Asian Star China Buffet — Restaurant in Columbus

I don't usually leave reviews. However, I feel this merits one. When I entered this establishment around 2pm on Saturday, September 3rd, I had my service dog with me. She was being quiet and standing beside me. The Host did look at her for a moment in an uncertain fashion, but then took us back to a table. He began to seat us and then looked at my service animal again. Again, she was standing quietly by my side. He asked if she was a service animal and I said yes. He then looked uncomfortably around the restaurant and asked if I would mind please sitting in the corner. The situation and tone made me uncomfortable, but I actually prefer to be in the corner and out of the way, so I said nothing. Then, before taking our drink orders he told me that my dog could stay, but that I could not take her up to the buffet line with me. This is a sensitive topic at times, but there are a variety of reasons for which service animals are allowed anywhere the public/customers can go, including buffet lines. Neverminding those reasons, it also means that if I were at the restaurant by myself, I would not be able to get any food. (Service animals should be under the handlers control at all times, usually though not always with a leash, and should not be left unaccompanied in a public space.) We did sit and start to order drinks, my service dog quietly sitting under the table as she always does at restaurants, but it was upsetting and we left without even taking a sip.

The entire experience was publicly shaming, made me briefly question my right to enjoy buffets for the rest of my life- double checking laws I already knew because I was so caught aback by the host's demeanor, and really left me quite upset. It is unfortunate that service dog owners are still facing this sort of ignorance and discrimination in 2022.

Although I hope they learned from the experience, I cannot recommend this restaurant for anyone with a service dog, and would be uncertain how they would treat other needed disability...

Edit: Thank you for your reply. However you writing what other customers think about your food and the waitress’ service is irrelevant to me. I know what I tasted and I know how we were treated.

Regarding the plates, they were not piled with food. Even if we did not like the food we are not wasteful or disrespectful people. We did not pile our plates with food at the buffet to begin with. We ate 85%-95% of everything that was on our plates. As if that was not enough for your waitress to notice, the plates (3-4) were also placed in a neat stack on the table. If your staff isn’t aware that a stacked pile of plates is meant to be taken off the table maybe she should consider other work. Also once again our drinks were completely empty and not once did she offer to refill. And yes again the spring rolls (frozen and not freshly made) and teriyaki chicken which was once the best thing there, are now disgusting. Thank you for your reply though.

Original review 2/20/22 I’ve been coming here for 20 years. I’ve always loved the food, the owners, and the service. However I’ve just learned they are under new owners. We went tonight 02/20/22. They new owners have changed all the food recipes. Substituting a lot of the once great food for frozen substitutes. I could not eat half of the food I once loved because it’s simply disgusting. The service is terrible now. The entire time we were there plates we were done with created a pile on the table. Drinks were not refilled once. The plates were not removed and there was no offer for refills until I asked for the check, then the server suddenly was very attentive hoping for a large tip. 🙄 They raised the prices and the food is not worth the price increase at all. Very disappointed considering my family and I have loved this restaurant for decades. The new owners need to sell back to the previous owners and fix what they messed up.

I would give negative stars if I could. Disgusting and...

Ok. I LOVE buffets. I will even lower my foodie standard a bit when it comes to cheap buffets and with that being said this place was.. Meh. My stomach is asking me why i didnt just go to subway. Something about the fried stuff was off. Like maybe ALL the fried food was fried in the same oil. And since im a pescatarian im pretty sure half the tummy ache is from meat snack juices seeping into my spring roll.

I avoided the sushi per the reviews AND because there is no evidence of it being made on site unlike many other buffets ive been to.

Even the "coconut" shrimp has this weird almost corn dog type batter and has a very unappetizing looking white sauce all over it. Like... Ew. What i did "like" meaning it wasnt horrible was the salmon surprisingly. Most of these places use frozen and then over cook but it was palatable and tasty for what u pay for.

Even the icecream was just ok. May be a vendor issue cuz it seems like they at least attend to the food and refill with hot new food etc. Just was overall a disapponting meal. I only went back for secods of the ricenoodles. Cuz they tasted like garlic.

Oh and the offerings for salad were not even offerings. Might as well have been the fixins bar at Roy Rogers with salad dressing options and of course bacon bits. Ot doesnt seem like the folks around here care too much about eating veggies. At all.

Idk who's writing 4 and 5 star reviews but i feel like they missing out on actual 5 star cheap buffets. They do exist. Not here tho.

Guess im...