Golden Corral Buffet & Grill — Restaurant in Largo

First things first, this is the newest setup I have ever been to in all the GCs I have been fortunate to ENJOY myself at. The walk-in and order queue is the same but soft drinks/tea are now via take home cup. That takes the bite off the +$3 beverage IMO. You’ll then notice gloves at every station that is required for handling serving utensils. The night I was there (Saturday) it was heavily enforced.

You’ll see the master grill right in the center of all the action, prepping your next steak, with additional hot bar items (think some of the best chain fried chicken you’ve had) and the current promotion (currently seafood). The salad bar is to the far right (various types of greens, toppings, and cold salads available) while dessert to your far left (cookies, pies, cakes, ice cream and ICEE machine!).

Everything I had was good. My steaks were cooked just like I was asked and seasoned to perfection. Fried chicken was probably the best I’d ever had at GC. They’re doing it right at this one, trust me. It was so good I wish I’d come last month when they had the buffalo wing promo. I can only imagine how solid their wings were… Also, don’t sleep on the mashed potatoes, chili, sliced ham, pot roast or sausage w/peppers.

The salad bar was ripe with spoiled greens (spinach was the worst) and had empty tray after tray of toppings. I’m glad I like beets cause I had my pick of all the beets! No croutons, tomatoes, cucumbers, mushrooms... Look, I go to town on my salads, but this night had me stuck in the ‘burbs. -1.

How about desserts? Well, admittedly, it was the worse than the salad bar. There were only oatmeal cookies (not many) available nor banana/chocolate/vanilla puddings, only empty tins. Same goes for the ice cream toppings. Thankfully the hot fudge and caramel pumps had some left. This issue was from the time I did my first *walkthrough till I left. Oh, and for cakes/pies? Only one restock of the following: black and white cake (fantastic), OG carrot (staple), chocolate cake (skip), vanilla cake (skip), and cherry pie (decent). The latter, cherry pie, I watched said restock come out of a box they were in no rush to open. I noticed many just standing at the dessert bar hoping to get noticed, empty plate in hand. I know that look and it was rather difficult to see. -2.

My brother and I were thankful for our server and tipped her rightfully so. She was on top of our drink and plate refills, pleasant in her demeanor and prompt on cleaning our table so we could enjoy our seconds. +1.

Could have been an off night? No idea. With seemingly easy to fix shortcomings (buffet out of food?), I can’t recommend nor discourage you from visiting this particular GC. I’m optimistic I’ll return in the future but this first time left me burned. I’m just glad it wasn’t from anything I actually ate.

*always do a walkthrough before you start...

4/12/26 My usual experiences at Golden Corral have been generally acceptable, offering a decent variety for the price. However, my recent visit on 4/12/25 was significantly below par and left a very negative impression.

The most concerning issue was the fried chicken. Upon selecting a piece, I was immediately hit with a distinctly rotten odor as I pulled it open. This was incredibly off-putting and immediately made me wary of the rest of the food.

Unfortunately, my disappointment didn't end there. I also tried some of the fruit, specifically the pears, which had a tangy, almost fermented taste, strongly suggesting they were past their prime. This further dampened my appetite and raised concerns about the freshness of other items on the buffet.

Adding to the unsatisfactory food quality was the apparent struggle to keep the buffet adequately stocked. While this can sometimes happen during busy periods, it contributed to a feeling of things not being well-managed.

However, the most frustrating aspect of the experience was the response from the manager. When I politely brought these issues to the attention of a manager with short blonde hair, her reaction was dismissive and unprofessional. She gave me a look that clearly conveyed a lack of concern and simply stated she would "go in the back and let them know." She then proceeded to engage in what appeared to be a casual and enjoyable conversation with another employee, seemingly unbothered by the serious food quality issues I had just raised.

This lack of empathy and follow-through from the management was truly disappointing. While I understand that issues can arise in a buffet setting, the way they are handled is crucial. In this instance, my concerns were not taken seriously, and there was no indication that any immediate action would be taken to rectify the situation.

Overall, this visit to Golden Corral was a significant letdown. The unacceptable quality of the fried chicken and pears, coupled with the dismissive attitude of the manager, has left me hesitant to return in the future. I hope that management takes these concerns seriously and implements stricter quality control measures and customer service training to prevent similar experiences for...

Well I don't know if it's just this location or all Golden Corrals. But that the time of night that we had it was super crowded the cashiers were very slow, to the fact where the manager had to step in and help. But it still took them a long time just to bring up about 15 people in the line. And it first they only had one side of the line opened. It wasn't until the manager came out that they open the other side. Then when you actually get in there they said they didn't have any apple juice for my son so that was fine he didn't like fruit punch there was no milk or chocolate milk because they said that's only for breakfast. I think something like that for kids should be 24/7 access. Why would you only Reserve apple juice chocolate milk and regular milk only for breakfast. Not only was it super crowded every time the food went low on the bar, nobody kind of we filled it until somebody had to tell them. Like the customers. And nobody that work there really said anything to the customers. Like on the aspect of the kids were literally playing in the chocolate fountain with their fingers and the workers were just looking at them not saying anything like everything was okay. I had to go over there and tell them to not put their whole hand in the bottom of a chocolate fountain. I didn't get any of that needed to my child. And one more thing. It's like location cannot accommodate parties. I do believe that you should give a party or a gathering larger then 10 at least a good two hours to eat and socialize. And then you would have to ask them to leave. Because I was with a group and it was a think a group of 21 and we had to be squirrels into a very tight spot so tight that majority of the party have to sit away from the party. When there was another party right next to that room and one of their people said that they've been there for like 3 hours. If the staff knew about another party coming in and another time they should have done their due diligence and got in that other party...