Cook's Buffet Cafe Bakery — Restaurant in DeLand

Been eating here for years with great success.....⬇️

however ....this most recent visit was an atrocity. 12 open tables just in visible eyesight upon walking in. Two other families -a single person, and a duo-

My group was myself and one other person

with 12 open tables in visible eyesight at least the new hostess ,Jessica, felt it was necessary to make these families- including ourselves- wait for 15 minutes, for a buffet.

For her to be able to seat us 15 minutes... With 12 open tables??!! What a terrible waste of our time.

Plain and simply this comes across simply as this new hostess- Jessica as she was so referenced- clearly has no interest in actually doing her job with any urgency. Instead she has chosen to take up her PATRONS time as though it is HER time, This laziness is further expanded upon by the fact that rather than even check her surroundings using common sense to see if there were even any open tables she decided not to even take her head from facing the counter before making a decision.

the fact that she did not even check to see if she had any tables open before making the assumption that it was going to take her at least 15 minutes to sit a two-person table. Just shows the blatant lack of respect that Jessica has for the people that are coming in to Cooks buffet she is there simply for a paycheck and not there to do a good job in any way shape or form. (for reference 15 minutes is usually about as long as it takes for us to be able to eat at this buffet on a normal day.) We have a busy day and busy schedule all week long we come here because we can get a quick meal very briefly and then get back to work

However when that time is now obstructed by a person named Jessica who feels that she is allowed to make her patrons wait 15 plus minutes without at all checking is a vast oversight not only in training but as well as her character, as a result I'm almost glad we didn't eat there If that was the type of service I was going to encounter just walking through the door.

I am absolutely appalled that this type of behavior is even allowed with such a nostalgic business that has been here since wagon wheel days this type of behavior from staff should be used as an example of what NOT to do when servicing people. I strongly recommend anybody going to cooks to heavily voice your opinion and leave a review based on your honest experience with everything considered

Upon looking at this review you will notice the food I gave five stars as well as the atmosphere however the one star which should honestly be a zero star definitely has to go to service which is apparently non-existent

So to Jessica if you're reading this being a lackluster hostess and a even less adequate worker, clearly evident by your lack of awareness, it's definitely NOT something to strive for, I would expected this type of behavior from a toddler or a complete novice who has never worked a day in their life but you are a grown woman You should know better If this is the type of service that we can come to expect from cooks a well-known and very good buffet with you at the reins we will never be spending our money at your establishment again.

To those reading if you've made it this far I strongly suggest looking elsewhere for good nostalgic food.

In addition the current owner the same mentality as Disney now does he sees himself/restaurant as" too big to fail" famous last words You can tell he has no perspective on how to run a honorable business It's this behavior that leads to a failed business. Also be warned when leaving a review the owner WILL RESPOND NEGATIVELY TO YOU

It's very evident that the current owner of this establishment does not care about the patrons that come into his establishment All he cares about is a paycheck.

I'm not one to mince words The staff and the owner of this establishment do not care about you they care about what's in your wallet. The only way he will learn is by speaking with your money and spending...

It's a pleasant looking building, however that is about the only positive I can think of about it. They have super slow service, the food is over priced for the buffet(which is only salad and vegetables). All of the food we had today was fresh from the can or carton, instant potatoes, canned fruit medley, canned yams, which I don't mind when they're a aside or served as a smaller part of a dish where the ingredient is not the star. In addition they tried to charge us for things we did not order or eat when the bill came due. Finally and perhaps most importantly... They allow family pets into the dining/food service area despite it being a direct violation of health codes.

Edit : After your insightful feedback in which you chose to call me "rude" I'm now providing you with a direct* response to your points and stating exactly how I came to my educated conclusions.

1 your server chose to try and bill my family for a "buffet with meat" despite none of us actually visiting your meat slicer (who upon visual inspection appears to carve his 6-8oz. Portions (of what appeared to be overcooked meat) at about 4-6oz., so we were glad we passed on it).

