Ole Times Country Buffet — Restaurant in Valdosta

If I could give this place negative stars I would, we went out to dinner as a family last night we always try new restaurants when we go out to eat once a month we moved here about 3 months ago and never been to this one so we said let’s try it . We get there we walk in pay and go to sit down , the first table we went to sit at apparently was dirty , so we found another table , we sit down make sure all our kids are in their chairs and pushed in . We are a family of 9 two adults 7 kids . Last night it was us and six of our children , my children are very well behaved. The waiter brought us our drinks and I put them where the children could not reach them so we could go make there plates kids always get served first. So we went to make there plates mind you we get to the buffet and all the food is dry and so dry I mean you can nearly scoop any of it up , so we got what we could for them and head back to the table to give them their plates , as I get the the table there is water everywhere and all of my children’s drinks have straws in them , I’m like who did this knowing none of my children did because they know no drinks before your meal , so the server took it upon herself to open straws and put them in all my children’s drink and give them to children that are two and three they spilt the water everywhere and when I said something they said well they are thirsty okay first and foremost I moved the drinks out of the reach of all the children so they couldn’t get to them and because no drinks before eating and if it’s not your child you shouldn’t be giving them a drink or anything without their mothers or fathers permission. The servers where very rude on top of that because I said something about them giving my children something that I specially moved away from them . On top of everything the food was dry as dry could get , the mash potatoes where completely watery, all the deserts where so dried out the spoon was stuck the pans , the tea wasn’t sweet at all I didn’t get the lemon for my tea also , by far this was the worst experience ever I wasted money for food no one could even eat because it was so dry and hard , my boys especially normally eat a lot of food and they just picked at the food . We where better off going to McDonald’s where we ended up anyways because we couldn’t eat nothing from there because how dried out and old looking it was , even the crackers for the salad where stale , the soups where also quit dried up . By far the worst place ever including the food , and servers it was...

For a first time visit I was so disappointed and disgusted. I was excited when I saw the parking lot full and smiling faces. Our waitress extremely nice and welcoming. So began plating our food and that is when the hairs stood up on the back of my neck, my stomach began to turn, and I wanted to toss the entire buffet line in the trash and tell everyone the food was contaminated and that they should run for their lives. I noticed a spoon fully submerged in food pan on buffet line, we waved an employee assuming she would replace the entire pan… The staff came over while eating a cookie, placed the cookie down and without gloves she retrieved the spoon with her bare hands. She then placed a clean spoon in the pan of food. I then asked her, “are you not going to replace the pan”, she responded, “huh”… I repeated the question and informed her that the entire spoon was just in the food… She then with an attitude, asked her peer to hand her a pan… and she did the unthinkable, she poured the contaminated food into the new pan and then placed the contaminated food back on the buffet line…The employee did all of this in front of me and the other customers. Unlike them, I no longer wanted to eat from Ole Times Country Buffet… I envisioned chef’s in the back mishandling food and wondered how many more spoons fell into food… I completely lost my appetite. I immediately asked for a manager who apologized and attempted to make things better but the damage was done. I told her how disappointed I was and how it was a suggestion to stop here. As first time customers this was not a good impression. we were fully refunded our money. I made sure to tell the manager that the waitress (I think it was Michelle) was extremely nice and we made sure to tip her. I really hoped the manager would quickly remove the food item from the buffet but she did not but she assured me should would do so. The manager also suggested we give them another try but I doubt I can. The food service department should assess this restaurant more frequently… I’m pretty sure food there are so many violations happening… I cannot recommend anyone to eat there no matter how good people say the food is, food preparation and handling is...

We stopped here on the way back to Florida. Long line to get in , we were hoping that this meant good food. No , just 1 woman weighing food to go and charging people to come in and eat , instead of letting the young girl standing next to her do one and her do the other. But then I said to the lady 1 senior. With no response, just what are you drinking. So I take it there is NO senior pricing. Which is fine, but just say that. The buffet itself looked alright. Then you touch the serving utensils and they are disgusting , slick, covered in food and whatever. There is No Hand sanitizer anywhere around the plates or food anywhere that we could find. The chicken was cook dry and hard. The ham was dry and salty. The okra was soggy and nowhere near fresh. I was looking for butter and lemon. I was told I was to get those from our server. Well, I did order water with lemon and just received water. We seen the server once when she grabbed a plate and was gone before we could say anything. The fried pork chop was their best food item, fresh not soggy, cooked properly. The green beans were very good and the yellow squash was cooked the way I like. My husband enjoyed the fried fish. He likes his squash crunchy so he passed on that. I’m a salad person, but chose to pass because I was not confident in the rotation of the food. I watched when food was brought out. There was no rotation, just dumped right on top of the rest of the food. Needless to say , this was NOT a place we will be stopping in the future. The restrooms were not exactly clean , they needed some attention. They did have awards on the walls, but clearly 2006 was the last award for a reason. I’d imagine with some updated training and SafeServe training and someone watching over temperatures in the kitchen , along with proper rotation of food they could very well get those awards back on the wall. But for us for now, we’ll pass. Rotate, cleanliness must be a priority. I will...