My wife and I ate there about a week ago. Beef brisket was 50% fat, fish was dry, turkey was dry, ham was gross.
It was about 7:45 p and they close at 9p. There was no beef left at the carving station.
At 22 bucks this place is a joke.

Yep, Southern food in Mississippi. I would hope so! My wife and I had our first Tunica experience and Paula Deans was the dinner spot for us. Clean, nice atmosphere and good service. The food was spot on for what it is and supposed to be, Southern cooking. A couple of nice surprises. The baked frog legs were amazing. The coffee was excellent and a piece of key lime pie hit the spot. In between was a good selection of buffet grazing.

OK so we all know what happened with Paula Deen, so I’m not going there. Harrah’s has renamed the buffet Southern Star.
The food is WAY below PD food. Gumbo was bland with too much roux. Catfish steeped in grease and full of bones. Fried chicken thighs only.
For a group of five $ 120 is highway robbery. I guess you should expect that at a casino!

The night before all the hullabaloo over Deen and her deposition broke, I was in Tunica and ate here for dinner, tweeting:
«I’m eating at a Paula Deen Buffet. It tastes like shame and butter.»
Shame? Yes. Because you know full well that nothing on the steam tables is good for you and you’re eating it anyway. Also, shame because you know full well that the Deen name is just a license to charge you $ 20 to eat mediocre casino food. It’s not like you’re in Vegas where they care about quality… you’re in freaking Tunica.
All the southern staples are here, but since they’re cooked in such large quantities they’re not very good. Dry-​rubbed ribs were downright tough, and everything else was downright meh. The food is arranged at stations named for Deen family restaurants, but I’ve eaten at The Lady & Sons and the food in Savannah runs rings around the buffet station of the same name. But it’s a buffet. I know. See why I felt some shame?
Now that Caesars has ended its partnership with Deen, expect the signs to come down. I wouldn’t expect much to change in the kitchen. If you need to stuff your gullet, it’s upstairs next to the deserted sports bar.
As for me? I came so my Total Rewards points would remain valid for another 6 months and I needed to eat somewhere. I drove back to Memphis with that bloated feeling of eating too much lousy food and spiked blood sugar, but at least I saved my points.
Eat here on a comp meal. Otherwise, even with the Total Rewards discount you’ll be kicking yourself.

I’m seriously wanting to call Paula and tell her that they are making her look really bad at this buffet. Not only was it ridiculously priced ($ 44 for 2 people), but the food pretty much sucked. The only thing I ate that I really liked, and I tried a ton, was the dressing and baked sweet taters. I did enjoy my piece of coconut pie, as did my husband, but he didn’t care for any of the food from the lines. It was worth about $ 5 per person, that is about it.

I’m giving it 3 stars, but it might
as well be 2. Hard to eat at the
Buffet when nothing has labels,
sure I know what Fried Chicken
is, but some stuff was a guess.
Service was good, price is too
much in my opinion. Paula D.
can cook no doubt, but she’s
not there cooking for you, if
she had been maybe 4 stars

I went for the first time last Friday and I must say it was truly a lot of food. I was really good I did not go back for 2nds. A wide selection of sea food, ribs, steaks, veggies, & deserts. I went to the Comedy Show after and I most say it was a great night!

I have to agree with another reviewer who laughs at the people complaining that the Paula Deen Buffet (a) is a buffet, (b) features unhealthy food from the Southern tradition, and © does not feature host and wait staff up to the standards of a fine dining restaurant. All of those things are true, and it is important that you realize them before you go. If you object to any of that, you should eat somewhere else.
On the other hand, those of us who willingly come here (and may or may not make entire trips to Tunica for the purpose of eating here) happen to like it. The food is quite good, both better quality than your usual casino buffet fare and geared specifically toward the Paula Deen aesthetic Don’t miss the crab cakes, the hoecakes, or the actual cakes. This is a place where you will wreck your diet — own it. Enjoy yourself.

What can I say about this place? Nothing really special about it in my opinion. A little overpriced if you don’t get a comp meal from the casino but I can see why people would pay to eat here. Some of the food seemed like typical food you find at buffets so you know what you are getting into. The good thing about this place: decent crab legs, decent oysters, and one of the better buffet fried chickens I’ve had.

First of all, I should confess, I’m not a big fan of buffets. But, having been outvoted on a recent golf/​gambling vacation to Tunica, Mississippi, we lined up at Paula Deen’s Buffet to eat. Being upstairs from Harrah’s Casino, it was extremely convenient and we were quickly seated. Plates in hand, we spread out to see what was available and soon reconvened to compare notes. We discovered all the foods that were the likely causes of Paula’s newly announced diabetes. Lots and lots of fried, greasy, fatty, rich and did I say … fried foods. It was nearly impossible to eat healthy and still feel like you had eaten. Most of the people there, made no such attempt at eating healthy and plied food so high, I don’t know how they managed to keep it balanced while walking back to their tables. We also had the unnerving experience of seeing another patron dipping her finger in the various sauces for a little impromptu taste test. All this confirmed my dislike for buffets and this one in particular.
NOTE: Since I had been asked to apply a tip to the bill before I was ever assigned a table, the waitress ALREADY knew what she was being tipped. Consequently, the waitress either rewarded, or punished patrons based on her idea of a fair tip. I was punished. «No refills for you!!!»

