Pacific Buffet & Grill

One of the better buffet restaurants in the area, best to eat during dinner hours or on a weekend afternoon when food is moving. During off hours you’ll find cold dried out food.

What can I say about Pacific buffet. I used to love this place growing up and I have to say it declined over the years and I’m kind of disappointed about it. I used to love the dumplings because they were hot juicy and the stuffing was great but now during my last visit there cold dry and disgusting actually. They added a hibachi but it’s not really good either but the hot food is pretty OK. i also loved the coconut shrimp but coconut shrimp is now just basically hard fried shrimps with mayonnaise on it other than that it’s fine I guess

For the price the food is generally pretty good. Best to get here during the busy hours for optimal freshness. Fish fry and steak are winners. Not so much the sushi. Go down Dixwell ave for that.

Went there recently, food was not the best and there was a very odd scent. I didn’t feel the same after eating there last Friday.

I got the worst food poisoning of my life here and so did everybody I went with. The food tasted very good going down, but don’t risk the consequences of having a second, third, tenth tasting…
I’ve heard a lot of people have had the same problem. I think the health department needs to be investigating.

Food is ok. 2 people for lunch and the bill was 15 dollars… the service was bad. The waitress came to get our drink order and that was the last time she made it to my table. i had to ask the hostess for the check. I will not be back. I’d rather pay more and have better service. stay away from this place unless you like being ignored.

Officially my favorite buffet place in New Haven. It combines Chinese and American food and meets all of your buffet cravings.
But here’s the thing about buffets-​you go to them because you want to eat a lot of a lot of different varieties of foods. If you want one item really well done, then go to a real restaurant.
Is everything here amazing? No, but did I get to eat french fries, sushi, steak, and macaroni for $ 10 on a Friday night? Yes.

I came here with my family who comes here very often. This was my first time coming here. They were not busy whatsoever. The 13 in my party was more than the rest of the guests in here. That is obviously not their fault but due to the low amount of customers the food did not go very fast. Due to this most of the food was cold. They should have stirred it in order to get an even temperature or even put it back on the grill to warm it up.
The place itself was relatively clean but the utensils that they give you in the napkin was filthy and my fork was bent. Being that they are wrapped individually you would think the person wrapping it would notice that they were dirty/​bent.
The food was always full and I never needed to tell them they were out of something. However the entire Susi bar did not have one label on it. That was the worst place to not have labels. I would say that a quarter of the food items did not have utensils to get the food with.
The price was reasonable for the amount of food that you get. I did think that the food was very good as long as it went cold. That’s the only reason it gets two stars.
The customer service was practically non existent. Instead of refilling the drinks the server simply put down a water pitcher and left it for us to take care of. They took the plates away but that was about it. The server didn’t even say a word to me when I would ask for something. I DO NOT RECOMMEND COMING HERE!!! Remember the food is just one part of the experience. Obviously a big part but other things in fact in too. Just get take out. Don’t dine in.

one epic fail after another in this place … Waitress was very nice food was old dried out nasty

I came for dinner and the service was bad. The bathrooms were dirty. The food tasted like sh**********. I would not recommend this place.

Ok, so let’s figure out the facts here. The place is all of $ 10 with the buffet and a drink. People who are complaining about quality of food are just silly. If you want quality food, don’t come to a buffet. This isn’t Vegas where they actually care about buffets and what they put out — it’s Hamden.
Secondly, the staff barely speaks a lick of English which is actually encouraging because it means that they aren’t Americanized. The food was perfectly acceptable but it certainly wasn’t anything close to the good sushi and other Asian eateries in the area. (i.e. Hokkaido, Toro, etc.) Again, you’re paying $ 10 for all you can eat.
The place is cleaner than many other buffets I’ve seen in CT. It’s not pristine, but it’s not too far from. Some of their booths need some help — they’re rickety, have holes, or just flat out decompress to about 2 inches when you sit on them. It’s startling, but not a deal breaker — you can always default to a table as well.
If you’re looking just for a quick lunch with some variety and don’t feel like having to think too much about anything, visit Pacific. It’s not as awful as all these other people suggest if you just keep in mind you aren’t getting first class food. If you’re looking for something to write home about — my advice — don’t look to a buffet.

