Panda King — Restaurant in Gretna

My family had a reunion here on March 9th for my mother’s 95th birthday. We had a room in the back. We just served ourselves at the regular buffet like all the other customers. The food was very good. There is an excellent selection. They have sushi, a salad bar, traditional American favorites including Mexican choices, seafood, and of course, a large selection of very tasty chinese food. They had both egg rolls and spring rolls, which I enjoy. I would have given 5 stars, except that for a party our size, which we had made reservations for, over a month in advance, they had no designated staff member to bring drinks or take away plates. Consequently, there were stacks of plates on every table, making it hard to eat, and we had nothing to drink at all for most of the meal. I finally went out and found a waiter and he brought a refill for just my husband and myself. Then when the check came, they added a suggested tip greater than 20% for this lunchtime buffet with very little staff interaction. Photos taken after the staff were called to please clean the plates away for the...

I was SO excited to hear that the buffet was opening back up! After 3 long years, we’d finally have back a good buffet on the westbank. WRONG! The service, the food, all of it, took a serious nose dive south. There are now 2 bars for hot pot. So the old hibachi bar, gone. There are things on the buffet like beef macaroni and chicken fajitas. Did I miss the fact that we are at a chinese restaurant? The food was subpar and most of it cold and tasteless. My beloved eggplant was even ruined. The absolute worse part, the price, freaking $18.99! Are we kidding right now? Absolutely insane for this quality and type of food. I am so saddened that this was not what it used to be. Our glasses sat dry for most of the dinner and our table was covered with dirty plates. I was not used to this as our glasses were always filled and tables cleaned. I will give it one more shot in a few months hoping once it gets established again it will be better, but I don’t...

Let's make this as short and sweet as possible. We'll start with the cons

Food quality -- DOWN. big time. Prior to Katrina, this was one of the best Chinese buffet in the city, now the food is usually left out too long, you WILL wait forever and a day to get some new fresh food out, and food that shouldn't be hard, (like the bake fish and noodles) are.

This isn't really just a Chinese buffet anymore. They also serve some Americanized and Hispanic food. So enjoy the watery mac & cheese and hard quesadillas.

Some of the pictures and descriptions of the restaurant reviewers are leaving don't really match the actual buffet side. Be mindful of that.

Now Pros,

Service - The servers always greet you at the door, friendly, quick with clearing tables and refills.

Cleanliness - for the most part, the restaurant is good about this standard.

Price - the price of a to-go box is by weight, but usually is under $10 for me and last me...