Sakura Buffet

The only buffet that is worth the price, and to be very honest the only buffet in town where I don’t worry about catching ecoli. (I hope I spelled that right)

I am an avid traveler who travels all around the US and I can confidently say that Sakrua beats any Chinese buffet of the similar price range. Their foods are pretty fresh for a Chinese buffet and they carry a wide variety of food items. Tastes are fine, too.

Didn’t like the food so much. But I have to say the employees are very friendly and polite! I give the employees 5 stars but the buffet in general was ehh

I went 4 years ago and never returned… it was nasty i found a hair in one of the food trays which made me so grossed out i lost my appetite. its dirty and smells i dont understand why its always so full of people all the time.

I was very excited to try this place out, but was very disappointed. The food was not good at all, the sushi was plain and simple, I asked to of the sushi shefs is there were going to be sashimi and they seemed very confused and the service was horrible! First I asked for a water, and they got a water and I was like maybe they misunderstood and I let it go. Then when the tap came I saw that they charged me for a soda and I told the waitress and she said «u got a tea» and tried charging me the tea for the price of a soda! I told her the tea is .50 cents and she took the tap very mad. To top it off when she dropped off the tab she stood there just looking, like I’ve worked in a restaurant and u do not do that. I usually give a 20% tip but this time because the waitress was horrible and rude and the food was not good i felt like they didnt deserve any tips what’s so ever. Lastly when she grabbed the tab I signed, she took it very rudely. DONT COME HERE food is not good nor service.

Okay, with this place being in Salinas I expected the worst but it actually was one of the better inexpensive asian buffets i’ve been to. They have all day «dinner» items on Sunday for about 13 bucks which is a steal, and I guess they have a to-​go option where you can pack a plate and take it home. They had a lot of seafood which was surprising for the cost. You just gotta be selective about what you eat, dont do any white rice or those steamed buns without filling bc they’ll fill you up. One of the sushi rolls was pretty good (cali-​ish roll with avocado on top) but stay away from any of the raw fish and sashimi… definitely not fresh. All in all you can get your money’s worth which is what you want from a buffet!

Best asian buffet I’ve ever dined at. The price for lunch ($ 8.99) isn’t bad at all, and they had lots of variety. Plenty of seafood (shrimp, mussels, oysters), delicious chicken wings, 3 kinds of soup, and mini steamed buns! They even have a mongolian stir-​fry station with a cook. They also have a few random American food items, like fries, pizza, fried chicken, and garlic bread.
There’s only like 4 different kinds of sushi rolls, but there were 2 kinds that actually had fish inside. One had hamachi and the other had cooked salmon. It tasted like salmon skin.
I was so happy to see a tub of boiled eggs sliced in half, kimchi, and spicy octopus. I love cold dishes like these. The placement was kind of random though; they were next to some dessert items.
Overall, very satisfying buffet experience. Lots of the seafood buffets back in the bay are so overpriced with food that just isn’t up to par for the price. However, keep in mind that they charge for water. We made that mistake and thought water was complimentary, so our total ended up being higher than we expected it to be.

Good service from Joyce, but besides that the only other thing that was good was the egg drop mushroom soup. The sushi bar is yuk and crapola with the buffet being low quality food (before cooking) so if you are looking for great food at a great price then skip this place and go to next place whatever that is.

Got pulled along here while visiting Salinas. Honestly I’ve heard some mixed reviews about the place from some friends, so originally didn’t have complaints coming here. I figured when we came in on a week night, it should be decent enough, there was lots of people there for dinner.
First off, the forks given to our table were oddly bent, as if someone had used the ends to pry open soda tabs on more than one occasion. Second, the utensils looked grimey like it wasn’t washed very well. And our table was still a little sticky, honestly the whole place gave an unsanitary feel. Third, the staff seemed ok, not as attentive with drink refills but i get they were busy. Fourth, and major deal breaker — food lacked taste/​flavor, and appeal. Only reason I even got a plate of food (fortunately small servings of like 4 dishes) was because I was with family, and they wouldn’t not let me eat. I ate a chicken wing, took a bite out of some chow mien and some other pork dish before finally calling it quits. I get it, there’s not a lot of options in Salinas, but I’d rather go anywhere but here.

The food is about average, but does lack flavor. I would say every time I go I absolutely hate the customer service. The waiter stands by you to see if your going to tip him. Which is sooo annoying!!! I only eat the stir fry in the back, other than that I also like the fruit. Sakura needs to work on their cleanliness and freshness.

I’ve visited this place a couple of times and they were pretty good, except for today, this is probably the worst. The food was completely stale and almost rock solid. The food was too crunchy and I couldn’t even taste the flavor of the fried rice. The only good food I’ve had was the sushi, and it had a pretty bland taste too. Either the cooks are getting lazy with their work, or it has been under the hot lamp for too long. It’s lacking pretty much everything.

