Chow Town — Restaurant in Hoover

This has to be the worst rating I’ve ever given as a reviewer, and for good reason. This is the worst food I’ve had in years.

Don’t let the size and value of the buffet fool you (because at first glance, it IS a great value). If you’re simply needing to fill your stomach because you’re starving to death, by all means. If not? Stay away from this place like it’s 2020. The food is ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE. It’s so bad, I found myself taking a single bite of each item and never returning to it again. I continued to attempt to try to find something, anything on the buffet that was worth eating, and could not. The food clearly sits all early morning and afternoon, and though the options are plentiful, not a single one is worth a second bite. It’s simply terrible food. This place has clearly given up on quality and has focused on quantity.

I quite literally left hungry.

And the service?? Never once saw a server. Water stayed empty after I drank my glass, desperate to wash down the horrible taste in my mouth after each bite. Sure I’m white, and I get im by no means a priority, but some water would be nice? And a soup spoon? Ah, i guess that’s just for the privileged guests.

Birmingham is a huge metropolitan area- if you want a buffet style restaurant, there’s plenty of options to choose from. Don’t count this one among the ones worth going to. There’s absolutely nothing about this restaurant that’s worth a...

DO NOT COME HERE!! We used to love Chow Town! My family has eaten here so many times, it's not even funny! We were all looking forward to eating here today after our daughter's Pre-K graduation, but it was a total disappointment! The food and service was AWFUL. We honestly couldn't believe how different it was. Since 2017, this has been one of our favorite places to eat. We've NEVER experienced anything like we did today. Everything was bad, from some of the dishes not having any taste to some of them tasting freezer burnt, to us having to ask repeatedly for refills, to them automatically charging a 15% gratuity because we were a "party of 10". Yes we are a family of 10, but our 10th person was our 3 month old son!!!! Not only was he not included anywhere on our ticket, but he stayed asleep the entire time. After I questioned them about including gratuity he stated it didn't matter how old the baby was, he was still sitting with us. At this point I'm so disappointed and frustrated with everything about Chow Town today, eventually he removed the gratuity and asked how much of a tip I would like to leave, and then bashed me for not leaving 25% like "everyone else does". I told him our whole experience was awful today....from his service, to the food, to our server and there was no way in hell we were tipping them 25% with the lack of quality service we received! DEFINITELY NOT...

Very poor experience and a waste of money! I will preface this review by saying that I've been coming here every few months for the past 2 years. The food has always been pretty good and the restaurant was very well maintained. Until today I would have given it a 5 out of 5. Prior to today's visit it had been about 3 or 4 months since I ate here. Things have definitely gone downhill. I don't know if management changed or what. The faux leather on the booth seating is flaking off on every single booth in the place and just looks gross. The carpets are in need of a major cleaning. As for the food, I first tried a plate of different grilled meats and they were all pretty good. After that I went up and got a few other things. Nothing else was any good. The crab rangoons were overcooked and hard. The orange chicken was overcooked and tasted like it had buckets of sugar in it. Everything was either overcooked or just tasted strange. The waitresses were too busy flirting with a table of guys and had bad attitudes about having to help customers. We left without finishing our meal. My girlfriend didn't even finish her first plate of food because it was so bad and they refused to even comp her meal on our ticket. I paid and will not be returning. If you want a good Chinese buffet, look elsewhere and don't waste your...