Smiley's Buffet and Catering — Restaurant in Saskatoon

Is it possible to give negative stars!?!? I am appalled by the service here. Took my two young sons for supper last night (2 and 7). The 7 year old was following the server to the table to be seated with my 2 year old behind him and myself following. When we almost get to the table my 2 year old trips and falls on his face and starts screaming and crying ( he was also holding a large toy car that hit his face) so I pick him up and console him in the booth, getting him to calm down. It lasted all of 20 to 30 seonds until I got him calm enough to ask what was hurting so I could check him, when I heard a tapping on the table. I ignored it because as a dad my child comes first, especially when hurt, yet the incessant tapping continued as well as someone asking a question. I took a couple more seconds to make sure my 2 year old was good and turned to see the server standing at the table tapping a pen on the table saying "drinks?". I put aside my annoyance and politely asked my 7 year old what he would like to drink. He asks the server "what kind of pop do you have?" She says "Pepsi". I said "Pepsi. Only Pepsi?" She sighs and says "Pepsi products". I take a deep breath and ask "what would that entail"? (She still is tapping the pen on the table) She replies " Pepsi, sprite..." Then paused for about 5 seconds and when she realized I was going to wait quickly says "root beer, dr. Pepper." My son asks for his drink and the adventure begins. I go and get a plate, and have a nice piece of fried chicken on it. I eat some of the food on the plate, then go to dive into the fried chicken, and that's when I see it. A hair. Now I have long hair so I initially thought it was mine, So i go to pick it off...and it's fried into the batter. That's it, appetite ruined. I nicely wait and allow my kids to eat their full and get deserts etc. I waited until there was no one else and the table directly beside us as they were almost done when this happened, then I nicely pointed out to the server that there was a hair in the deep fried batter of the chicken. She picks it up, tries to pull the hair out and can't , shrugs her shoulders and says "oh well" and walks off and dumps the plate out. Seriously, I don't even have words to describe my frustration. For the simple fact that there were a lot of little kids there and what appeared to be a night for mothers of some sort ( judging by the room of moms dressed up and the roses to be given to them) I couldn't say anything because it probably wouldn't have been good. I've been to this buffet a lot and my older son who wasn't with us at the time has this place as his eatery of choice, yet I will NEVER go back. I will tell every person I know to stay away, I won't go for my kids sports roundups, nothing. I have read a lot of reviews on here and not once has the owner ever responded. I don't expect him too, especially if this is the kind of service you get. Completely disgusted and will let...

Very good selection of hot foods. Fried chicken was amazing. Dry ribs delish. All Chinese food was very fresh, egg rolls hot and full of tastey filling, crisp outside, not greasy at all, stir fry chicken full of quality white meat, same with chicken balls pure breast meat, fried rice so yummy, many lovely sushi pieces again kept full nothing run out, 2 kinds of soup, amazing ribs as it was Rib Tuesday, Greek and honey garlic thick big ribs tender and seasoned perfectly and everything was just replenished very quickly so it was all excellent. Extremely good salad bar, many fruits, watermelon, pineapple, melons and tons of fresh veg plus many different salads like macaroni, marinated beans, loads more. Their fried fish was moist and tastey, perogiese cooked to perfection, lovely real mash potatoes, potato wedges crisp on the outside tender and moist inside, too many dishes to name but most of all I was impressed with how the food was kept refilled despite the place being very busy. Lovely dessert choices, pies, cakes, ice cream, sticky toffee pudding, delish creamy rice pudding, tarts, cupcakes and more again all kept clean and loaded up. They didnt run out of a thing. FAR FAR BETTER VALUE THAN SABAROSOS WHOSE BAR DISHES ARE DRY AND SEEM DAYS OLD. Free pop with your meal plus a good choice of drinks you add on. Staff at Smilies was not attentive but really they aren't needed. I never saw my server again after I sat down so tipped accordingly. Would have preferred to tip cooks and fellows running to keep the food all so lovely and replenished. Best value place I have eaten at. The decor is really old, a bit run down looking and ugly but clean enough and the place is huge and you have plenty of room to move despite the place being very busy. I know I'm missing listing a lot of food choices but I would FULLY AND HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS PLACE. $17.50 for adult. I see there is a senior 65 plus discount and they get free add on drinks too. Go hungry. You won't ne disappointed. I wish they would make the decor nicer and that the staff was more interested in taking away used plates but again, not a biggy as you can just drop your own plate in a bus tray sitting all over and you can get fresh plates and cutlery yourself. If you want to order more drinks you might have to hunt the server down. My guy was really cold and bored sounding but I didnt care. Food...

So after 25 years I believe this restaurant has changed ownership but I can say it is just as good as it was back then. It's lots of food and all you can eat of it. My only dislikes are the food is hard to keep warm in the format they serve it (large steel roasters but there are no lids for convenience sake.

I mean for breakfast they have a choice of pancakes, French toast, waffles!!