China Garden Buffet — Restaurant in Forest Park

First off, this is a common visit for my family. We visit about once or twice a month. Enough so that the host has shared photos of his grandkids with me while cashing out.

Fast forward to tonight, myself and 3 children.

My son doesn't even eat but I'm still charged, and I don't complain about it. He wanted sushi but all of the sushi that they did have looked like it had been manhandled  and when I inquired if they were going to refill the sushi area the host which has always been super super nice informed me that the sushi guy had already left for the day and this was around 6pm.

It's whatever, at this point. I'll pay for his spot and suck it up and get him sushi elsewhere after we leave.

We went up and got our food, it all seemed really old like it had been sitting out all day under the warmer. The food was so so, to the point I only got one plate and so did my girls minus getting some dessert.

After receiving our check we went up to cash out and pay. Now keep in mind I've been there dozens of times, I normally tip around $5 but tonight the waitress literally did nothing. She served our drinks, got one single refill and sat us at our table. That's it.

Not enough to really warrant a "tip" so as I was checking out she runs up to cash us out.  She sees that I've crossed out the tip line....stops and says "no no you need to tip me" and points at the tip line.

She thinks she is guaranteed a tip for doing little to absolutely nothing. This really annoyed me to the point I won't go there again as she felt entitled to this tip enough to call me out in a place where she stands around doing nothing, maybe rolling silverware and escorting people to their seats and occasionally refilling drinks.

None of which in my opinion deserves a tip, then when I scratched the bill out I asked her to reprint my receipt which seemed like that was too much for her to comprehend, so she went and got the guy who is the host.

I explained to him I needed a reprint of the receipt so the bank doesn't decline and I can fill out her most important tip. Then I proceeded to explain I won't be coming back after her rudely calling out the customer for some entitled tip she believes she deserves.

I've overlooked the cleanliness of the restaurant over time because it's been a quaint little hole in the wall my family enjoyed that was semi close by and there weren't any other buffets within a 20-25 minute drive near me that I was/am aware of.

I will find a new place to visit because after her stunt it's not worth returning to this mid level establishment on its way into bankruptcy. Keep in mind during this prime dinner time we were 1 of 2 patrons in the business. It's not like they were even slammed and she was running around  busting her butt.

She literally stood around on her phone, while wrapping silverware. To the host, I hope you have a conversation with her because she has zero customer service skills. She never seems like she is in a great mood.

If she isn't happy with her job, find a new one...I get it, this is probably family owned but don't take it out on your customers or call out your regulars for you doing jack squat and not deserving the tip you think you're...

The food has been sitting on the bars for a long time they were old it has really changed the way they do their food since when they were first opened a few years back the Mongolian Grill was pathetic the chef was the most rudest ignarus a** I've ever came across in a food service business the hostess was very nice he showed sympathy but the cook on the Mongolian Grill I tell you if it was legal to chop someone up he was being chopped to Pieces he was very ignorant and rude you don't coffin attitude when someone's trying to ask you something about your cooking and the ingredients and then he had the nerve to just literally throw a plate of food across the counter like I was a dog if it wasn't for my husband also being there I would have acted a fool up in there like my husband says two wrongs don't make a right I would never ever go back there again if I have to I wouldn't recommend it to anybody I would even want my dog to eat there...

Stopped here for lunch the other day while I was on the road for work. Food was overall decent, but like most buffets the freshness is hit or miss. Granted that’s what you sign up for with a buffet, which is why I’ll give 3 stars instead of 2. One thing was incredibly disappointing. I was there for easily 30-35 minutes and there was a tray that was not replaced the entire time, and it was 95% empty! Place wasn’t even that busy. Again, I know what to expect at a buffet, but I’ve been to Chinese buffets in Milford and Wilmington that are WAYYY better. So keep that in mind if you’re in those areas lol. I can’t think of one thing that stood out about this place except that it was in a super depressing strip mall that looked like the set of Dawn of the Dead. This was one of the maybe 3 functioning businesses in that nook of desolation. Not their fault, but if you’re looking for nice views,...