Golden Corral Buffet & Grill — Restaurant in Florence

I am usually weary of Golden Corrals, my husband and I have written them off as inherently bad. Despite my feelings, I was on a trip with my work so it was paid for. I did wonder if this location would be better than the one in Minnesota.

It was not.

It was very unclean, and extremely crowded. I knew it would be busy but it was JAM PACKED with many other patrons. It was similar to the State Fair if I’m being honest. The handles for the food were filthy, and the quality of the food was just not there.

The plus sides: They do a pretty good roast, but for most people (especially children-which half the group was) don’t love roast. I also thought their tortilla chips were good. I can’t vouch for anything else there, nor will I go through what I didn’t like because it would be negative and I don’t really want to to bash something I already don’t love.

The takeaway, just go to a place that does one or two great meals, instead of settling for 30 low-par dishes.

*Per my co-workers request, below is their review as they do not own a Google account.

This is the experience I encountered at Golden Corral. First, when we were grabbing our drinks a few kids tried to fill their cups with ice which did not work. Some tried to get Hi-C, it was light orange water. This was unfortunate because it was a good non-caffeinated drink as we were going to wake up early the next morning. I filled my cup with lemonade and sat down at our table. The tables were not clean and the floor underneath was full of food. When I sat my cup down I saw weird mold like particles on the inside of my cup. Hungry, I went to get a plate. The plates were not clean. I went to get my food and much of it was not labeled correctly. There was food all over the floor and on the handles of the tongs. Before I started eating I went to the bathroom to wash my hands. An employee came out of a stall and rinsed her hands under the water for four seconds WITHOUT using soap. This is probably why people get sick at these places. Once I went back to my table I grabbed my cup to get a new one. The new one was not clean (but better than the last) so I took it. I realized there were no utensils, which was weird. I asked a worker and she rudely said they’re at the entrance. I started eating and once I bit into my salad I could tell it was very freezer burnt. Others said their food was cold and gross. When I got seconds I went through about 6 plates until I found a clean one. You could tell someone put them in the dishwasher then took them out without checking them. One plate had a disgusting cream ish goo on the bottom. I walked back to my table and finished eating. Then I wanted dessert. I was going to grab a bowl, but it was covered with ice cream cone crumbs as well as ice cream. There was also many children running around with no parents bumping...

Initially I felt a one star review was necessary but I have had some good experiences here. I know the current environment for employees is thin and often businesses are stuck with what they are able to get. However, I can not ignore the fact that after forty minutes of dining here I could not get anyone to cook a proper steak it is disappointing. I tried to get a steak along with three other people waiting in line. I did not order mine complicated. Medium rare. The guy next to me wanted the same. I had already put some vegetables on the plate and seemingly a medium rare steak is one of the easiest steaks to cook.

The first one I offered was not even medium. Not even a trace of pink. I told him, no, that was well done. Another steak he offered, well done. Next steak he sliced and offered. Wow, well done again. I explained to him I wanted medium rare not one of the well done steaks. Next steak he picked up, sliced and offered, this was medium leaning towards well done. Still not what I was asking for. Another steak after that.....well done if not burnt. This joke, it had to be a joke for him, went on for almost five minutes, until he cut the last steak a tiny hint of pink. I just said never mind grabbed some other protein and got back to my table to eat what was now cold vegetables.

Maybe they were forced to put cooks who did not know how to cook a steak on the line. I understand the environment we live in now. The first two well done steaks I gave them a pass for. But when a minimum of eight steaks later you are still cutting these strips of leather up when in fact there could have been numerous medium rare steaks already ready in the time this merry go round of incompetence happened.

The staff here is attentive and put the grill aside, I can't since my goal was the steaks, the food is pretty good. If you can not cook a steak then admit it and change the dinner price to the lunch price and don't charge for a service you are clearly incapable of delivering.

Were it not for the rest of the staff, waitresses bust their humps here and are terrific it would have been a...

My boyfriend and I went there tonight with 5 children. It's my sons 16th birthday. He wanted to go there. Soon as we walked in the lady at the register got rude and said loudly in a aggressive manner "some of you go to the other side" we stated we was all together and she said oh. Then I asked if we could split the bill and she said "I don't think we can do that" another man was next to her assuming it was another worker stated she could. By that time I'm already annoyed so I said never mind I'll just pay with my card. I had to repeat it 3x because she was like "no we can". Heading back to find a table we went to the back near the Desserts. There was 4 long tables a mess with dishes, food and garbage. There was a free open table in the party room. We asked where we could sit and the worker said "well if you're out by such and such time you can sit in the party room. Like lady I'm not rushing any of my party after spending almost $90. So we waited for a table to be cleaned for 8 minutes. Got to the table after the worker stated it was cleaned and we had to wipe our seats off our selves. It was disgusting. The area with the "clean" plates had food still on them on the bottom of the plates. They was hot so it was like they was ran in a dish washer and brought out with out being checked correctly. The silverware was noticeably dirty. The cups was dirty. Kids was running around by them selves. Most the buffet entrées was near gone. It was slim pickings. The food was ehh, even down to the mashed potatoes, like how do you mess up mashed potatoes? Just very disappointed and disgusted. Will never ever return. Should have just stayed home and cooked my sons birthday dinner for all of that mess. Hopefully none of...