Okay I know I never write reviews about chain restaurants but for Golden Corral, I'll make an exception.
I am writing this review for 3 reasons:
1. Southern California does have any Golden Corrals, so this is an entirely new experience.
2. Every time I drove by, there is a line out the door - so it must be good right?
3. I love buffets.
First off, the wait on a Wednesday night was 45 minutes at 8pm. Talk about a wait. People are all pushy and stuff in line too. I think people we're all headed the same place, why be rude?
It's around $12 per person, which is a good price.
So we finally get in and the place is filled to capacity. I scanned all the offerings and I gotta say there wasn't much. They had an extensive dessert area but I was more interested in what I was having for dinner. Off the top of my head, here is what I saw:
1. Popcorn shrimp
2. Fried Fish
3. Steak fries
4. Pizza
5. Meatloaf
6. Pasta
7. Ribs
8. Ham
9. Salad bar
It was okay quality. The popular stuff was often left empty. I tried some of the things I listed and it was okay tasting after having to fight with rude folks cutting in line or just hogging everything.
I guess what people really like here is that they offer steak and its supposedly cooked to your desired temperature [which it wasn't]. The portions given were about 1 inch by 3 inch rectangular piece. I know it's hard to satisfy the masses but having to get up multiple times to piece together a steak got annoying.
The staff was actually really nice. I really don't know how they deal with the crazy, rude and greedy clientele. I think I'd have a headache each and every day I worked there.
All in all, it wasn't worth the wait. It's similar to Hometown buffet. I'd rather just go to some cheap Chinese buffet locally.