Grand Century Buffet — Restaurant in Danbury

Since the other reviews were old and we just left this restaurant after eating there, I thought I'd post a current opinion.

Context: Driving home along 84-West, a few hours left ahead of us, and we wanted real food in a fast-food time frame. We settled on a Chinese buffet and asked Google to find us one. We chose this one despite the old reviews because it was close to the highway and had managed to stay in business at least a few years. Time: 7:00 on a Saturday night.

Food: Perfectly fine, and as expected. Hot was hot, cold was cold, and a few dishes were mediocre but a few were quite tasty. An array of Chinese-buffet staples was supplemented by sushi (quality = fine but don't get excited), a hibachi grill, an ice cream bar, and a salad bar. "Italian and American" apparently refers only to the obligatory pizza, chicken wings and nuggets, French fries, and onion rings most such places offer. We ignored that. Surprising bonuses included steamed snow crab legs and oysters on the half shell. Quality across the board was pretty darned decent for a road trip stop or other quick meal, though nothing I'd go far out of my way to eat again.

Staff: Here's where this place really earned its stars! Very friendly, knowledgeable, and fun without being intrusive. I have a food allergy (milk), so for me to eat at a buffet requires quick rapport and a knowledgeable, responsive kitchen staff. They handled my needs admirably, and I had a full, lovely meal. I was touched that our server continued to pay close attention to my plate and double-check that everything was OK. It was; the kitchen successfully avoided any cross-contamination. Then another employee noticed the jade necklace I happened to be wearing, got excited talking with me about it, and suddenly we were, if not quite family, at least clearly welcome dinner guests.

The only drawback was the unexpected extra bit of road to get back on 84-W - which clearly wasn't the restaurant's fault!

All in all, a far more satisfying pause in our trip than if we'd grabbed a burger elsewhere, and I'd readily stop again under similar...

Food selection is reasonable and at $20 for Sunday dinner this is a bargain. Few steak items, crab and calamari all were refilled during our dinner. All were very good and of course better when they had come out fresh. The staff was friendly and interior was a little dated but nothing worrisome.

There were two remarkable things about the buffet- You can see into the kitchen - most budget buffets don’t show the kitchen and you don’t know what’s happening. You can see them prepping and cooking right there through the large plexiglass window.

They had staff dedicated to attending to the buffet. At first I was surprised workers were so close to me when I was getting food, but they diligently refilled empty trays or anything that needed to be replaced. It was a bit before regular dinner time and I believe every hot dish was replaced at least once in the hour or so we were there.

I found doubt with some of these older reviews or 1 star reviews about bad food quality. I’d give this place a try. Would be curious if lunch is at the same quality that would make this place a...

So here’s the thing, a nice couple invited me to have dinner here as a thank you. They don’t earn much but they wanted to show appreciation by bringing me here. The food was ok, I mean not the most fresh food but ok. The waitress would take our plates away before we finish. Like she’d just take them away. That was kind of annoying. When paying, we went to the front desk and the couple started getting their card out. The waitress then demanded a tip. The couple didnf speak English so while I was translating to them, she kept asking for a tip and saying how she deserved it because we were 4 adults etc etc. I got so pissed off, I told the couple not to tip. No good food, horrible customer service and this lady is demanding a tip? Now I know why I never go there!! The waitresses are always so freaking rude! Not worth the money at all! Go to the Royal buffet in new Milford instead! Good food and good service. And I doubt the staff would throw a tantrum if you...