Golden Corral Buffet & Grill — Restaurant in Myrtle Beach

We all know that the only time many people write reviews is if they’re very satisfied or very disappointed….well I’m satisfied but I overheard a conversation inside the restaurant that’s my reason for writing this review. #1 I arrived today from out of town to eat dinner with my family and we had a total of 10 people including our small children. I’m unsure of the managers name, but the manager with a slight Spanish accent in blue was soooooo very helpful and kind. He immediately saw that we had a large party and explained where we could find our cups for beverages, carrying trays, and assisted me when I spilled a drink at the station (along with the young lady behind the register). He proceeded to help find our seats due to the large party and placed booster seats on those that needed it. Superb!!!! Approximately 10 minutes after being seated a group of men and some women from Coastal Carolina Lodge 12 came into the restaurant and there appeared to be a dispute. The room my family and I, along with another family were sitting in were sharing the room and apparently they wanted it reserved for only them. I’m unsure if they were early or late arriving but the manager was so calm and apologetic explaining why others were in the room as it was a large room and they only needed reservation of 45 people were the room seated about 100 people. So they were on the other side of the room, but RUDE is not the word I’d like to use for these elders. Over entitled and stubborn as I heard them berate the manager and make threats to call corporate because THEY didn’t understand the room they wanted was NOT for the entire space as they only needed half of the room. So since y’all wanted to call Corporate- Corporate this is what happened and don’t let anyone else tell you differently because they decided to have an award ceremony inside of Golden Corral on a busy night during Memorial Day weekend????? DUH! There are too many people and even if a reservation is made I’ve used the reservation service for this restaurant chain before and although very accommodating the information regarding reserves are very straight forward and strict. People just don’t want to pay for the big room knowing they may not have that many guest but want privacy. Give me a break. So to the server who waited on all of us with no assistance, the manager who kept his cool and was over accommodating, the cashiers, and cooks for doing your part - THANK YOU! For you rude * entitled people who think it’s about you need to get your minds right and STOP treating true working class people with...

The $80 Buffet That Time (and Value) Forgot

There was a time—simpler, cheaper, cholesterol-filled—when taking the family to Golden Corral felt like a budget-friendly win. A buffet of endless options, questionable choices, and zero judgment. But that era has been deep-fried and discontinued.

Three of us went recently. No extras, no upgrades. Just three people, some sodas, and the crushing realization that it now costs over $80 to eat meat that is legally allowed to be called steak.

Let’s not kid ourselves—Golden Corral was never the Eiffel Tower of dining. It was more like the food court version of Thanksgiving dinner at your uncle's house: crowded, chaotic, and oddly comforting. But now, they’ve slapped a $22 price tag on the same lukewarm lineup and quietly removed fan-favorites like the chocolate fountain. That’s like Disney World charging you extra to not see Mickey.

The fried chicken still slaps. The steak still whispers “you’ll regret this.” The salad bar is like that one coworker who shows up, does the bare minimum, and somehow survives every round of layoffs.

At $17.99, this might still make sense. At $22+, plus drinks and tip, you’re paying cruise ship prices for landlocked mediocrity.

Golden Corral isn’t evolving—it’s retreating into irrelevance, dressed up as inflation. It's become the culinary version of a blockbuster sequel nobody asked for. Once a regular stop for us, it's now filed under “maybe once a year, if the planets align and we’re feeling nostalgic... and forgetful.”

[Edit following the response from the corporate voice: What is it with those standard copy and paste replies that do little more than state that there has to be some sort of answer to a negative review to retain the illusion that you care about your customers? If you did, you would have read my review and noticed that my complaint is the outrageous price. You don't need to contact me, you need to reevaluate your prices which you could you without an email you would never...

My Family and I took an overnight Trip to Myrtle Beach on 4/2/2025. We had a bit of a rocky Start since we got there and Ran over something and our tire ended up flat. While the food was fine and the guy up front was more than generous, we did not realize they were closing an hour before we got there. We had such a long day , we decided to hit the buffet because we are a family of 8. We got the end of everything including end of day service , My husband and I googled and found out they closed at 9pm while eating. As we are sitting there our server Kim sat at the table next to us which made us extremely uncomfortable, she watched us the entire time. What topped it was as we are cleaning up our area (because we don’t leave anything a mess) , I asked my husband to see if we can get cash back for the tip (even though service was terrible and we were there at closing) , she jumps up and says: I’ll go see! (Literally listening to our conversation) she goes back to the office or wherever and says the register is closed. So I told my husband that I think I have money in my purse ( which was in the car), so we get up and start walking and she literally starts walking with us, to the door. I grab my purse and as I’m looking through it, she’s standing there with me watching.I gave her a $20 tip which was definitely to much for what we received. My husband and I were in an uncomfortable situation. We always tip , we have never been followed for it. It very much made this experience bad , on top of what we had already dealt with before arriving. Had we known it was closing we wouldn’t have even went. In my home town Golden Corral closes at midnight , so we didn’t even think to look. But it will not happen again. This was not a good service experience, the food we did get was good though for it to have been the end...