Golden Corral Buffet & Grill — Restaurant in City of Syracuse

I will preface this by saying that the last time I went to a Golden Corral it was in Orlando Florida a few years back, and it blew me away. So that's the bar I'm using. I went there for Saturday lunch with my wife. Premium lunch(?) was 13.99, I think, and drinks were another $2.50 or so.

The good - the food by and large was well prepared and presented, although the veggies were a bit limp and bland. Compliments on the grill station, meats were perfectly done. I mean REALLY good. Many choices for desserts, too. Our waitress was very attentive, made multiple checks on us.

The bad, such as it is - this ain't the Golden Corral I'm used to. The one in Orlando I visited multiple times for both lunch and dinner. There was a much larger variety of food choices there daily, as opposed to this one. Also it was significantly cheaper in Orlando. Again, it's been a few years, so maybe something changed radically? Back then, The Country Buffet restaurant was in Syracuse, and right now I would put Golden Corral on a par with that place, with the exception of the much better meat/ carving station now.

In conclusion? It wasn't bad, by any means, but I'm a bit let down. Call it a 6/7 out of 10. Hope this answers a few questions.

Update... We went again on Labor Day weekend. Seated promptly, although the timing for us could have been better. Coming in just at the start of the dinner rush, some long lines for a while. Girl station still had excellently cooked meats. We each went up for refills, and each time the steaks were done just right. A big disappointment was the alleged carving station. It apparently doesn't exist anymore? The carving station had some vegetables, pot roast, and baked chicken, I think. The only thing that they had at the carving station was spare ribs. No turkey, no ham, no roast beef, so.....

Surprises... The chicken wings were excellent. Saucy and flavorful. The fish sticks were both crisp and moist. The pot roast was fall apart tender, delicious.

Disappointments.. I don't know if I've consistently have bad luck, but the vegetables once again weren't up to snuff. Maybe it was just me, but the broccoli I had was nowhere near cooked enough. The spare ribs that we both had did not have hardly any meat on them at all, and were rather tough.

Our waitress was attentive, refilled drinks and emptied plates frequently. Not easy to do when you're dealing with as many parties as she was simultaneously. TIP YOUR SERVERS.

The damagers, including drinks, was $43 and change, not...

Update: Thank you Golden Corral for addressing my concerns at my prior visit. Yesterday I returned, and my brother and I enjoyed our meal. Though our server did not greet us initially, my brother said she just sat the drinks on the table and left, leaving us to figure whose drink was whose; she was curteous when she did communicate with us. I had to call her over, though she heard us discussing the drinks and who our server was, since I went to the bathroom, and I saw her huff in exasperation. However, she was polite when she came to the table. She brought us refills without our having to ask and cleared our table. After my brother gave her a 50% tip, she was really friendly! The food was ok. I still don't like that they don't label the kind of fried fish that they provide. The french fries were ok, but they did not refill the pan the entire time we were there, though it was nearly empty. The cheese home fries looked old, and the chicken enchilada was too salty and the velveeta cheese was runny. We were full by the time they refilled the watermelon, and they did not have any chocolate ice cream, nor caramel or chocolate sauce. Most of the dishes were also dingy from wear. Everything else was ok, and it was not crowded. I definitely recommend going at less popular times, so you don't have to wait to be seated. A friend brought me here today to celebrate my birthday. Though we notified our server and hostess upon our arrival, we were repeatedly blown off! My friend and I reminded the both of them several times as we watched them sing happy birthday for other people, some who had arrived after us. Our server snidely remarked that they were busy, but my friend and I weren't even given the courtesy of eye contact. The persistent response was ok, as they rushed by us. The food was not good; it tasted old, like it had been warmed and set out. There also wasn't enough variety for me. "Fried fish" with no designation as to the type of fish is shady. I did like the availability of the plastic gloves. The plates were worn and dingy. The server never asked if we wanted more to drink; she had no conversation with us at all! Before we left, the hostess asked if we got our birthday greeting, we said "no," and he shrugged his shoulders and continued to seat customers. I will NEVER eat here again. An adult dinner is $19.99 per adult; senior discount is $1. Regardless, patrons should at least be treated with respect. Therefore, we...

This was our first and last visit. We've gone and seen it; we're fine never returning. I didn't take photos, since I was in a constant state of disbelief that people actually enjoy going here.

The gentleman (Michael)assigned to our table was attentive and friendly, refilling our drinks and clearing our dishes often. He had a smile on his face during our entire visit, and was the only happy person I saw working this evening.

The cashier(Bambi) and the others that we interacted with who were serving the food were either miserable or just doing the bare minimum until closing. We were the only people in line when we entered and walked up to the register. The cashier didn't greet us, explain the scaled pricing, or say anything about seating ourselves-- just basically growled at everyone to tell their ages, totaled the bill, and stared at us until we asked if we seated ourselves and moved along. The food selection had multiple versions of potatoes, a frozen and bruised salad selection, more salad dressing options than actual vegetables, and the desserts had a chocolate puddle-- not the famed chocolate fountain. I'm guessing turning the fountain on was a mess they didn't want to deal with, since they also never had anyone to scoop the hard ice cream, had butter and jelly packets as ice cream toppings(no sprinkles or chocolate chips), and chastised me for getting the cupcake from the second row since I was told "it's less trouble to refill" for them(didn't catch the name of this woman). On the plus side, the sneeze guards are clean and there is hand sanitizer everywhere.

Should you still feel like venturing to Golden Corral, drinks are included with the children's meals but an additional price for adults, stations are- for the most part- refilled regularly, and gratuity is not included in your bill, so bring cash to tip...