Sunrise Buffet — Restaurant in De Queen

I read a lot of rough reviews about this place and honestly almost skipped it. After our first choice (a food truck) wasn’t open, we tried Sunrise—and I’m glad we did. If you’re judging this like a big-city, white-tablecloth spot, you’ll be disappointed. If you want small-town, all-you-can-eat Chinese that hits the cravings without driving an hour, this works.

What to know before you go (set your expectations) • It’s a small-town buffet. Fewer guests means the freshness and heat are average at slower times. Trays were kept stocked and anything low was refilled within minutes while I was there. • The building’s older. The dining and buffet areas were clean and low-noise, but the bathrooms are clean yet run down (broken soap dispenser when I went). • Service is low-key. Staff is friendly, not hovering. Drink refills are quick, and they give you space—which I prefer at a buffet. • Not fast-food Chinese. This isn’t Panda Express. It’s that familiar, more “authentic buffet” style you find across the U.S.—which I like. If you want fast-food consistency, stick with fast food.

I’m a meat + sweet-and-sour person. I had bacon crab wraps, crawfish and traditional egg rolls, lo mein, teriyaki grilled chicken, sesame chicken, pepper chicken, and beef & broccoli. Standouts: the pepper chicken and the sweet-and-sour on the lemon chicken.

Desserts were a surprise hit: puddings, cakes, fruit, jello, and ice cream—good variety and one of the best parts.

Price & value: $36 for three people after tax (about $12 per person all-in). For the variety and the fact it’s right here in De Queen, that’s a solid value.

Plenty of parking. They also offer takeout if you’d rather eat at home.

If online complaints scared you off, I get it—they almost scared me off too. But my lunch was decent, clean, quiet, and fairly priced with a surprisingly big selection for a small town. I’d...

I called to ask if they had boiled crawfish in crab boil or if they just boil in water. They lied and said, “yes crab boil”. Got here and it’s like a beef sauce and they only had 5 until I took those to eat. They did not refill the whole time I was there eating. The whole buffet was empty. I asked if they were putting more out in hopes it would have a little more flavor. I watch him bring bowl after bowl of like 4-5 pieces of each item and put out. What is that going to do for people? Just fill it up. I waited longer and pulled out my phone to do this review. I just watched him come out some more crawfish out and again, a small bowl of a few. This place acts like they don’t have to do better because it’s the only one in the area. I’m from Louisiana where we know how to cook. I’m so tempted to move here and open a real buffet up. I would make a killing here. There is nothing here as in a buffet and what is here is terrible. Their cocktail sauce taste like sweet ketchup with cayenne pepper in it. No horseradish. It’s very quiet...

Does not have much of a selection. The hot food wasn’t hot and a lot of it was old and not edible. I was unable to eat but a few bites of my food. The noodles was boiled spaghetti noodles and had no flavor at all. The waiter seen that I hadn’t eaten my food and never asked if there was a problem. My husband and son loves Chinese food generally and was very disappointed because there wasn’t a big variety and also couldn’t eat things they usually do because the food wasn’t fit to eat. I asked for a couple of dishes to be refilled. I was told it would be put out in a couple of minutes. Never was put out. We all three experienced stomach problems after eating what we did. I have had other bad experiences with this place but went back to the place hoping it would be better. I will not be going back after this last experience. I usually don’t try and make problems. But I had to pay over $50 for 3 people and if I’m going to have dish out that kind of money I expect to be able to...