Price was good and the food was just OK. I felt like I was going to die after eating there. I know that’s what I should have expected from Paula Deen, but the amount of fatty, rich, greasy food was more than I ever imagined or my body could handle.
Also do not eat the eggs Benedict. Its a hard boiled egg served on a deep fried green tomato. I don’t know why they hard boil the egg but it was by far the biggest disappointment of the place.

It’s Paula Deen so expect fried chicken, mashed potatoes smothered in butter, ham and biscuits, several hundred desserts. And butter. Did I mention the butter?
Frankly I was kind of impressed. $ 13.99 for pretty good food. Yes — the cashiers outside who ring you in are kind of jaded/​snippy but whatever.
There’s a huge amount of choice, I got some fried chicken that was really good and the salad bar was great. Mr H liked the oyster station and the mac n’ cheese.
It’s not Las Vegas but it’s pretty good for the middle of Tunica. I’d happily go again next time :)
I thought it was kind of fascinating how people PILED their plates so high. You can go as many times as you like…

Why 2 stars? Cuz it was COMPED to me — otherwise it would be 1.
It’s been 2 yrs since my last visit to the Paula Dean Buffet and yikes, this place is a ripoff. Go over to Goldstrike or Horseshoe for some decent food at half the price.
Last Saturday, close to ½ of us in line had casino comped meals and the only waiting was to pay. No wait to be seated once you pay so it’s apparent that they are not getting a lot of customers here.
Best thing — probably the fried chicken and you could drive into Memphis and get better fried chicken at Gus’s.
Crab legs were so wet in water that the insides were saturated. Lines were so long for crab legs that they were just throwing a bunch on the plates and sending people on their way.
Dessert: Sanitation is a problem. 1 server managing the whole bar. Pies and cookies were numerous. Patrons cross contaminating tongs and brushing up on pies. I could see someone not aware of this problem having an allergy attack cuz of cross contamination.
AVOID: Chargrilled oysters. See Anthony’s review. Oysters are so dried out that you can’t even get them off the shell. The steak or beef at the meat station was unmanned and looked so dry that no normal person who knows food went near this.
SERVICE: I pray that you get some service. Our waiter stood at a distance and never made an effort to refill glasses in a timely fashion. It was almost as if on a timer he would bring pitchers to refill drinks in intervals. When we had an accident and knocked a glass over, waiter was not around to ask for extra napkins or bring a towel to help clean. When we asked a hostess for napkins, she snickered and said that was not her responsibility and we need to ask our server.

Hey y’all! How lucky to find myself in such a topical restaurant this weekend, what with Paula’s recent dia-​beetus news and subsequent pharmaceutical endorsement. Unsurprisingly, it’s mostly fried, starchy, fatty fare — expected and not necessarily bad. It’s the south.
Cardboard cutouts of Paula allow those waiting in line photo opportunities — a nice touch. We only paid $ 18 each for the buffet, a low price that bumps the PDB from two stars to three for this review. Ample Paula labeled products are available in the foyer to the buffet, a wide range of stuff from pre-​made cookies to sweatshirts.
The Food: Was inconsistent. Nearly every southern favorite is represented in some fashion, though nothing is done particularly well. Collard greens were a salt-​bath, and the Sunday-​breakfast food was very poor. Soggy waffles and rubbery eggs. The shrimp and grits were quite good and the sausage stuffed peppers were excellent. The salad bar was nicely stocked though devoid of customers. There was a wide selection of very average stuff, and the average customer probably leaves very satisfied.
There were a lot of bad offerings, and a Unilocal review could easily focus on some of them and torch PDB, but I am trying to be realistic. There are effectively no other options without a significant drive, other than the completely atrocious 37 Steakhouse located in the same property. It was inexpensive, and you could certainly find several plate-​fulls of good food if you looked hard enough. Service was warm and friendly, despite some of the antics of my half-​drunken group.

After reading Anthony’s review I, unfortunately, have to agree with him. Friends and I were very excited to hear Paula Deen was opening a restaurant at Harrahs so we jumped into the car and headed down for some gaming and then to meet up for lunch at the new restaurant.
The line was long but I was told that the wait would be more than worth the excellent southern food waiting on the other end of the long line. At the time the people taking the money weren’t rude just a bit overwhelmed by the sheer numbers wanting the Paula Deen experience.
I wish I could say I loved it, I wish I could say I liked it, I wish I could even say I could eat it but the food was horrid. Everything was dry and I also tried the oysters only to quietly and attracting as little attention as possible deposited them in my napkin after tasting them. Perhaps it was because the restaurant was just opening and there were large numbers of people wanting to try her food, perhaps it was the cooks scheduled for the day… I did read through the reviews and people are either absolutely loving the food or hating it.
If there are better days to go where the food is 5 star I’d love to know and try one more time to see if there is a change. I’ve tried a couple of Paula’s recipes at home, cutting back significantly on the butter, sugar and salt and have found them to be very tasty and easy to prepare. For us a calorie loaded meal is a treat and one we rarely get so we were very disappointed in the quality and went home hungry.

