The Golden Corral Experience 3/22/2019

While only having a limited experience with other all-you-can-eat buffet franchises (twice- both disappointing  ) I came to my invite at a new local Golden Corral for a birthday party with low expectation.  I visualized limited  steam table, insipid ,no flavor selections in a rather unkempt institutional atmosphere.

Very attractive building with plenty of parking

The building being one of the newer Golden Corral’s is very attractive, situated with plenty of parking in a attractive setting. The large structure has a country lodge look to it.  Even on a busy Friday we found handicapped parking right near the entrance.
Entering, I noticed on one side of the building were various wooden tables (4, 6, 8 and 12 tops) with sturdy chairs grouped into wall and partition divided settings, so as to mask the size of the dining area .  It helped make the area seem more friendly than a massive food hall.  Everything appeared attractively neat and clean.  Even with the restaurant size, the noise level made conversations possible.

Add partitions help divide the large area into smaller , more family comfortable settings, while keeping tbles apart for easy conversations

 Additional room divisions break up the large spaces into more "friendly feeling" spaves

The entire other side of the restaurant was the grand buffet,  separated into food type areas, placed in a staggered manner so it didn’t appear at all like a cafeteria line.  The various food stations fronted the kitchens behind.  There were stations for soup, for salad, for grill, for bakery, fresh fruits, for pasta, pizza,  veggies, meats, fish, 4 kinds of shrimp,  for sides , for a chocolate fountain, and for a large dessert area with soft-serve ice creams.  All food was attractively presented with enough space so that there were no lines to speak of.  The only waits I saw were at the grill where orders for burgers and steaks cooked to order took a few minutes.

The Chocolate Fountain

Only a small capture of the dessert area. I could make a home here

A host took us to a designated small group area.  Well lighted, with many windows, with 3, 12 person banquet tables, it was set up for the party with a gift table and bingo items.  We were given flatware packets and our soft drink orders taken and swiftly presented.  From there we  were were free to set off to graze to sample every possible offering we desired.  The garlic  rolls were super.

The restaurant has its own bakery so the baked goods were fresh, extending into the cakes and pies.  Getting ahead of myself I checked out the dessert area.  Pies of apple, blueberry, chocolate cream and cherry surrounded cake stands of carrot cake, chocolate  ganache, cheesecake.  There was also banana pudding, apple cobbler, and bread pudding. I breezed past the jello's and fruit compotes.

I hit the salad bar- in my opinion equal to those I have experienced at Las Vegas hotels .  Extravagant and fresh. Choice of 6 dressings;  2 fat free

While many offerings (over 150) present difficult choices, some highlights for me were the breaded and deep fried okra, home made from scratch meatloaf, steak fries (my weakness and they were tasty), those fluffy garlic rolls, teriyaki grilled salmon, mac- n-cheese, the garlic shrimp scampi  on skewer,   the chocolate fountain with dipped fresh strawberries, pineapple, and melon, cheese pizza, chocolate soft serve on fresh banana pudding and bacon cauliflower.  The unsweeted tea was nice but I would have loved a glass of wine (no alcohol license)

So while I was pleased by the variety that, while not gourmet, was all tasty and attractively presented in  constantly replenished offerings, my fascination was both the quality level and the price that they maintain for this unlimited item meal.

Our table was constantly bussed and our glasses attentively refilled.

I’ll be back to eat at the Golden Corral.  Along with Portillo’s/Bernoli’s, it has been added to favorites