Golden Corral Buffet & Grill — Restaurant in Lake Elsinore

UNPROFESSIONAL MANAGER

I am a resident of Lake Elsinore who believe in supporting local businesses and Golden Corral happens to be one of the many that I do. Food varieties are below average, but I still prefer this place to take family members every time they come and visit us from OC and SD only because it's a buffet - I've been here several times already. So when they had the "BUY $50 GIFT CARD then GET A $10 BONUS CARD" I purchased it 01/06/24 so I can take my family for My Birthday. All I could say is "I PICKED THE WRONG PLACE TO CELEBRATE" (01/21/24 11:23AM) which I'm so glad I didn't bring the usual relatives I take here. As I was trying to pay our bill, I handed over my $10 BONUS CARD first since that's the smallest amount. It took her forever to use the card then after a while she said the balance was $0. I showed her both receipts showing I got them 01/06/24 with a $10 balance in it. I stood there for few minutes and ask me if we could use my $50 so I can get a sit and eat then she'll come back to me about the $10. Of course, I would like to be courteous for other customers who's been waiting in line, so I went and handed the $50 gift card.. I had to follow up with her a couple of times only to be told by another employee that there is no balance on the $10 bonus card. COMMON SENSE!?? Soo prior to today after the 6th, why would I use only a $10 BONUS CARD and not use my $50 GIFT CARD if they're buffet cost more than $10 each person? What can I purchase at their buffet for exactly $10? If they claim that I used the $10 prior to today, so I paid cash for the difference??? Why would I NOT use my $50 GIFT CARD if the purpose of it is to use it? I kept telling them - I DID NOT USE THE $10 BONUS CARD! Why it's showing in their system as $0 balance - I do NOT know if it was redeemed by mistake by the cashier earlier to begin with! All I know is I HAVE THAT $10 there!! The cashiers then called the Manager for a $10 BONUS CARD issue that they couldn't figure out why it's $0 balance if I wasn't the one who used it. The Manager was a very unpleasant person, rude and..... not presentable! he kept cutting me off. I've been a Billing Manager for over a decade now and I know for sure that one of the qualities a manager must possess is to listen to concerns/complains. I have been a good citizen in supporting their business all these times and for what in return?? only to be humiliated for $10!!!! I will never forget what the Manager said "Look I'm the Manager and I'm being nice. I will write something in your receipt to give you $10 off when you return" He was making it seem like he's doing me a favor by giving something which actually belongs to me in the first place. The idea was to use the $10 on the day of my visit and be used as a gift card which can be redeemed at other locations and NOT a coupon. $20 is an easy tip to give for good services. Today Sunday, 01/21/24 would be the very last day I will eat there. I know they don't need my business, but I don't need their $10 off either for a food that's so scary to eat and get...

We just attempted to eat dinner here. My fiancé comes a lot and I'm not a huge fan myself due to the quality of the food here but we came here on Thanksgiving 2yrs ago (3 of us) because my sister was battling cancer and could not eat due to tubes in her stomach and such so we didn't really celebrate anything for this reason including last Thanksgiving. So tonight we decided to come here after finding this complementary voucher the manager gave us to come back for two of us which included meals for two and two drinks. Omar came out saying he can't honor it because they are new franchise owners. He tried to then make a drink that it was 2yrs ago. Mind you this was not dated. No expiration date! This was a meal we paid for 2 yrs ago for our thanksgiving meal on Thanksgiving and they were out of food and some of the main Thanksgiving dishes we had come for. Being that nowhere else was going to be open we stayed. The then manager Eric was very kind, and told us they were not able to bring anything else out because they were out. We didn't make a big stink about it by asking for a refund. He went to the back and just came out with a voucher.

Omar was beyond rude, insulting by offering us 50% off a meal we had already paid for and missed the point! It was not about money. It was principal. I don't care if they are a new franchise. We had a voucher specific to that location and he should have honored it and then started harassing me saying I was going g to ruin his business because I asked for corporates number. How unprofessional can you be to have this reaction and confrontation with customers right in front of all who were standing in line. It was so embarrassing. We have a 6 figure income. This was not about the money. A manager to make such a big stink over nothing and then tell us to pay 50%? lol it's a joke. Terrible customer service and you lost customers for life. I will be sure to share this with all who live in my gated community of Canyon Lake and all the groups on Facebook. But apparently the quality has become worse too since I had been there from all the latest reviews so maybe Omar needs to be replaced. Not what you would expect of a manager. If you're so worried I'm going to complain, then maybe you should rethink about how you handled the whole situation because you will run this location to the ground if you'd rather be unethical and insulting because you want 50% than to honor a voucher that was...

This place really was confusing for me. As you enter the place they have a drink station at the front. Items on the menu were listed above but the items were not present the whole visit for instance Meatloaf was offered but they had baked potatoes in the spot. I will say that the table service was great the waitress was very nice and friendly always kept the the drinks full. The fried chicken taste like fish. The chicken had no seasoning whatsoever. For me most of the food was not appealing whatsoever. The restrooms reclaim the overall appearance of this Golden Corral location was very clean and tidy. Salad bar was stock very well all the employees were polite and courteous just a food to me didn't seem as good as it used to be. The soft serve location in the restaurant was very well stocked but the toppings for the soft serve taste old. We found it was very hard to eat. I tasted quite a few things there in all honesty the best thing was the catfish and the popcorn shrimp. One of my favorite items to Dine on Atmos locations is the meatloaf but they did not have it and in its place were baked potatoes. The macaroni and cheese was disgusting it had no flavor whatsoever. The pizza was okay for pizza from that location in all honesty I came home I spent $71 on three people when I arrived home I got sick to my stomach and felt cheated they need to make the food more appealing. The other problem I had was the ad was a little misleading it told you that the drinks were a dollar fifty and at the end of the day you end up paying $2.59 for the drinks the ad was very misleading. I figure that if you're paying 259 a drink you should get a to-go cup for free. Overall I would have to give this location less than a star on food and advertisement only customer service again was wonderful very pleasant everybody seem nice food was presented very well but the food lacked and so did the menu if you're going to serve meatloaf serve meatloaf not baked potatoes and tell the customers that you're out of the product. Only other thing at this location where the roles seemed burnt at the bottom and that's probably one of the best things on the menu. Again I would have to give this place half a star sorry Golden Corral was not...