City Market Grill and Buffet — Restaurant in Pell City

To start off with, other than the waitress not knowing what type of fish was being served on the buffet, service was outstanding. That being said, that was pretty much the extent of anything outstanding. Salad bar is good with a large selection and multiple dressings. A good salad bar. Buffet has a slicing station for beef and turkey. No one was was manning it at the time but had sliced off several pieces and allowed them to lay on cutting board. Beef looked terrible due to being dried out and turkey was so overcooked it was crumbling. The fried fish filets were either overcooked or just old and i was able to bend them double without even so much as breading breaking. The beans had a glaze over them due to not being stirred in how ever long and the mashed potatoes were like eating dust. Cornbread was hard and cold. While we have been there several times in the past and thought it to be about as good as any buffet, last night was a terrible disappointment. Just prior to us leaving, 3 tour bus loads of kids came in and immediately the buffet was refreshed. Lesson learned...if the place isnt packed, dont go as the food will be stale and sub par. Again, service and sweet tea was great. Would have liked to speak to manager, but he was unavailable. Will go elsewhere in the future. UPDATE: 12/14/24 My wife, along with both daughters and their families visited City Market this evening (party of 9) and I have to admit, service was outstanding and the staff was extremely busy with a very crowded restaurant. They provided outstanding service and were very polite and professional while ensuring our every need was taken care of. Not sure what was done since our last visit, but the salad bar was phenominal...very fresh, and absolutely delicious. The cobbler, paired with ice cream was very good and I have to say, the buffet was the best we have ever experienced at City Market. Whatever has been done to make these improvements, i hope they keep it up.....based on tonight's experience, we will definitely return soon....

The place started off great but continues to dwindle in food quality and customer service. My family of 7 were going every Wednesday for the kids to eat free and watch a movie. We quit going due to the poor quality of food and what choices you have were almost cut in half due to food bins being empty. The manager seems to have lost interest in keeping his customers happy. He spends more time socializing with his employees than he does taking care of his customers. Yesterday my husband and I had breakfast there. I mentioned to the girl that was doing the omelets that the bacon needed to be cooked more. There was a couple of chunks of bacon stuck together that looked raw. She said "maybe the other side of buffet had better cooked bacon". I informed her that it did not because I had already checked the other side. When I went back to buffet later to check on bacon, it was still the same raw bacon so I was unable to get bacon and the sausage links that my husband got were under cooked and the omelet the girl made was not cooked properly. The concrete at the front entrance is filthy. This filth is coming off peoples feet that are leaving the restaurant because it ends not far past the door and then the concrete is clean again going to parking lot. With the food quality and service going downhill this place will be another failure for this forever changing building. Hopefully the owner will jump in and quickly make the...

We have ate here a few times since Western Sizzlin in oxford is closed at this time, last few times was good, but today, 4/7/25, it was horrible! The grill cook was walking around on the side where customers do, picking food up with the tongs, then putting in her hand, smelling it and rolling in between her fingers!?! The grilled chicken, steak, pork chops, etc.... was all cooked to death. My family loves the fried fish and chicken tenders, the fish was also cooked to death, and there was no chicken tenders! No meatloaf, or hamburger steaks, the rolls was hard, even a waitresses that had fixed herself a plate was complaining about the rolls/food. I did see some of the waitresses from Oxford working there, but they need their cooks. Went again tonight for a family get together ( 5/17/25), and the amount of salt/house seasoning on the food was ridiculous. My mother loves liver and gravy with rice, but it was so hard (over cooked) and salty she couldn't eat it. The meatloaf had a black crust, chicken and fish was dry/overcooked. Mac n cheese was mush.I just don't understand, does management not look and check things? The grilled chicken was black like it was soaked in Dale's and then so much seasoning it was horrible, the steal medium well and well, was tough! Just so disappointed! Couldn't read her name tag, but our waitress...