Golden Bites Brunchery — Restaurant in Myrtle Beach

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Listen, I went to Golden Bites Brunchery last Sunday expecting mediocre scrambled eggs and burnt bacon like every other buffet place, but OHH PANCAKES was I wrong.

First off, the waffle station is basically Disneyland for adults. It's self-serve but they've got it set up so perfectly that even I couldn't mess it up (and I once burned cereal). The batter was fresh, the iron was perfectly heated, and I made a waffle that was crispier than my ex's personality but somehow still fluffy inside. The toppings bar looked like Willy Wonka had a fever dream - fresh berries, like 8 different syrups, whipped cream that definitely wasn't from a can, and honest-to-god real maple syrup that probably cost more than my car payment.

The bacon situation needs its own paragraph. Y'all, I've eaten a lot of breakfast buffet bacon in my day (don't judge me), and usually it's either floppy sad strips or charcoal sticks. But this bacon? Perfectly crispy, thick cut, and they had TURKEY bacon that didn't taste like cardboard! I may have gone back for thirds. Or fourths. The exact number is between me and God.

But here's where it gets wild - they had a LIVE omelet station where this chef named Sandra was flipping eggs like she was training for the Olympics. I asked for "surprise me" and she made this masterpiece with goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, and herbs I couldn't even pronounce. It was so good I nearly cried into my orange juice.

And can we talk about Daniella, our waitress? This woman is what customer service dreams are made of. She kept our coffee cups full without us even asking, recommended the perfect spot to sit for the full buffet experience, and somehow knew exactly when we needed more napkins (spoiler alert: it was constantly). She made the whole experience feel like we were VIP guests instead of just random people who showed up hungry on a Sunday morning.

Speaking of drinks - unlimited mimosas for $12. TWELVE DOLLARS. I've paid more for a single drink at Applebee's. They had like 6 different juices, and the champagne wasn't that bargain-bin stuff either.

The only downside? I physically couldn't move for 20 minutes after eating. Had to unbutton my pants right there at the table. No regrets.

Pro tip: Skip breakfast the day before, wear stretchy pants, and bring your appetite and your sense of wonder. This place doesn't mess around.

Will I be back? Already made reservations for next weekend.

Price per person: $20-30 (worth every damn penny) Best for: Anyone with a pulse and...

My family and I had gone for brunch yesterday morning during our trip. Although it was crowded, they took to seating us within a few minutes. My issue lays with how they dealt with us after being seated.

Our waitress did not come for quite some time. My mother had encouraged me to get some food while they waited for our drinks to be ordered. 20 minutes go by and our waitress still did not come until we pulled aside two other servers asking where ours was.

We got the excuse she was waiting for us all to be seated together. We were all seated together for the first ten minutes. The food was alright, like any other buffet; alright enough to keep you full, not as high quality as a restaurant.

When we ate none of our plates nor cups were cleared because our waitress was still MIA and that led to a buildup amongst our party of three. Even when we wanted the check that took another 10 minutes. Terrible.

The staff who seem to speak lots of spanish even had the gall for one of them to imply insulting my mother for her displeasure with the service. It took her replying in spanish for them to realize maybe they shouldn't trash talk a customer right to their face. Know your audience. I hope they won't be so rude or unprepared for the next customers, but they certainly won't...

I'm a big fan of breakfast buffets, but this one was a solid disappointment.

There's no menu, and they give you the pricing after you sit down: $19.99 for the buffet, & $3.59 for drinks.

The buffet is sizable, but the items aren't particularly special. It looks like they're trying to mimic Shoney's Breakfast Bar, but not getting it quite right.

There were 2 people eating in there in a Friday morning when I came in, and sat down. While I was eating, at least 15 people came in to be seated. After hearing the prices and seeing the buffet, they just left. Only 2 people stayed to eat.

As to the service, I paid $3.59 for a single cup of coffee. Never got a refill, and I sat there for a while working on my phone after i finished my meal. I did get one refill on my water, but that was it.

The place and its staff look pretty new. With their pricing and limited offering, I can't see them lasting very long in that location.

The bottom line is that there are plenty of other MUCH BETTER breakfast places in the general location. Franchise operations & local places.

I spent $26.28 --- paying in cash, there's an up charge for using a credit/debit card --- and left feeling I could have ordered two complete breakfasts & got plenty of coffee at most...