China Buffet — Restaurant in Forest Lake

This place use to be okay and that is why we keep giving it a chance. The last few times we’ve been there the employees are flat out rude. Not just to us and it’s most definitely for no good reason to most everyone. They don’t seem to like to refill drinks and I guess that’s okay because they continuously Touch everything with dirty hands from plates and dirty silverware and napkins from table to table. You have to ask for more soda even when you are still eating and they are collecting your used plates, they will not bring you or offer more than one refill. After a second refill you won’t be asked again and I noticed this the last few times we’ve been there. The last few times we’ve been there it’s been not good to say the least but I want to give benefit of doubt and keep giving time and trying again. Sunday evening is not the night go. Period. We went around 6 for dinner, they close at 8 I believe. Almost all The food was so far from fresh it was hard to find something edible. I asked at one point around 630, if they were going to add fresh foods and the lady asked me what I’d like. I mentioned quietly that tho the cream cheese wontons were full they were really hard and the cream cheese was hard and crumbling out she said okay and told another employee in their language and the only word I could make out was “wontons” and they all started laughing. No new ones were brought out and the old hard ones were left in the buffet. No other food fresh food was brought out either and trays stayed empty and others with the very old food. The fruit tasted odd like metallic (mandarin oranges and bananas in strawberry sauce) the pecan cookies were all stale and so soft when you went to pick one up it would break(they are supposed to be a hard cookie) no cones and It says so on the old crumbled dirty sign on the other old crumbled sign. not to mention the filthy ice cream machine with an off tasting ice cream. everything this time was so off putting that I can safely say that I will never step foot back in there again. It was pretty sad, I went to talk to the younger girl behind the counter and she was on her phone, I asked quietly and nicely what day and time would be better to come for fresh hot foods because Sunday evenings wasn’t it and she was on her phone and completely ignored me, I stood there until she looked up and smiled smugly and said “I don’t really know” then went right back to her phone. No, I was not rude. I genuinely wanted to know when a good time to come would be so I didn’t have to make the final decision to not give them my business and let people know how it is there now. I’ve heard slot of people won’t step foot on that place for the very reasons I’ve listed. Again, I wanted to give them benefit of doubt. It Was a total waste of 42 bucks and our time for myself and my two kids to try to eat stale, old and spoiled food and having to spit stuff out into napkins and then trying to settle for fruit and having that taste weird as well not to mention my newly 2 year old also was charged for dinner. I’ve never been to a buffet where I had to pay for an actual toddler but okay he ate a couple slices of watermelon. Also, the bathrooms are beyond filthy along with the rest of the place and we all got “sick” after eating there last night. We should have expected that though because last time everyone in our party got sick as well and the time before that. Like I said above, this was it for us. No more china buffet in...

This was once a favorite stopping place when traveling from the Twin Cities to Minnesota's North Shore along I-35. We have not been here since, probably, 2019. We were disappointed by the decline from what we remembered.

The people are still very nice. There is still a very nice variety of foods on the buffet. They've added a couple "American" favorites. The salad bar is well supplied.

The atmosphere, however, felt old, tired, dingy, and neglected. My favorite food choice, cream cheese wontons, were cold and chewy, like the wrappers had absorbed too much moisture from the air for having been on the steam table too long. There were no additional sauces available other than soy on the table.

After sampling a few entrees, I returned to the buffet and found some of the dishes had been replenished. I had skipped the baked seafood selection earlier and dug my spoon eagerly into what I thought would be a hot and delicious choice. It was cold. It was supposed to be hot. I guess the pan had been prepped earlier and put in the fridge and just had not been thoroughly reheated prior to being set out. It was still tasty, but it wasn't what I expected on the hot table.

There were folks there enjoying their meals. It may be that our disappointment was a matter of timing. We will probably not make the effort to return but if you live in the area, or are traveling through, it may well be worth checking out and see if you have a different experience. On a different day, they may rise to a rating better than "okay." I remember when I would have given them four stars. I think the potential is still there, it just wasn't my...

I've eaten here a few times. Food is ok. Sometimes they run out of the dishes I eat and I have to ask them to refill the pan. Sometimes they take a long time to complete it and by then I am done eating. I mostly eat the chicken stuff they have available. They don't have anything like beef broccoli but the food is fine. The issue that I have going to this place is that the people who work there are rude. I don't know what the problem is but the woman who mainly works the register has a look on her face that says that she would rather I not be there. Most of the women who pick up the plates from the table have about the same look. There is one woman who is younger who seems nice and is a pleasant person to be around, the other others are not. I dont know if it's how I look that makes them look at me that way or what. The thing that annoys me the most is that they are kind and smile at other people who eat there. I really wish it wasn't that way because I liked this place as something close to me to eat but I will not be treated like I'm some kind of 3rd class citizen from any place that I eat. I hope this place changes owners soon so I can hopefully go back to kinder people. But as of now, I will not be going back at all. There is no need to be rude at all like the people who run this...