A harrowing experience. Aside from the onslaught of fat and fry this place is horrendous. After dining here, for the experience and novelty, in moderation, I became so ill that I spent the night vomiting and shivering. Food safety seems to be over looked at this bastion of cholesterol and food baking under warming lights. My first clue, oysters, grilled then smothered in butter, only to be left under lights so that the butter could congeal into a solid again. It was at that sight that I should have backed away, yet I stayed and suffered.
I’d recommend this place if, for example you need to very quickly lose a few pounds, if you’d like to ruin an otherwise wonderful experience in the nations third largest gaming region… or if you’d like to stop your heart, contract diabetes or earn the right to say that «I survived the Paula Deen Buffet».
Due to the non existent food safety practices and my bout of food poisoning, I have no choice but to give the mecca of fried and butter 1 star. My only regret, aside from going, is that I had to give any stars.

Paula Deen. Oh Paula Deen. I have been a Paula Deen fan since I first heard her utter «How ya doin’ ya’ll» on her first Food Network show. She’s the the kinda lady you could wrap up in a bow and use in a pinch as a substitute Grandma. I had always wanted to visit Savannah to try her restaurant and see if her food was as delicious as it looks on TV. When I found out she had a restaurant just 30 minutes outside of Memphis, I had to go check it out. I will admit that it was a huge let down when I found out it was a buffet. In my experience, buffets are never as good as ordering your food individually off of a menu. Regardless, we had to hop in the car and take the short (yet very boring) drive to Tunica.
The Paula Deen Buffet is located upstairs at Harrah’s (not that you could miss it. There are huge blaring signs with her big white-​haired head on them plastered all over the casino pointing you in the direction of her food) Here’s where it gets a little bit confusing. You must stop and pay for your meal first at one of 4 cash registers adjacent to and located outside the actual restaurant. The gals that sit behind these desks are never very friendly, nor patient, but I am willing to give them a bit of a break. It cannot be easy waiting on the masses or the types of folks that frequent casino buffets. So, grin and bear them and just remember, a little bit of their rudeness is worth what is waiting for you behind those doors.
Once you pay, you enter through a rather large gift shop (there are so many awesome things you can pick up here– Paula candles, cook books, t-​shirts, bakeware etc) and stand in a line while yet another person will eventually cart you off to your table. Get ready kids cuz now it is time to pig out– and pig out YOU WILL!
There are about 6 – 7 different buffet stands offering up different food. I know it changes based on the time of day, or day of the week you go– but everything I have had on this woman’s buffet was no short of delicious. Pulled pork, fried green tomatoes, shrimp, hoe cakes (my personal fav!), casseroles galore, oysters and chicken just to name a few. Oh and the dessert stand. OH. MY. HEAVENS. Mmmmmmm. The best part of this extravaganza is it allows you to try all sorts of Paula dishes without having to make them in your own kitchen. Once we were able to figure out which were our favorites, we went home and printed out the recipes from the Food Network website. I am happy to say that those recipes remain in my dinner staples.
I also hosted Christmas this past year for our family. I decided to change it up a bit and rather than using our family recipes, I tried all Paula recipes. I had NO leftovers people! NONE! Even if you aren’t a fan of buffets, it is worth it to go here, just to get an idea of how wonderful of a cook this woman really is. It’s the kinda food your Grandma would make, but with much more flavor and flair. This has quickly become a favorite of ours, and we always make sure to take our guests from out of town to Paula Deen’s for dinner before they leave. Really– it is so close to Memphis it is worth the short drive.
If you are visiting the area, you should definitely make the trip and peruse all the wondrous foods Miss Deen has to offer. Let me know if you enjoy the red velvet sandwich cookies as much as I do. Seriously– a HUGE slice of heaven in your mouth!

We stopped at the Paula Dean Buffet which is upstairs at the casino. I LOVED the southern feel of the place. The décor was fantastic and overall the buffet area was so inviting. Where else can you sit on an indoor, ‘outdoor’ porch!?!
The Watermelon Cooler was a delicious drink (I had the non-​alcoholic one). I was very pleased with the selection of food and it was all delicious! I was so happy that I could get my southern food fix. My favorite items were the fried green tomatoes, pulled pork, chicken and asparagus pesto, catfish and the pecan pie was really delicious! We had a very sweet waitress too.
I would definitely come back here again!