Golden Corral

Didn’t wanna fight traffic by going into sevier county on a Saturday so we came here for the prime rib. It was really good. However I love a good salad bar and didnt find it here. Toms wer almost green and lettuce was warm. The toppings tasted very institutional and the blue chz dressing, yuck. Tried several different items. Pot roast was room temp at best. Carrots were underdone. Chicken livers were rock hard. And some of the desserts were old and dry. I did like the warm cookies and the red velvet cake. It was a busy night and there was a long waiting line so I can understand items running out quickly but the overall quality was kinda off. Would try again but at a slower time.

Dear Golden Corral,
If I pay your $ 15.84 for a meal and drink, I expect my monies worth. I asked for some steak and this measly portion I received from you is the utmost example of why I will never return. It is an absolute disgrace to serve this and think a customer maybe happy. I would not recommend you due to your staff behind the line have no respect for customers, your waitstaff complain about customers when they leave and expect other customer to tip them well after they hear what they said.

My first time going to a buffet in over a year. It wasn’t busy at all at 8pm on Thursday night. The food was good, any they have a wide variety. My favorites were the fish and fruit bar. Still, it’s a little pricey at $ 15 for the buffet and drink, but I probably eat less than most people. The one thing that I don’t like about buffets is having to stuff yourself to feel like you’ve gotten your money’s worth.

Food is good, hot and fresh (vegetables could use more salt but thats my personal taste). Service is good. Guests are amusing to watch, kinda like Walmart patrons! Every shape and size.
I would suggest to the manager that she hire a concierge or organizer to direct the traffic around the buffet. To keep a watch on the kids around the chocolate fountain. There is a sign posted for children under 10 to be accompanied by an adult at the buffet but I have never yet seen that happen. And children do not care.
Our server was Angela and she was very attentive and friendly. She even cleaned up the floor when I asked her to. Forks were strewn about and food that had fallen off of trays from waiters taking them into the kitchen.

Positives: They do have a very good selection, even for vegetarians. They serve Pepsi products (but recently did away with Pepsi Max in favour of Diet Dew).
Negatives: Many options that could be suitable for vegetarians are ruined by their putting in unnecessary meat, such as ham bits in their greenbean casserole. The recipe does *not* call for ham, but they are using their in-​house prepared greenbeans, which they prepare with ham. Thus, none of their greenbean dishes are edible to vegetarians, nor for observant Hindus, Jews and Muslims. They also have hidden animal ingredients in some things, such as chicken fat in their cornbread stuffing (which is clearly from a boxed mix). Their falls of chocolate, white chocolate and caramel are just nasty, imagining some small child casually dipping in a germy hand then going back for more, contaminating the entire system. Who wants to eat kid germs, possibly boogers, etc. Lastly, though they do extend the senior discount a bit more than they should, their prices are just too high. Many places offer discounts for anyone not eating the meat/​meat dishes., but here they do not, so I end up paying a premium price for a non-​premium meal.

Stopped in on this location on our way south. Located at a main intersection, next to Lowes, it was conveniently located. On a Thursday evening after 7pm, the restaurant was a bit less than half full. Unfortunately the restaurant appears to also be understaffed. The food offerings are the usual fare for Golden Corral. The taste is consistent with other locations. The dining experience was compromised by the fact that multiple food items were empty, and remained so the entire time that we were there. I had to resort to asking our hostess to have several items replenished. The overall cleanliness of the restaurant was also lacking. The air exchange vents are covered with a thick layer of black soot. The rest room was littered with wet toilet paper and complete with a couple of unflushed stool filled toilets! Overall okay for locals and a quick bite but this location may benefit from a visit from their corporate headquarters.

We have eaten at this location many times. You would think we would learn our lesson. Yet, it was years ago when we had several bad experiences, and some of them were someone else inviting us and paying, and so it was harder to avoid. Yet, after several years (and essentially vowing years ago never to return), we decided to give it another shot. Bad mistake:
1.) POORLY MANAGED;
2.) Found FIVE plates with food all over them in the «clean» plates bins (not just one of them, but at least two of the bins), and those were just the plates I went to get.
3.) Several food items empty or clearly having sat for a while and not enough to make a plate-​not replaced, like crusty spaghetti noodles-​not even enough for one person, old looking sauce, no ranch dressing, hard parts in cakes, chocolate fountains blopping down instead of running smoothly-​no sticks for the fondue items, ice cream machine broken etc. etc. etc.
4.) Have to stand at bars and wait for a staff member behind the bar doing their thing to acknowledge you so that you can ask for something basic
5.) Dirty floors and stinky bathrooms
6.) Burnt steak, even after you ask for «medium-​well,» and I mean one guy got a BURNT, TOTALLY BLACK piece of steak after asking for «medium-well”-literally black!
7.) VERY HIGH PRICE FOR FOOD THAT TASTES CHEAP-​LIKE NEARLY $ 15 PER PERSON! Why not at least go to Chili’s or Red Lobster or somewhere?!
8.) Food at this location leaves us feeling BADLY every time, but at other locations, not so.
9.) BUNCH OF NON-​ENGLISH-​SPEAKING WORKERS! AWFUL COMMUNICATION. EVEN THE MANAGERS CANNOT COMMUNICATE WITH THEM, AND THEY ARE CLUELESS.
10.) GROSS, VERY OLD, RUBBERY PIZZA ON BAR. INEXCUSABLE.
PRO: Waitress was good. That’s about it.
My thoughts; This location needs to be either completely reoverhauled, including staff, or needs to be simply shut down. It’s been very bad for years. The 1-​hour away location in Pigeon Forge seemed really good around Christmas time, but that was the only time we have eaten at that one, so it may not be much better, but I imagine it is. Check their reviews, but stay away from this location! You are forewarned!
BTW, I have notified Golden Corral customer service at least twice about this location, and they NEVER have gotten back with me, the first time years ago, to the best of my memory, or recently. So, they don’t appear to care or take complaints seriously. Any wonder why it never improves?!

I can’t believe I just paid $ 28.80 for my 12 year old son and I to have dinner. The buffet was truly disappointing. Hugh selection, but poor quality. The facility wasn’t very clean either.

I went here once and am embarrassed to say I looked at the buffet and walked out. Not from the food, but from the people. I have never seen such country sweatsuit wearing people in my life. I actually saw skin with bellies hanging out of shirts. Now I am not one to make fun of people and I have never left a place, but I was so horrified I left. It actually turned my stomach. It was Thanksgiving Day and every place was closed, but I believe I went to Shoney’s buffet where if you can believe it, the crowd looked pretentious in comparison.

This is a cafeteria style restaurant with a wide selection of food also they usually have someone grilling steak for the buffet as well. Price is good for the amount of food. Great for a quick sit down with the family, friends or any group. Ok and now for the negative. The food is average nothing really stands out. There are several items that are lacking flavor. You find yourself buttering and salting to try to add a little flavor.

Big selection of foods. Steaks are good. Its a cafeteria style restaurant that isn’t very fancy, however, it is a nice meal.

Wasn’t familiar with this chain. Main complaint is that it has the prices on a sign when you enter and you are asked what you want to drink when you come in. Cashier then fills them and adds to bill (about $ 2). She also did drinks for next group behind us who were likewise surprised it was not included and said they would have just had water if they knew it was added (and with the ice quantity it was a bit watered down).
As for food, the BBQ chicken was quite good but the other dishes I had were fresh but bland. Would have liked to see some more fresh fruit variety at salad bar but that probably would affect price. If I had been scouting before scooping I would have tried the steaks being grilled but was too full.

Health inspector finds roaches: