China Harvest Buffet — Restaurant in Phoenix

Let me just start by saying this buffet is cheap. Dinner Mon-Sat is $5.99, lunch is less ($4.99 I think), and Sun is $6.99 all day. Drinks are $1.99. I had a coupon which got me a free drink with the buffet. I don't think there are any buffets cheaper than this. And for the price you actually get a pretty decent selection. They have crab, shrimp, broccoli beef, pizza, buffalo wings, baked mussels, fried fish, baked fish, various chicken entrees, spicy mushrooms, bok choy, dumplings, eggrolls, crab rangoo, french fries, dinner sausage, crawfish and a lot more. Their ads claim they have over 80 items.

The food is no better or worse than most chinese buffets I've been to. The crab is not snow crab legs. These are seasoned crab with short stubby legs. I didn't try any because it looked like too much effort. Also the shrimp is not peeled but they do have battered fried shrimp. I had jalapeno chicken, fried rice, spicy mushrooms, baked mussels, lo mein, batter fried shrimp, ginger chicken, hot and sour soup with fried wonton strips, eggroll, dumplings (potstickers), pepperoni pizza, cheese pizza, french fries, fried fish, buffalo wings and soft serve. Again, most of it tastes like it does at any chinese buffet. The pizza was a bit too doughy, there was too much mayo in the baked mussels. The jalapeno chicken and spicy mushrooms were good. I'm not sure why they call it spicy mushroom because it wasn't really spicy. The buffalo wings were good as well but they didn't taste the same as regular wings plus they left my fingers very sticky like they may have had starch. And the soft serve was thicker, richer and better than most others I've had.

As with most chinese buffets, the salad bar is sparse but they did have a spring mix and grape tomatos but hardly anything else, just some cucumbers, iceberg lettuce, hard boiled egg halves, pepperoncinis and croutons. They also had what looked like roasted whole jalapenos and some really watered down pico de gallo as well as tortilla chips (most of the clientele were hispanic). They had 3 soups, egg drop, hot and sour, and wonton. And for dessert just some fruit, fruit salads, and soft serve ice cream.

The downsides were the decor and size. The restaurant looks old and kind of dirty. It looks like it used to be a Denny's or some sort of diner on the inside. I went around 4pm on a Sat and it was packed. But not only was the restaurant too small for the amount of business it gets but they squeeze all the food onto 3 buffet lines that are close to each other. You're constantly bumping into other people to get at the food. It was almost like standing room only at the buffet lines.

As far as service goes, there is none. You pay before you eat, you seat yourself, and you get your own drinks. There is one employee picking up the used plates off your table. I left a buck but I didn't see anyone else tipping.

Overall I would likely go back simply because it's such a great value. If you're looking for sushi or mongolian bbq as part of your chinese buffet or ambience, then go somewhere else. But if you're looking to fill up on basic american style chinese food with a few extras for a rock bottom price, then you won't be disappointed. I simply cannot overstate how cheap this buffet is. You can't even get most burger meal deals for $5.99 much less a 2 entree dinner at Panda Express. How can this place...

I haven't ever eaten inside, only had some cold leftover takeout from closing time. My "source in the know" says it is really good fresh and he proved to me that it is definitely the best and most entertaining place in the area go if you are in search of a fortune at 3 am.

Lol.

I am thinking a lot lately about the certain big goofy smiley, moody, guy, who always makes me smile and feel safe, and makes almost everything okay, and makes almost everything else seem that way, and makes me laugh and smile some more in the process, even when dealing with very painful experiences or steep learning curves. I hope to come back someday and I wish I could explain things better now.

But I still feel "fortunate"!

Anyway, my buddy has good taste and knows the area. He likes the place, says the people are nice and he has never been wrong about a restaurant so even based on his old, cold, leftover takeout and one exhiliratingly memorable visit to the parking lot to comb it for little scraps of paper in the middle of the night and ultimately emerge with an entirely new perspective on life from a scrap of paper a big goofy guy insisted we go hunt down, I will definitely give five stars and recommend this...

This place is an okay spot for a buffet, but not one that stands out. The staff were courteous and clearly on top of keeping the food trays filled. Most of the food was decently fresh, with the exception of some pot stickers that were old enough for the edges to be hard and crusty. Otherwise, the quality was solid overall. The soups were piping hot, which I definitely appreciated. All the meat items were well seasoned and good texture, nothing was hard. The fruit was a bit under ripe, but basically par for a place like this. Dessert items were pretty good, and the ice cream was nice and cold. Seating was sufficient, but the age of the booths and tables was clear. There also isn't a ton of room in them, so anyone with some girth will need to use a regular table. Last, this is a bit of a sketchy location with a lot of homeless people on the street and in front of the restaurant. So, I do think a lunch here is good and fine for a visit, but for the price this is just a typical option with a smaller than...