Golden Corral Buffet & Grill — Restaurant in Florida City

I really wanted to give 5 stars! We came for dinner. The food was plentiful, fresh, and just what we expected. Lots to choose from. Good salad bar options. We were very pleased with it all. Also, just in case anyone wants to know, they did have a steak grill where people were asking for specific levels of doneness: "medium rare," "medium," etc. Also, the dessert bar had some tasty goods, including carrot cake, chocolate cake, brownies, cookies, pudding, and jello. I thought the pudding was gross and lacked flavor. There are strawberries, rice krispie treats, and marshmallows that have all been dipped in chocolate. But I did not see a chocolate fountain. There was also an ICEE machine and a soft-serve ice cream machine.

The reason I can't give 5 stars: Before we left, I stopped into the ladies' room. I have never been in a more disgusting bathroom in my life. I mean it. It was shocking! And I have been to many state/national park campsite, gas station, and rest stop bathrooms. (I'm including the gas stations where you only go because you really, really need to, and you have to ask for a key and go outside of the building to a back door.) I'm also including those little rest stops in the middle of nowhere when you're driving on a two-lane highway through rural New Mexico and you haven't seen a building (or even a road sign) for 30 miles. I have been in New Orleans Mardi Gras and Jazzfest port-a-potties that were better smelling and cleaner. I'm telling you, this bathroom was so terrible I would have had a more pleasant experience going around back and just peeing behind their dumpster, and I'm a girl. Anyways, I really hope they fix that. If I ever come back, I will assiduously avoid their bathrooms.

Also, just because I care about this but not because I expect change, I'd like to ask and encourage management to consider dessert options that don't contain vegetable oil, canola oil, sunflower seed oil, or any other polyunsaturated fats. In other words, desserts made with butter are healthier for our bodies. Just putting a word in, maybe to some purpose, maybe...

I'll write a more expanded review when I finish running to the bathroom.

I don't know where to start. The first thing that hits you as you walk through the door is the overwhelmingly unpleasant smell from the soiled carpets. The dinner plates are all without exception stained yellow and scratched to oblivion. My meal featured rancid and sour Macaroni and Cheese, Grilled chicken from various shifts mixed together so you get one cold piece one hot piece, rubbery and fatty ribs, and finally a scoop of pulled pork that had a gumball sized wad of room temperature pork fat with the consistency of vaseline sitting right in the middle that was so putrid that I very nearly threw up on the table (I think I have a fairly strong stomach, but I just couldn't handle it).

Realizing I couldn't eat any of the hot food I made my way to the Dessert station only to see a depressing display of dried up cakes and a crusty looking ice cream machine. All of these dessert options are conveniently located next to the bathrooms and the overwhelming stench of urine and recent bowel movements. The smell from the unclean carpets, grimy kitchen floor tiles (and maybe other things) is pretty damn unbearable.

I have no problem with cheap buffet food...I LIVE for cheap chinese buffet food and can overlook significant hygiene issues and have a pretty strong stomach. This place looks unsanitary, smells bad, and after trying to give it the benefit of the doubt I just couldn't stomach anything they had.

After my wife called to complain the manager laughed on the phone flatly informed her that they just spent 15,000 installing new carpets. Why you would carpet a restaurant/buffet in Florida in the first place is completely beyond me --- why brand new carpet would leave your restaurant smelling like a Chuck E. Cheese ball pit escapes me even further.

I will never return to any Golden Corral. That much I know. My stomach may never forgive me, and it might really be time to give pork a break...

It is very rare I leave a low review but honesty and transparency is key. I took my daughter's for an dinner around 5pm and we were excited because it's golden corral, pick what you want and no dishes to clean at home. Upon entering the atmosphere was not one that was pleasant. I feel the pricing did not match the quality of food. I understand this is a buffet and it's only golden corral but walking in with no standards is a dangerous game and I have standards especially when I'm paying for a meal. Service was non existent. I had to walk to the server station to request a water refill, my table was not cleared with plates from my children and I. I had to set them on an empty(still dirty) table next to us so we could eat in the tiny booth. Service at the grill for steaks was terrible, I went twice and asked for medium rare for my youngest and the employee stared at me and then cut a piece of steak that looked to have been sitting for some time. Hungry and desiring steak( my daughter accepted it) it was tough and terribly cooked. We received not a single decent or edible slice of meat. Food had been sitting in the warmers for quite some time where it looked less than appealing. I have managed many restaurants before and understand time management and freshness of food and I'm quite shocked we didn't end up ill afterwards from eating. It was not packed, plenty of open tables and quite a few servers that I observed during our visit so there was no reason for a dismissal of simple service of clearing the table and refilling waters. I would say the best thing eaten was the salad bar out of everything and we are NOT picky eaters so that should speak volumes. If you want quantity over quality with a complete dismissal of service then this location may be ok for you but not for someone who desires to have one decent plate and decent service for the price you pay now at...