Golden Corral Buffet & Grill — Restaurant in Fort Walton Beach

Who doesn't love a buffet? I honestly wouldn't know life without one. As a child my mother and I made several trips out of town, Fort Walton, Pensacola, Panama City, etc., driving my great aunt to see her sister(my other great aunt) in the nursing home or sometimes the hospital and every time we would stop for lunch before heading home. My aunt would ask my mom what she wanted to eat and my mom always said anywhere she wanted to go was ok with her, sometimes my aunt knew just what she had a taste for and other times after a moments hesitation their attention would shift towards me in the backseat. Are they really going to let me decide I thought or did they actually hear me back here silently screaming to myself BARNHILLS PLEASE!! Before I could say anything I hear my aunt say to my mom "Would could go to Barnhills" Ahhh my sweet lil ol aunt, a women of my own heart. I loved this lady dearly yall and she had special ways of letting me know just how much she loved me. 💕😊 This was the early 90's and unfortunately Barnhills eventually closed and my sweet aunt passed at the beautiful age of 99, buffets for me were never the same until ... Fast forward almost 30 years and Im driving 2 elderly friends to Ft. Walton to have their vehicle serviced, after a 2 hour wait we're hungry and they kindly left the choice of lunch on me; I thought of Barnhills as I drove my friends to Golden Corral. I mentioned as we were getting out that it's been a while since I had eaten there and much to my surprise both of my friends responded with I never have eaten here. Say what! Oh I could feel the excitement starting to stir in my heart, you mean I get the honor of joining you 2 on your first buffet experience? We went in, paid, got our plates and chose a table. Returning to the table with plates filled we thanked the Lord and blessed our food, I couldn't believe they had never had a buffet before and I kept saying that to them. My one friend politely said "Kaycee we meant we've never been here before to Golden Corral, we've been to a buffet restaurant, just not this one." My other friend said "Yes there used to be one here years ago, similar to this one that we liked to go to, I can't remember the name but I always enjoyed it." All I could do was smile, my heart was full, my belly getting there and my 2 friends were having a good time, eating good food & grateful they didn't have to take turns driving home.

This review was mainly about the experience I was blessed to have at Golden Corral, taking into consideration this type of review doesn't help anyone in choosing to dine there or not, I would like to add some most important details; 3 friends who drank S. Tea, Lemonade, & Un.S. Tea ate a buffet lunch, talked & laughed, and ate some more for 32 dollars and some change. ✅ (Almost unbelievable 32 dollars, 60 was the total the last place we had lunch a few months back) The food was incredible, everything was hot, seasoned just right and not under or over cooked. ✅ Our server was prompt getting our drinks to the table before we were back from getting our food and she was sure to keep an eye on us coming back to see if we needed anything, clearing out empty plates and providing us with more clean plates. She also thanked us and wished our day be a blessed one when we were leaving. Sweet lady. ✅ The atmosphere was pleasant and calm, not too crowded or loud. There were several people dining this day but this Golden Corral has plenty of spacious seating so it wasn't an issue. ✅ Overall the experience I had was personal, a one of a kind, special hello from a sweet soul up above😇 as for my 2 friends they had no complaints and were especially thankful that the air conditioning wasnt blowing directly over them because they both had left their thicker coats in the car. ( I of course would have went to get them out of the car but thankfully Golden Corral had the temperature just right.) Sorry for the lengthy review and double apologies for no pictures, I tend to forget that...

Mark shaw is a joke for a owner\ operator. Food temperatures are not their concern. Don't even bring it to their attention, or you will be banned, like me, after beings served a 93° steak. Sorry, I don't eat meat that is colder then my skin. (God knows how long it wasn't at the correct temperature.) After informing the manger on duty the steak was cold, Paco, I believe is his name, told me it should be 110°. So I had him test it, 93°. So then he tells me about how I can eat it raw, its fine. What about the 110° it's supposed to be? Paco immediately started screaming about his extensive culinary school training (hahahahahahhaaha, yep that's why you work at the golden corral) and threatening to call the cops. (I don't no on what, himself?!?) He even made himself a barrier between me and my 3 children at one point, and then followed us four out the front door yelling about calling the cops on us the whole time. At the front door he immediately got into my husband's face, calling him a p*ssy and other names while begging him to hit him, Yep! all that was done by the manager. So their response?!? Conveniently, they have no surveillance video. Magically, the other employees that had to pull Paco out of my husbands face and then apologized to us and told us exactly who to call and report what happened to - one was out of town and the two others don't speak English. Mark Shaw never investigated anything, he is fine with his managers actions. If he did investigate the situation, he would know I have 3 kids and not 2, like he stated. Save your money and eat at Ryan's!!!! Still haven't received the refund he supposedly sent almost 2 months ago!!!!...

December 26th 2019 approximate time between 430 pm to 6pm Let me start off with nancy was amazing! Janet our waitress was so attentive quick and efficient with a good memory and a knack to know we needed refills before we did and my table was always clear of dishes and her area was exceptionally clean! I chose this restaurant as my birthday dinner spot and was not disappointed the food was good fresh hot and well worth what i paid and i will be back I did notice some small infractions in the dessert area being run by rosa who was doing some rather disturbing infractions. i brought what i noticed upto Nancy she was quick to rectify the infractions. Some small infractions were noted in the grilling steak area she also handled those to ease my issues. As a restaurant manager and germaphobe i am always watching employees and the work they are carrying out. No one got sick the food was good .i did notice the smoked chicken was not cleaned correctly as the piece i grabbed had some small feathers on them and they didnt clean out the tendants pocket on the backside by the bone at the top or remove the tail which is a small over sight but devil is in the details. all in all it is what i was looking for and look forward to when i...