Pacific Buffet & Grill — Restaurant in Wallingford

Ok so I very RARELY write reviews. It’s just not my thing. And when I do leave a review it’s 5 stars bc I’m super pleased with the company. I never bash.. However, this experience could not go unaccounted for in my opinion. My boyfriend and I came here for an early dinner. Buffets are not our thing but we were so indecisive that we said screw it. Let’s try. The food was ok. Not bad but not great. Mediocre at best. Still no reason to complain. They sat us at a booth which was nice but it was all sticky and not clean. The napkins were the same as toilet paper so I can see why it’s hard to clean up after yourself. The person that they call a “server” who walks up one time to ask if you’d like a drink seems ok to start. We each had one plate of food. The exact reason I’m not into buffets. I can’t eat a lot and especially Chinese food. It fills you up so fast! So we’re there maybe 20 minutes. We get our food eat it and are DONE! The server comes back over for the first time since our drinks with the bill in hand. It’s roughly $46.. so we leave a $50 and ask her to take it. She immediately moves the $50 bill and says I need more money (very broken English. Hard to fully understand her) I said no that’s enough to cover the bill. She then says no I need more tip. More tip? I say in shock. She says yeah $9 dollar. I need $9 dollar. I’m complete shock I say what is going on here. I’m confused. I’m paying the tab. No one said that’s your tip. And she wouldn’t leave the table or take the money bc she kept demanding more money for the tip. First off. Maybe I wanted change bc I was going to put a $5 with the $4 change and leave a $9 tip. Or maybe I was going to leave $10 on the table and leave so the other $4 change would have been hers to keep equaling a $14 tip. She had no idea but didn’t ask. Just assumed that I was leaving her a $4 tip and demanded more money in a very disrespectful rude manner. First off we just paid $46 for maybe $15 worth of food. Had we gotten take out from a different Chinese spot and spent $50 we’d have food for 3 days. Second, it’s self serve. All she did was bring one soda and a bill. 20% is not a guarantee. It’s not mandatory. And it’s not just assumed. It’s for the hard working wait staff at places that slave an entire shift for their customers. Not for someone dropping off one cup and a bill. She was lucky to get 10% for her efforts which were minimal At best. I left her $6. Essentially 15% for nothing and she still was complaining out loud in front of the entire restaurant. I don’t recommend supporting an establishment that allows their employees to demand a tip or one that embarrasses you or creates a scene over $2. How entitled can you be? A tip is a gratuity. It’s for good service. There was no service. Just us helping ourselves. I’ll never go back and I recommend you don’t either. It’s totally inappropriate and unhinged...

Really good food, and relatively cheap at $12 ($8 for lunch) a person. Soft drinks are $2 each and are not free refills. Everything I got was hot and tasty. I stayed mainly in the Asian section of the buffet, as Chinese food is my obsession. I have eaten A LOT of Chinese food from many places all over CT, and I was impressed at the quality of the food here. It wasn't the greatest Chinese, but it was the best all you can eat for $12 Chinese food I've ever had. It was all delicious, especially the crab rangoons, chicken & broccoli, fried dumplings, garlic shrimp, and general tsaos. I ventured into the "American" section a little bit, trying the chicken wings and a cappelini & shrimp alfredo, both of which were better than I expected. The wings, which I assumed would be dry and tasteless, were actually moist and seasoned well. I would like to add however, that there was a sushi chef preparing fresh sushi at the sushi bar, which indicates all the sushi is fresh. I read the other reviews from years ago, and it seems as though this place stepped it up, because everything was hot and delicious. I would eat here again, and recommend others to do so.

*After going to this place probably 5-6 times more after my first visit, I can give a more accurate review. It's a great value for $8 lunch, and I usually just get water. The waitresses do a great job to insuring I don't have to give a good tip, which keeps the price low. Seriously though, I don't think there's 1 polite waiter/waitress in the place. Not that I care, I get my own food, and they do a good job at refilling my water. Other than that, the food is always delicious, although sometimes on the lukewarm side (doesn't bother me much, its $8). The sushi is also surprisingly delicious, and I haven't...

The buffet is excellent and my server was great but when I tried to ask one of the waitresses a question I can’t remember the last time anyone was that rude to me with facial expressions, body language, and then pretended to speak with someone in Chinese behind me which nobody was there and just turned around and walked away from me. I can understand that behavior if I am rude but it’s like my pet peeve to be as nice as possible to everyone I come across it just makes me feel better so when someone acts like this it bothers me enough to post about it. I asked to speak to the owner which I had seen earlier and complimented him on how nice the buffet was and that I had been to many buffets and this one was one of the best so it kind of leaves a bad taste in your mouth when someone is that rude to you in such a nice place especially as a hospitality and food service worker. Well the owner had stepped away so I think I spoke with his wife who of course was apologetic but I told her she should say something as this was such a nice place and she did briefly say something to her I saw. Now here’s the kicker after the owners wife said something to her a few minutes later this same waitress started smirking and laughing at me while she was talking with her fellow waitresses probably about me. I guess we just have to put up with rude people in this world even workers in the food and hospitality business. I asked for her name from the girl up front and her name is Amy so if you go to Pacific Buffet Grill on 20 Ives road in Wallingford, CT. Whatever you do don’t ask Amy...