I give this place a 4 Star Rating cuz I am a definite fan of the VALUE offered… and the food is quite good too! I go every time I head north to/​thru Hamden. For $ 7.60 Early Bird Lunch — It CANNOT be beat! They definitely lose money on my friend and I!
The Walnut Honey Shrimp is one of my favs along with all the chix & beef dishes. The Chinese Rolls, Sashimi and Fish bar is very good too. The Hibachi Grill offering made to order is phenomenal as well. Salad & Ice Cream/​Fruit/​Cake, etc Dessert Bar is offered too but I tend not to have enough room in my stomach after the 4^th or 5^th trip to the smörgåsbord!
Try it — You’ll LIke it and you will probably pay your tab planning when you will be back again!

I visited about a month ago on a Friday around 4:00 pm. The restaurant smelled like Long Island Sound at low tide. I have been there many times in the past and never encountered this. Also, being past 3:30 it was considered «dinner» and was more expensive than lunch. The buffet was a mess. I hate seafood and to see pieces of fish dropped by careless patrons into non-​seafood dishes disgusted me. I really wish they kept the raw and cooked seafood separate and not mixed in with other offerings. And then to see a server pluck the chicken out of the macaroni and cheese disgusted me. What if someone had a seafood allergy and thought they were safe when it was cross contaminated. Also, it seemed the waitress scanned my plate when she would clear the dishes as if to scold me for not eating my whole slice of pizza (raw dough frozen pizza). The broccoli and chicken’s chicken had a rubbery texture and was very mysterious. Still, I didn’t give up hope and chalked it up to an off day on their part and vowed to try again because I have always enjoyed eating there.
Unfortunately I decided to try the buffet again (today) and did not even get into the dining room. As I walked through the door I was pelted with the salt marsh aroma that was even worse than last time, looked at my boyfriend, looked at the price per person (apparently at 11:30 am on Saturday an Sunday, they charge dinner prices) and said no way. I’m done with this place and we went to Tandoor on Chapel St in New Haven.

Most of the buffet food here is average, not impressed but it satisfies if you aren’t looking for anything special. The sushi here is what I would expect from a buffet but the rolls are very tasty. Then you have someone at the grill making steaks but I don’t recommend getting any since it’s always cooked to shoe leather and is rather tasteless. The place looks nice and clean inside and I’ve never seen it that packed with people. It’s nothing special but it’s not bad overall either. I wouldn’t go out of my way to go here though.

Best Chinese buffet in town. I usually stick to the hot Chinese food and not the American or sushi. They have all your standard Americanized-​Chinese food and it’s all pretty tasty. There’s plenty of seating too but be aware of the bathroom; it’s kind of nasty/​falling apart.

My favorite buffet for Chinese food. Great selection, high quality, good prices, big spacious restaurant.

Spectacular Buffet!!!
The place is clean, the food is flavorful and the variety is huge.
To start they have a great salad bar with variety of toppings and fresh cut fruits.
They have typical american fair including Sirloin Steak, Roast Beef, Corn bread, Southern fried chicken, Mac n cheese, Mashed potatoes, buffalo wing, pot roast, Mini burger and a whole lot more.
For chinese they have Chicken w. broccoli, general tso’s, pineapple chicken, pepper steak, sweet & sour chcken, coconut shrimp and all the typical chinese food that they make better than other takeout places.
For sushi they have salmon, white tuna, shrimp, egg, seaweed salad, clam, red snapper and they have a great variety of sushi rolls.
Oh and don’t forget about the desserts, they have 7 flavors of scoop your self ice cream. Cheese cake, Layered chocolate cake, carrot cake, red velvet, oreo pie and a whole bunch of puddings and jello.
I really enjoy dining at this place. I will definitely go back.

