Daly Buffet — Restaurant in Daly City

Daly Buffet has been open for barely a week but there is a lot to improve on. TL;DR: everything tastes like nothing. It's close to eating hospital food. But first, the experience upon entering. It was about 2pm when we arrived and the lobby waiting area was nothing short of CHAOTIC on a Monday. No clear lines, no signage, just a sea of people standing around. We eventually learned we had to grab a number from the hosts, state our party size, they'd call it when ready, and we pre-pay. Had it not been for my fiance whose large imposing scowling stature made it easy to part the sea and reach the host, we would've been waiting forever. Bonus points if you have one of those. About 30 min passed and we were ushered into a huge central dining hall, with buffet stations along the walls and sushi/dessert toward the back. Tables are very close together to maximize headcount. Zero ambiance, unless bright lights and loud crowds are your thing. Lunch buffet stations offer standard Asian fare, from fried items, noodles, soup, sushi (dinner starts at 5pm and offers crab). However, many items often ran empty and were not regularly refilled. We sampled almost everything and noticed that every single item BARELY HAD ANY TASTE. It's shocking. Spicy pork, steaming soup broth, chow mein, fried shrimp, even ice cream: NO TASTE. To make things even more frustrating, serving staff do not speak clear English so it was extremely hard to communicate. No one knows what a spoon is, so plan to hoard a handful before sitting down. We left still hungry and disappointed to have spent $61 (including 8% service fee) for a lunch that could've been better spent and enjoyed at Panda Express; at least their food registers on the taste buds. Daly Buffet is a one and done, will not return. 1 star goes to the premade pho meatball--the only thing in the entire place that wasn't forgettable. Pass on...

The place itself is honestly impressive. The decor is modern, clean, and really well thought out. From the moment you walk in, you can see they’ve invested a lot in making the restaurant visually appealing. They even have a giant screen at the entrance that grabs your attention immediately.

But unfortunately, the food experience doesn’t match the atmosphere. While there were a few dishes that tasted really good, many others were either bland, overcooked, or just lacked flavor altogether. On top of that, they were very slow to restock the trays. At 1:30 PM—prime lunch time and still a full hour before closing—there were already several empty trays that hadn’t been refilled for a while.

One thing that really stood out (in a bad way) was the handwritten “Cashier” sign taped over the big screen at the entrance. It completely ruins the nice first impression the restaurant gives. For a place that looks so well designed, this cheap and unprofessional detail makes no sense. It feels rushed and out of place.

Overall, Daly Buffet has a lot of potential, but they really need to improve on food quality, speed of restocking, and small but important presentation details like signage. The look of the place sets high expectations, but unfortunately, the experience...

We got there at 11:45am and paid and got to our table in 5 minutes. Pretty fast, glad we made the big crowds. So glad I started out with dim sum area first but no har how or shiu mi. There steamed spareribs, steamed chicken feet, & runny egg yolk bun(?) were very good. I also liked the make your own selections for them to cook for your soup; the original chicken bone soup was so salty; I put hot water to diluted. Deep fried shrimps, avocado sushi, crawfish, & vegetables are good. Some fish dish are quit fishy taste. No Waygu steak that we were looking forward to it.

Good bottle drinks if you know what you like. Pear bottle drink is 👍. The space for drink area need to expend wider. The area is too small of space that I got splashed with a hot cup of water from one customer accidentally pushed another customer with their hot water on me. Lucky hot water not extremely hot. They also need to have a hot water run faster into a cup and need to fill up full cup. The snail spoiled my taste buds. Tiny cakes and egg custard are good. Cup of ice cream (ok - prefer soft ice cream on cone). Over all between 3-4 stars.

Senior discount is not fully 10% off the price of $26.99. They took $2 off from the price. We did realize it...