Golden Corral Buffet & Grill — Restaurant in Council Bluffs

I had never been to a Golden Corral before, but have always wanted to try it. I finally had the chance to over a week ago, and I still don't really know what to think...

The confusion started right when we entered on a Saturday night. Someone at the counter asked what drinks we wanted, then when we moved down the counter to pay, people behind us yelled that we had forgotten our drinks. I guess that I just assumed that the drinks would be brought to us as we were paying. The cashier didn't use my senior discount after I requested it, but it's no big deal since it was only a dollar. She said that it was too late and she couldn't change it. My girlfriend told me later that the cashier just didn't want to change it, and I agreed.

After picking up our drinks, we went looking for a table. It was busy, but many of the tables just had plates stacked on them with no one cleaning them. We noticed other parties wandering around looking for tables. They had signs up that some areas of the dining room were closed, but rebellious seniors paid no attention to the signs. We caught the eye of a waitress, who pointed to a dirty table and quickly cleaned it off for us, which was very nice. In fact, this friendly, overworked waitress was the highlight of the entire meal, and she was working her butt off. She told us that they were short that night, so it all made sense.

The food ended up being standard "Vegas" style buffet...and I had both good and bad items. The salad was great and I loved the dressing. I commented that the fried chicken reminded me of "Shake and Bake" which wasn't a bad thing, really. There was Mexican food, but we were never sure if we were supposed to serve ourselves, or wait and ask someone behind the counter to. There was a carving station, but no one was working it. In all of the madness and crowds, I didn't notice that steaks were available until we were finished with dinner. For dessert, I chose a piece of cake called "Sweet Home Carolina Cake" or something with a similar name, which was delicious!! I already can't remember what I tried and did not like, but there were a couple of them. I believe that one was supposed to be something Asian.

I had a plate of salad, a plate of fried chicken and sides, plus a piece of cake...and I was stuffed. Uncomfortably stuffed, and I'm a big(ish) dude. But I noticed that a very large guy close to us had five plates of dinner, and two more plates of dessert. Another guy behind me also seemed to be getting his money's worth in that respect.

So overall, just like the cheaper Vegas buffets, this was a case of quantity over quality...but plenty of people seemed to be enjoying it, and from the looks of them, they go...

Always enjoy Golden Corral. There aren't any close to where I live, so the closest one is around 2 hours away. I'd been craving GC & decided to head over to Council Bluffs on a Saturday, for something to do. I planned to eat at GC & take them up on a gift card for a free meal, for being a veteran.

When paying for the meal, I asked about the gift card for being a veteran, since the promotion ran the whole month of November. I was told they were out of the cards, but I could call the manager on Monday. I explained that I wasn't from the area, and probably wouldn't do me any good. That was that. Food was good as usual, and this was my first time to this location.

Reason for only 4 stars is due to not offering another solution, other than calling the manager. Maybe taken my information & mailed a card when more came in, or a voucher of some sort.

I actually emailed GC through the "contact us" on their website, and never heard anything back. I'm not usually one to "flash" my military ID for discounts or free things, but thought I would enjoy a meal at GC at a later date, since they sent me an email about the offer. Didn't work as planned.

11/25/23: Was able to stop in again & food was still really good. The young gal taking dirty plates & refilling sodas, was very attentive. I felt bad for her, that she was doing a great job, yet nobody was leaving a tip.

I realize it's a buffet & serve yourself, but when someone keeps your table clear, your drinks full & makes sure you are doing well, leave a little something for them. Keep up...

I was very excited to try Golden Corral as we don't have one in our neck of the woods! Food wasn't bad, but not as good as I'd hoped for, to be honest. It doesn't appear to be very well run. Not only was there no soap in the ladies' room, it was out of paper towels & all but one stall was absent of toilet paper!! I will grant that it was Saturday lunch time. I also realize they could be suffering from a staffing shortage, especially with Covid. But, I'm sorry, you still need to find a way to maintain your facilities. The thing I really didn't like about the buffet setup was that you seemingly had to find someone to grab to ask for drink refills! Luckily, there was a gentleman handy in our area cleaning tables & chatting with the folks behind us. I will admit, there is a lot food to choose from, many options for whatever you're in the mood for from Mexican to Chinese to down home country fare!! Moving from left to right, there is a moderate salad bar to start that even includes crab and tuna salad. Then I wanna say came the Mexican & Chinese options. And after that is a mishmash of seafood, American, bread choices, steak, potatoes, etc, etc, etc. Dessert is last & they even had my favorite - plain old chocolate cake, along with a ton more things to fill you up, assuming you weren't already. I still would like one in town for variety & I think it is worth giving another try. Just like people, places can have a bad day, so on our next trip to Omaha, I'm sure we'll eat...