This place really could improve and especially in the sushi department. I usually get take out, I have only sat down here a couple times. This place is also hit or miss there is no consistency with the quality of the food but its more often a miss than a hit.
I’ve gotten very dry chicken and I’ve eaten way too many overcooked dishes. The only reason I still go here is its convenience for take out but i’m thinking about switching to china buffet for take out.
Sushi was really good at first but now it just stinks. Service is bleh even for take out (I KNOW!) The only thing that has constantly been good is the egg drop soup and that’s pretty easy.
This place seems to advertise itself as higher quality but its just another crappy buffet that will be run down in a couple years.

Ok, here’s the deal with Pacific Buffet. They do Americanized Chinese food really well and in large quantities.
Do go for their dumplings, spare ribs, lo mein, general tso’s, sweet and sour chicken, french fries, onion rings, prime rib, meatloaf, and ice cream.
Skip their sushi, salad, and fruit and jello desserts. These suck really bad and are not worth your time.
The following is based in truth, so brace yourself:
In the year 1245, a proud, but ancient, Chinese warrior landed in Hamden, CT after a hard day of wind surfing having departed from Tenochtitlan earlier in the day. Although his life was hard, he managed to write down the secrets to making all sorts of yummy Chinese food. He died in 1256 after spending 11 years trying to find a good pair of disco dancing shoes, but the local dudes in CT couldn’t help him out. However, entombed with him were all of his ancient warrior dumpling recipes, which were unearthed in the past few years. A couple of people found them hidden inside of what appeared to be a big pile of fortune cookies. And then those people opened Pacific Buffet. Epic.
Also the place is pretty cheap given that you’re going to stuff yourself until bursting while eating there. Holla!

Just went to this newly opened place tonight (Thursday ⁵⁄₂₁ approx. 5:00pm). Upon walking in, my first thought was «Wow … looks different and smaller than when it was East Buffet».
Greeted by a bored looking girl who yawned as she said «you go in an sit anyprace — table or booth». Took a booth and another very tired/​bored looking waiter took our drink orders. The welcoming atmosphere got even better. There’s a little card on each table admonishing you not to waste food and that any excess uneaten food would result in a 35% surcharge! Whaaaaat?
Went to the first buffet island; a very basic salad bar with soaking wet lettuce. This also doubles as the dessert station where we noticed a scoop-​your-​own ice cream cooler, which is a nice idea, fruit and cookies (which were so hard and stale, you could break a windshield with them!)
One girl was standing behind this counter with the most blank expression I’ve ever seen on anyone’s face slamming slices off a banana to put in a fruit salad. It was kind of funny. At another island, another staff member was yelling and (it sounded like) cursing at someone back in the kitchen as she barged right in between my partner and another customer without even looking and slammed a big bowl of crab legs into the steam table bin.
Other sections featured very dry grilled teriyaki chicken and salmon, beef skewers, all of which had to have been sitting there since lunch. Other things I noticed were stuffed clams, ribs, mac&cheese, turkey &gravy, rolls. Very Hometown Buffet looking.
The Chinese food buffet was a little better. The usual steam table Chinese buffet food (Chicken&Broccoli, Fried Rice, wontons and a couple soups). I noticed a sushi station, but I hate sushi and would be afraid to eat raw fish in a place that obviously had alot of over the hill food sitting out for most of the day.
I was kind of surprised this place was so mediocre. I know it’s only $ 14.99 for dinner (goes up to $ 16.99 Fri-​Sun), but this place only opened a few weeks ago and I guess I thought it would be a little more, I dunno, new.
We didn’t incur the 35% wasted food penalty though, thankfully. Though on the way out, much to the amusement of a little girl in a highchair, I did slide on a piece of sushi on the floor. We both laughed at me!
You can definitely put the feedbag on at placed like this, but don’t set your expectations higher than any other Chinese buffet place in a strip mall you’ve been to — and don’t expect any smiles!