Ole Times Country Buffet — Restaurant in Centerville

This is not my type of food at all, but my coworker's retirement luncheon was held here today and I was treated in a not so customer service friendly way by the manager.

So, my coworker's retirement lunch was held in the banquet room. In previous years for these sorts of work get togethers, I've had no trouble getting in just ordering a water and coffee. Like I said, this ain't my type of food so normally they wouldn't see a penny of my money. Today I told the check-in server I would not be eating and to please ring me up for just water and regular coffee. She said I had to pay 12.95 to get in and immediately went to get a manager.

The manager comes over and tells me I can't come to my coworker's retirement party unless I order food. It took me a few minutes of sternly telling him that I did not eat the type of food here and to feel free to stand guard over me to make sure I didn't consume a crumb. Had I been a more passive person, I would have just given up and left.

Look, I get they've probably have had issues with people saying they weren't eating and then stocking up on food once inside. But I was going into the banquet room for a big work luncheon. It wasn't like I was just randomly coming in by myself. The manager needs to consider extenuating circumstances when it comes this rule. He was seriously going to make me miss an important event. That is not the way to treat a customer. At least I paid 2.50 for (bad) coffee. That's 2.50 more than they would have made that day had they...

LIVE ROACH CRAWLING AROUND DESSERT BAR (on a Styrofoam cup some poor woman picked up)

We have eaten here for years - as far back as when the location used to be on Russell Parkway. This past week, however, marked the final time we'd ever dine at this location. My family witnessed a patron selecting a dessert from the bar, only for a LIVE ROACH to crawl around the Styrofoam cup. The dining attendant behind the dessert bar didn't even seem phased, as if this had happened before with the smile she had (or it could have been her attempt to remain calm since she was having to deal with a styrofoam cup on a plate being handed back to her with a ROACH CRAWLING on it. My heart goes out to both the customer and employee staffing the dessert bar...awful situation), and otherwise, zero reaction from the staff. This was not a small roach. We were a distance away and it was very visible, a massive, lively roach....we had just gotten a piece of pie from the same bar....and immediately lost appetite. Where there is one, there's bound to be many....not sure if the other patrons present who also witnessed this reported it or reviewed but this was by far disturbing on multiple levels. I rarely take the time to post reviews of restaurants but can't imagine people dining here and just being unaware, as we were....getting through their meals only to witness a roach (most likely roaches)....Not sure I've ever dined anywhere, much less a buffet and had to...

I'm not usually drawn to buffets because the food usually isn't that great, but this place was spot on with everything I tried. From the broccoli salad to the roasted chicken, ribs, fried fish, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes and gravy... everything was moist, succulent and delicious, just how it should be with great home cooking. I would venture to say this is some of the best southern cooking I've had in a restaurant in Middle GA. I know, I know... someone is about to keel over in their seat from that statement, but I have to be honest. I've been to several "homestyle" restaurants in the area and left with only one thing to say: "Meh." I left here feeling like "that was $14 well spent on dinner." Oh, and the desserts. The key lime pie, apple pie and berry pie were simply over the top. It's no wonder this place is so busy all the time. I never took the time to stop in, but I'm glad my friend urged me to go. Another nice little touch are the Bible verses on the walls. You don't see that in many places around here. I'll definitely be back again, but this time I think I'll scale back on my portions because I left feeling like I was about to give birth to a food baby.

One last thing, the servers bringing drinks to the tables were pretty well on top of bringing refills. That's a nice plus in my book.

Also, a review below said they don't have mac n cheese. They certainly do. A...