I first came here I liked here! Everything is so perfect. Good service. Good food. All is well

Very cheap but the food was not so great. The house chicken was hard, stale fries, nothing was really flavorful in my opinion. They did have a lot of food to choose from. I think the best thing here was the fruits and the ice cream.

Okay I give four stars for Sakura Buffet as a buffet because it had a great selection, low price, and decent flavor. Keep in mind, it is a buffet. You can’t expect to get the best «all you can eat crab legs» at ~$ 12 a person for dinner AND still get the most tender roast beef around (in fact it was quite firm and bland in flavor). So that being said, I was satisfied with the food.
The service was also good, with a quiet server picking up plates every few minutes or so and refilling drinks as well. Other than that they just left us all alone to stuff our faces, which is what we came to do.
Some bad things though– seemed a bit dirty when we went there. It may have been because we were there at peak dinner time (~6pm) on a Saturday night and we were all nearly back to back at the tables with screaming children and the constant sound of gnawing on crab legs (that was me actually…) but it did seem like they could have done a bit better keeping the place clean.
Overall, good place. I don’t think I’ll have the urge for a buffet again for a while but if I do, I’ll probably come back here.
Oh, and after 5 hours I am still not sick from all of the sushi and sashimi (always a risk at a buffet) and so I guess everything is great! :-D

Visited here on 09/​12/​2014 Basic Chinese food in a buffet.
Lacks flavor in all the dishes some just saturated with salt. I’m going to start off at –5 stars and work in the positives.
+1 star price was very good for a lunch buffet. +1 star for the Scoop your own ice cream was very good. Everything else is just blah meh!
It seems like all the locals of Salinas eats here. We were the only Chinese family eating here and was getting stares and comments by the locals. I heard them say Chino and other bad words in Spanish.
Was just passing by after visiting Gilroy, anyways I’m never coming back to the this racist shit hole called Salinas.

I love love love the food and many options one thing i dislike well two things
1-​i dislike is the waitresses staring you down waiting for tips. I usually ask for my tab before my dessert so when i pay and not hand them tips they wait there until we give them something and if you give them too little they get mad and give attitude.
2-​the sushi bar area i love the california roll and the one witj avacado which im still not sure the name is but the ladys at the area stare as if i cant have a certain amount or dont like to be asked to make the roll we like. Unless given a tip as well. I dont mind tipping its just the fact they expect us to tip… managers need to speak to them… also why are the waiters only a certain race and host are hispanic i feel discriminated sometimes.

Hmm
Pros:
· LOTS of options
· Fresh stir fry in back
· Some dishes are pretty damn good
· Pretty cheap
Cons:
· Kind if chaotic
· Loud as hell
· People not watching their children
· Confused staff

This place is a hole. Food is mediocre and there are way too many little kids running around the food area. Granted, I did go on a weekend, but the choice of establishment and day were not my choice. Management needs to limit the little kids walking around randomly. Also, their bussing area is open so you can see them flinging dirty plates and utensils into buckets.
Speaking of flinging, we had a booth on the other side of the «wall» from the bussing area. The separator was a bamboo blind so the bottom could flap open. Whomever was on the other side threw a container with red liquid against the bottom of the bamboo blind so some of the liquid escaped and splashed onto my mom and I. It got on my hair, skin, and into my bag. I lost my appetite but my mom was a little more forgiving. The waiters knew it happened but didn’t offer to comp anything, we had to ask. Even then they only comped one meal. At that point I just wanted to get out of there. Unless you really want crab legs, don’t eat here, ever. I left pissed and irritated. Bad service, mediocre food, and just gross.

The food was really good! Tons of choices and lots of snow crab and sushi (my two favorites). When we pulled up it looked packed but we did not have to wait more than a minute to be seated.
Ana was helping us and she was very nice and kept our beverage glasses full and our table cleared of plates.
It was a bit packed but I did not mind because that means they bring out fresh food more often.
The seafood was really good and I was impressed they offered more than just California rolls. They actually had fresh tuna.
They also had kid friendly food and lots of fruit which was perfect for my kiddos.
We will definitely be going back soon. We tried this place despite some not so positive reviews and let me tell you I am glad we did. If you are looking for great food options, at a price you cannot beat, that is family friendly, then try this place!

I can always count on their food being hot and fresh. They have a pretty good variety of food but I wish with all the seafood they offer they could make a better variety of hand rolls. They always seem to have the same ingredients in them and they just change the look of the rolls by using different toppings or sauces. We went for lunch today and it was busy. The service was… well they’re wasn’t really any service to speak of after we got seated We asked for 2 iced teas and only got one. They came by only once to get our used plates. We went through atleast 6 plates and were running out of room. My husband had to go get his own refill on tea because they never offered to refill it. Lastly, their egg rolls were slightly undercooked I wish they would have fried them alittle longer so they would have been crispy and not mushy.
Another thing on my wish list~ Please offer low sodium soy sauce. Don’t let their green bottles fool you, they are NOT low sodium. I tried it and then asked if they had any. Noo just what’s on the table.
All in all I like this place. It’s WAAYY better than East Kylin Buffet!