China Buffet — Restaurant in Salem

Looking through some of the recent, negative reviews of this place, and I’m surprised - my experience was nearly the opposite. Here’s my breakdown:

Customer Service: 5/5

How you’re greeted and how you’re treated while you eat at a restaurant can make or break the experience. Personally, I was greeted warmly and immediately almost as soon as I walked in. The hostess asked me if I wanted something to drink before I went for my first plate; she regularly checked in with me to clear my plates and ask if I wanted a refill. When I was finished, pretty sure she said thank you about 3 times 😂 she was kind and gracious.

Value: 4/5

I dined alone for dinner on a weekend, and including the 20% tip I left, I only spent a little over $20. Considering the amount of food available, this is reasonable to me. I could see how larger families would find this a little on the expensive side, though.

Food Selection: 3/5

There are only about four long tables with about 10 options on each one, and two of those tables are “American” food (fries, chicken tenders, etc) and one is a combo salad/dessert bar. The Chinese options are typical. Nothing out of the ordinary or worth writing home about.

Food Quality: 3/5

It was semi-busy when I ate there, and yet there were still some selections that remained empty or lukewarm. I’m guessing they were a little understaffed that night, in the kitchen or on the floor, because the turnaround was not as quick as other buffets. I liked what I ate (General Tso’s chicken, teriyaki chicken, fried rice, white rice, chow mein, baked fish, to name a few) but I wasn’t crazy about it. Just alright.

Ambiance: 5/5

There are traditional Chinese decorations, and the dining room is large and spacious. I didn’t feel like I was running into people while getting new plates, and I didn’t feel like I was too close to others. The ceiling is nice and high as well, so the temperature and the sound was satisfactory.

Conclusion

This is a typical Chinese buffet. You probably won’t be blown away by the experience, but if you’re okay with “average” or slightly above average, you’ll dig...

China Buffet 2407 Lancaster Dr NE, Salem, OR 97317

C+ to B- rating

It has been a year since we last visited China Buffet and I've done many more reviews on google maps highlighting other Chinese buffets and other restaurants. The restaurant at 3:30pm on a Friday was sparsely populated but extremely clean. Background music was lightly playing, just enough of a buffer to distract other people talking. The serving options (see photos) were fresh and abundant awaiting the dinner hour rush, with the serving area well maintained. The staff quickly removes used plates and refills your drinks.

They offered a few fish items (see photos) calamari, oysters, whole shrimp, breaded fried fish, sea bass /bone in, and breaded fried shrimp. As you see the photos, they offer a variety of dishes. From my plate piled high, the fried food tasted better dunked in the sweet/sour sauce. The skewered chicken was thick and meaty with a nice flame cook flavor. The fried chicken pieces had their own seasoning flavor that was hard to identify but acceptable. No old oil aftertaste with the fried food. Some Chinese buffets offer the spring roll or wanton wrapper crab rangoon  the thinner ones.( my favorite) while this establishment offers the eggroll thicker version. They are filled nicely with a slight crab taste.

The fried rice, and lo main noodles are an acceptable expectation. The Chinese green bean can range from decent to slightly burnt. For some reason, the seafood salad was drenched in mayonnaise. The ice cream is a disappointment, made with ice milk which lacks the creamy flavor and texture. Pepsi products are offered along with tea and coffee. While we were there, a little girl was sang happy birthday by the staff, the first time I had seen this take place outside of popular chain restaurants. A nice perk for an average Chinese buffet restaurant.

If we are in the area, this is a “ok” buffet to dine at. If you are willing to drive farther, others out there are...

I did enjoy this place, the temperatures were a bit off on a lot of items but the flavor was very nice!

Update 4/13/18 Went in with my son, staff could care less about anyone orbanything, I witness Elaine a hostess drop a cup on the floor, pick it up, blow on it, than fill it with soda and deliver to someone... When I mentioned it to the front desk man he informed me the manager wouldn't be in till next week and to call than... Pretty upsetting... Temps were again off,room temp chicken

Update 10/9/22 Added a star, came back a few times and the temps were good all times, staff was okay as far as checking up and topping off drinks. The latest visit was great though, everything seemed to be freshly cooked. Still nothing amazing at all but easy dinner with the family.

Update 07/30/2024 Took my two kids here today and it was just a flat three-star day, the food was all at the proper temperature but the service was lacking like normal, the hostess or waitress generally just on their phone and their little station, the guy that's always at the front desk is just sitting down, they did run out of a few items but seem to restock it fairly quickly. Quickly. It would be nice if they changed up an item every now and then, all the items have always been the same with no variation, there's really only two or three things that I can...