Ding How Buffet & Grill — Restaurant in Albany

Edit 20 Oct. 2024: I am knocking some stars off my previous review, given that things here have taken a turn for the worse. First off, on my last two visits there were no egg rolls. At a Chinese buffet?!?! Second, this most recent visit, there were no fried shrimp. At a Chinese buffet?!?! And the squid, which I have mentioned previously, were so stringy and chewy as to be almost inedible. And the staff seem just a bit more . . . indifferent? You want a refill? It might happen if you don't ask. The servers actually seem kinda' sad recently.

My overall point? When you are charging what you charge, and providing less and less, and also veering dangerously close to being similar to "that" place in Corvallis, you need to think long and hard about why you are still open. Thing is, there were plenty of people in there the last two visits. So, what do I know? Well, I know that a good (American) Chinese Buffet does better than you are doing recently. Kinda' sad. I want to wish you the best. But you need to do more.

Original Review: I think the majority of the reviews get it right: this is your typical Chinese buffet, common to most any town in America. I have been coming to this location since it was another Chinese buffet . . . the one with the floors that weren't level that eventually suffered from, hmm, 'electrical panel lightning'?!?! This property is a step up in every way and continues to do exactly what it is supposed to do.

Options are typical. There is a good amount of variety. They offer sushi, which is so-so (it's a Chinese buffet) and a Mongolian-style grill (which is kinda' on you when it comes to how good it is). And, the thing is, if the item you got isn't good . . . don't eat it! This most recent visit, I played 'find the rubber band' with the squid. On the other hand, the shrimp were fine, the sweet and sour chicken was shockingly moist, and the pot-stickers were acceptable. I left happy, because I knew where I was eating.

The staff are prompt. The cost, relative to everything these days, is fine. They don't rush you out. They do take away your dirty plates and bring you refills of your drink of choice.

Thing is, I think some people who are critical of this place don't understand where they are eating and/or might have 'Market of Choice tastes on a Grocery Outlet budget'. Are there really bad Chinese buffets? Absolutely. I went to one in Forest Grove that could have been the setting for a horror movie. I also know of another one, a place where fried food goes to die in the stomachs of 20-somethings, in a town close by that has a place where people go to avoid getting educated. So, please, stop with your wailing about the costs or the quality of the food. You want a really good buffet? Go to Vegas and pay upwards of $80. Or go to a Brazilian buffet (avoid the salad bar: it's a trap!) and pay around the same. The cliche is true: you get that for which you paid. And don't forget: the people watching is included in the price. It can be a real treat (esp. since you know some of them are going to saddle up to their computers and spout nonsense after finishing four plates of food).

This is the sort of place where you best heed the '1 Hour Rule': don't come here an hour before it closes. If you do, that is your dumb luck. You think they are going to keep making things fresh as it gets close to closing? Hint: they won't.

I don't come here a lot. But I always come knowing what to expect. Average (and some pretty good) food, and a lot of it. This place does exactly what is expected of it. And, while I can certainly understand some things going sideways, I also think that many times that has more to do with the person shoveling stuff down their gullet and less to do with Ding How (which, come to find out, isn't a...

The terrible service ruined it for us. We were a large party, and I don't know if the server Jenny just assumed that the children would not be well behaved or what but we had not been there 10 seconds before she was very rude. She knew we were a large party, and immediately asked what our drink orders were. We ordered maybe five drinks, and by the time the second person ordered she was starting to be very impatient and pushy, "I have other tables to wait on" "you need to hurry up". We weren't taking forever, we were unfamiliar with what drinks they offered and asked. Our girls wanted to share a more expensive drink, and she probably repeated herself five times that they would not bring an extra cup. (We only asked once, because one of the girls had a slight cold, and accepted it when she told us the first time). If she didn't have time to take our order she should have done her other tasks first. When she did bring our drinks she just tossed them on the table willie nilly and we had to figure out who's was who's, and we had to ask for another water. We were there to celebrate our 10 year old twins' birthday, and she very rudely demanded that we show proof that it was their birthday (she obviously didn't believe us). We showed her the original Facebook post announcing their birth, and she acted like there was no date on the post until we persisted and pointed it out. She made it very obvious that she was annoyed when she allowed them their birthday meals. (The stated policy is 2 purchased meals for each birthday meal, we had nine purchased meals.) The children in the group were extremely well behaved other than one sad toddler at the end (who was not having a meltdown). No spilled drinks, no accidents of any kind, and they were very polite saying excuse me and please and thank you. Another server was ringing us up when Jenny came over and rudely grabbed the ticket from her, taking over. After handing her my card I stopped to give my sad toddler a hug, and before even handing me the receipt to sign she (very condescendingly) reminded me that I needed to sign it, as if I didn't know that already. I don't look like a 17-year-old, I'm almost 40. She didn't smile once until she was handing me the receipt to give her a tip, and was very obviously fake. We will be going elsewhere for our...

Can't put with negative stars but would if I could

Never in my life have I felt so embarrassed and mortified! My husband and I were at a restaurant Friday evening that claims to be an all you can eat buffet. Ding How In Albany Oregon discriminates against for getting a second plate of crab. Being a holiday weekend it was busy...lots of people around. The Restaurant manager looked right at me while I was dishing up my plate after everyone had been waiting 20 mins for crab to be cooked, and told the cook to shut the boiler down.

This was also after other restaurant patrons had asked when there was going to be more crab available. When we asked about their discrimination policy, because they were telling people we were eating too much, at an ALL YOU CAN EAT buffet, we were told people were eating too much taking more than one plate of food. "We have to limit food", they stated.

This was Friday evening of LABOR DAY WEEKEND! Isn't that the point of a buffet advertised as All you can eat? But wait there's more!!!! Immediately afterwards leaving the restaurant I returned home and was immediately sick. Both ends. I was sick all night into the next day with food poisoning from their food. I will never be returning to their establishment! I will not pay to be discriminated against for eating a second plate at an all you...