Panda Garden Buffet — Restaurant in Willmar

I'm putting down a 4 for what I believe this place can be rather than what I experienced, which wasnt terrible...but not perfect.

Why I'm optimistic? The selection and range of options is quite good and on par with what I would expect in the suburbs. The inside is pretty cool and is very nicely laid out and designed. Sushi and Hibachi in Willmar MN? To me that seems to be an impressive offering. Tables were clean and the place was well staffed and well kept.

Why is my 4 stars based on optimism? Because I dont feel this place deserves anything less when I feel like I caught them on an "off day". The place wasnt busy at all at 8 pm on a Saturday night. That worried me a bit at first. $14.99 for an adult buffet with a drink isnt a bad price at all. The sushi I had was alright but better than expected. It wasnt warm or looked like it had been under a light for an hour. Some of the rolls kinda tasted the same but other were interesting and had good flavor. The buffet items were your typical Asian style buffet items. The chicken was tender and the sauces they put on them were good but they were pretty typical options. The chicken and brocolli was pretty good but the brocolli didnt look the best. They had a decent amount of desert/sweet options. The stand out was the Taiwan chicken! I have never seen this before but it was a really savory and sweet sauce over their chicken. It was a nice surprise!

One of the things that did seem a little odd was the check in. I paid and after I paid I stood there expecting a host to walk me to a table. The lady who was working the register was nice but seemed preoccupied with something personal. So after a minute I just walked myself to a table. It's not a big deal but it was a little different than pretty much every other buffet I've been too.

All in all it was a decent experience but I feel like if I had been there on a busier night then the food and atmosphere would have been better. I'll definitely stop in again if I'm...

As far as quality goes, this is almost definitely my favorite Chinese buffet. It has been consistently great since it opened and the fact that fewer than 15 tables eating at once is pretty dead for them is testament to that. For a first experience I don’t think you want to go when it’s slower though, it IS a buffet and when food starts sitting for awhile obviously it will lose its freshness, but also they usually reduce the menu a bit then as well.

The sushi bar is fine. It’s a Chinese buffet and not a Japanese sushi restaurant so set your expectations a bit but it’s perfectly fine for basic Americanized sushi. I’d say the same for the hibachi grill. It adds a little fun seeing them prepare the food for you and you get to customize your dish a bit, and you KNOW it’s freshly cooked, but they don’t do anything fancy with it. I suppose the hibachi would add some value for people watching what they eat since you can control your macros better than at the buffet stations.

It’s slightly pricey, probably because a few years ago they had to keep raising prices just to slow down the rush enough to accommodate everyone. But with how food prices have inflated lately I think it’s back to being pretty reasonable. The pay-per-pound takeaway boxes are actually priced quite well.

Overall, 5 stars all day every day. It is a staple of...

While checking in the hostess acted like she was doing us a favor by allowing us to eat there. She does not smile she slaps your money back at you and Like you’re nothing but an animal coming into her barn! No friendliness whatsoever . Then, there’s one other that is really bad! She’s a very small woman probably in her 50s and I highly doubt she speaks English. She takes her food cart that she uses to bring refills to the bins and starts Charging at you with it! She came very close to hitting me with it, and I had to jump, literally jump out of the way she barges in front of you and she gives you a look as she’s doing this. I did not move out of her way so she charges around me and gets in my way and would not look at me,this lady’s crazy! We were there another time during the week and the food was lukewarm, and tasted like it was warmed up in a microwave. this time the food was hot and it was excellent, but the service was not excellent. I’ve heard others complaining about the service and the cold food during the week. If there was any other place buffet in Willmar, we...