Route 66 Family Buffet — Restaurant in Amarillo

Took my mother. On a Monday evening. The whole half of building was closed off. Had to sit on the left side only. I got water. The buffet was not wiped down good. Asked for enchiladas no less than 5 times and the ones brought out looked dry, no sauce on top. Older people on walkers and handicapped started coming in. About 10 couples and some older ladies with their adult children. I was squished in close to other tables. I always used napkins handling the spoons for serving my plate and mother's plate. The servers use the same utensils and don't put new ones out that are cleaned. Gravy and food on the serving buffet spoons handles. An older lady got in my face to speak walking by but never spoke. She was on a cane. Needless to say, it landed me a very bad bad cold with sore throat, hard to swallow, fever, diarrhea, and nausea with aches eating at this place. My mother got sick 2 days later from same symptoms, only lots of congestion. Both of us went to EMERGENCY URGENT CARE. I thought I would never get better after 5 days. Still sick. Sore throat almost gone but still have it. I will never eat here again Not clean utensils for serving the food plus the mexican food has no mexican seasoning and the taste is terrible on the mexican food. I just had to share. And you take a chance with your health eating a buffet. Scared to eat here again. Its where older people eat cheap and the restaurant serves food that looks like leftover from the weekend but noone knows for sure, my opinion. Not happy with the dishes at all. And...

This was my first time eating at Route 66 Buffet, and overall, I would rate it 3 stars. The food gets a 3/5, the service a 4/5, and the atmosphere a 3/5.

When I called to get a price, I was given one amount, but when we arrived, the experience was different. The young girl at the front, who I assume also answered the phone, didn’t have a welcoming attitude. She wasn’t rude, but she didn’t serve with a smile either.

Additionally, the cost ended up being higher than quoted because she didn’t mention that paying with a card costs more than paying with cash. I feel this should have been disclosed over the phone.

The food options were not as extensive as I expected for a buffet, and there were limited accommodations for dietary restrictions. I’m allergic to onions, and the entire Hispanic food section had onions in every dish. There were two sections for salads, one section for what I would call kids’ menu items like mac and cheese, chicken nuggets, and French fries, and a dessert section with cakes.

Unfortunately, the ice cream machine was out of vanilla, which was disappointing since I only eat vanilla, but that’s just a personal preference. I felt limited to roast meat, mac and cheese, fried chicken, meat patties, and bread rolls.

The waitress was very kind, which is why I rated the service 4/5. The atmosphere was nothing special, so I rated it 3/5...

An article I'd read had compared this place to Furr's Cafeteria, since it's in one of their old buildings. I thought it sounded like a great place to go.

I wish it was still Furr's! The roast beef was dry and had no flavor. That was my all-time favorite to get from Furr's, along with mashed potatoes and brown gravy! This place, the potatoes were thin and spread across the plate, and the brown gravy wasn't even that good.

What else wasn't up to par with Furr's? Their coleslaw! The flavor just wasn't there. It had pieces of darkened cabbage. Their cucumbers are sliced thick, so they had to be cut to bite-sized, but the seed parts looked like the verge of spoilage. The liver was dry, and the fiesta chicken was dry.

What did I like? My youngest loved the kid station with spaghetti and pizza. I did enjoy the carved ham and the beef patties that are sitting in broth to keep them moist. Their salad with broccoli and cauliflower wasn't bad. Their self-serve ice cream has vanilla, chocolate, and swirl. Finally, although their fiesta chicken was dry, I did like the flavor of whatever they had on the top of it... until I bit into the hidden jalapeño piece. 😁

The best part of the experience was our waitress, Neysha. She was very friendly, kept our drinks filled, and cleared plates...