Oh, and by the way, through text you sound like the rude lady who was manning the counter and appeared offended that we wanted to retain our receipt, she also answered the phone for other clients with an attitude and proceeded to slam the phone on the counter to put someone on "hold"

2 the vast majority of the vegtables, including but not limited to the collard greens, the green beans, the mashed potatoes, the navy/white beans, the fruit medley, the gelatin, and finally the salad dressings (which outnumber your salad toppings). Were all from an industrial packet in some form, as I stated previously they are technically* fine however please understand that there is a distinction between fresh canned and fresh that people can notice, especially if it is lightly or inoffensively seasoned, and doubly so when your entire family takes french culinary courses as a vacation.

3 A service dog has three things, none of which I saw on the aforementioned dog, a working dog collar/harness (very obvious), a identity card showing that they are a licensed working dog and on the job, a handler(usually the patient) who can and will upon request disclose what assistance the animal provides. In addition, I have a family member who has used working/service dogs throughout his life and every dog I have seen that is related to working/service outside of something like rat catching or dragging a small rope to trapped miners is usually about 60lbs (aka golden retriever/german Shepard sized) and under the legal definition "Emotional support animal" is not a legally permitted class of working animal for access to a foodservice environment, also I have never seen a working animal sitting in a chair at the table.

Regardless of all of my preceding comments, your business looks like it was in great condition compared to the surrounding areas, as though you never had a power loss or even a blown over planter. An establishment who gets so defensive when you recieve a honest, if brutal, review makes one wonder exactly how big of a nerve I might have touched, especially when I live in the area and have my pick of other establishments. I would seriously advise natives to stay quite far away, and I would definitely consider advising tourists to avoid your establishment, especially after...

If I could’ve given this less than one star I would have, but my only option was one star. First of all its not a buffet. Oh, it’s a buffet if you want a second helping of slimy green beans. To meat choices are OK. However, you asked for a second helping that’s gonna cost you five dollars right then and there of course they don’t tell you that so you get your bill at the end of the mail and suddenly the price is skyrocketed because you had two slices of ham, not one. You get one meat per order, one time. In other words, this buffet they advertise is not a buffet at all not even remotely close.

Meats are not bad tasting. They’re not great since you only get one choice you better choose well. The vegetables could be tasty because what time of day you get there buy a large it’s not a whole lot to pick from some green beans some mashed potatoes and some carrots and rutabaga whatever that is.

Then desserts all they look good and they sound good, but don’t go near the dessert cage. Let me tell you you’ll have waitresses all over you. The whole thing is based upon, you don’t touch you don’t get a buffet. My wife and I both got the cappuccino cake. How thin can you slice a piece of cake and you can’t get it you have to ask your server to go get your cake they will if you can if you can find them whenever they show up. We had to ask two times to get a dessert then when they brought it to us my wife and I looked at each other and said this is not cappuccino. This is a chocolate cake and barely that it was dry slightly tasted of chocolate she didn’t eat the rest of her, which was only two bites. I didn’t eat the rest of mine, which was only one bite. It was horrible. So we sent him back and said this ain’t for us we want another dessert. Nope can’t have it you paid for it too late. Sorry about that Jack and Jill. You took a bite out of it and you’re not getting anything else and yes one bite that was all.

Waitstaff, this is like being in a prison camp. You gotta ask for everything except you can walk up and get a spoonful of slimy green beans but anything else you’ve got to chase down your waitress and then they get rude. And yes they are very rude there matter-of-fact I will never go back under any circumstance.

Cost: It’s not cheap but it’s not terribly expensive. It was about $50 for the two of us and all we had was water to drink and that was not including the tip.

Stay away you can eat cheaper and much better at Golden corral or you can actually get a buffet.

Unless you want to be treated like a criminal then sit down, shut up and do as you’re told by the...