Imperial Buffet — Restaurant in Claremont

This place is INSANE! We come here every year for Christmas, and it's PACKED! The food is bountiful - the steaming buffets seem to go on for miles. This place is sooo much fun. My best friend joins us, and he's disgusting... You can literally watch him expand and strain his buttons as he's eating. For those of you who are more health concious (like me) here's what I'd suggest: first eat lots of garden salad and fruit. It's DELICIOUS and there's everything you want in a salad. Then have a big bowl of soup. Then have a dish of the jello. Drink lots of water! By now, you're starting to feel really full. At this point, it's time to dive into the delicious fried goodies... the sweet and sour chicken, fried rice, Gen Tau's Chicken, and all the other delicious stuff that glistens. Since you're already full, you wont be able to eat too much of the unhealthy stuff. But you'll still eat until it hurts, because lets face it, we all do. Just when you think you're about to violently explode all over your booth, you remember that they've got these awesome vats of all-you-can-eat ice cream on the far wall. So you limp yourself to the freezer and grab two bowls of ice cream, of various flavors. And since the fudge brownies are next to the ice cream, you naturally put one on each ice cream. You go back to your table and keep gupling until you are weeping from the pain. Loosening your belt helps, but only modestly. So you pop the button on your jeans and take a deep breath before swallowing those last deserts. After paying the bill (and the prices are GREAT by the way), you stand up and look for the mints on the way out. Truly, this place is a gem. We only go on Christmas (and sometimes on New Years) because our whole family lacks any self-control, but its always a great time. LOVE LOVE...

IMPERIAL IS LOVE, IMPERIAL IS LIFE.

I’ve been away for several years, and frequently think back to this delightful place. I moved away after high school, not joining the majority of my classmates career ambitions of kicking rocks & getting pregnant, and moved to the big city. Several of them. In each new place I called home, I was introduced to new Chinese buffets, and tried each and every one of them in hopes of reliving the experience this one gave me hundreds of times in my childhood. Eating here used to be a ritual with my friends, and those memories only filled me with happiness and nostalgia. Dozens of Chinese buffets, and most much more expensive than this one, ranging from ME to DC to VA to FL…and not a single one even came close. For the past several years, despite immensive success in life - getting married, graduating college, starting my career, getting dogs, etc…I still felt a sense of emptiness. The sort of emptiness that’s hard to fill, with love, company, money, or knowledge. I returned here tonight while I was in town visiting family, and wasn’t filled with any of those other things, but the one thing that is triumphed by no other joy of life….5lbs of buttered shrimp seafood blend, 3 cups of coconut chicken, 7 mozzarella sticks, 3 pork dumplings, a couple spoonfuls of Mac and cheese, 3 stuffed mushrooms, 7 pieces of misc sushi, a cup of spare ribs, 2 crab rangoons, and 2 meatball with shrimp thingys…all for $12.50 & a generous tip.

Truly euphoric. I’m not even sure after 7 years that a single dish changed location, or that they changed anything on their menu whatsoever. Thank god, I’d be disappointed if it had. This place never disappoints. If I didn’t find the woman of my dreams I’d marry the coconut chicken here. Thank you for giving my life...

This restaurant definitely needs a revamp. Its interior feels tired, and although I enjoy some items on the menu, the buffet can be quite hit-or-miss. I’ve had family members encounter spoiled food, and the overall quality has noticeably declined. It was much better 5-6 years ago, which is disheartening because I used to look forward to visiting for a meal.

I particularly like ordering crab Rangoon and steak teriyaki, but with rising prices and being on a budget, it’s becoming less feasible. Unfortunately, the quality doesn't match the prices on the menu; you don’t get many steak teriyakis for what you pay. Additionally, the prices for other family items have increased while the quality has gone down.

On a positive note, the service is always decent. There’s consistently good front-end and customer service, especially when picking...