Grand Palms Buffet

Nice buffet, similar to the Spa Resort as they are owned by the same band of Indians. Food is fresh and there is a huge variety. Didn’t have anything that wasn’t good. Pricing was great this time as it wasn’t a holiday. As a rewards member, we received an additional discount!
Ate so much I didn’t have dinner that evening. Will try it again in the future.

This buffet was so bad in so many ways… first the obvious –the food!!! Horribly bland and tasteless, sitting around coagulating, It took all my strength to dislodge a shrimp from the cement– like noodles. The deserts even tasted bad! I could find nothing remotely tasty or fresh!!!
Then there was the staff. It was hard to tell they even worked there. There were 2 «servers» who gave people drinks from a self serve drink area, and never took a plate from our table the whole time we ate.(Nor anyone else’s table either). At one point we counted 13 empty booths that were unusable due to the pile of dirty dishes stacked 15 plates high all over all the tables. There were 3 people working the register and seating people which after a while was hard to do as more and more tables overflowed with dirty dishes and seating choices were few. I watched the servers make a feeble attempt to clear 2 tables. They seemed overwhelmed by the sheer volume of dirty plates and abandoned the task after placing a few dishes in a wheeled cart. My husband wondered if the concept of a manager had occurred to this horribly run restaurant. If you want a good meal, I suggest seeking food somewhere else!!! HORRIBLE!!!

The Grand Palms Buffet is far and away the finest buffet I’ve ever patronized at the Agua Caliente Resort and Casino in Rancho Mirage, CA. BRAVO!!!

#1 thank you Lord we did not get food poisoning.
#2 thank you Lord for not letting us need to utilize oxygen while eating.
The smoke is so thick it lingers heavy into the buffet, for a non smoker like myself you can hardly function.
The food, oh the nasty, cold, old, plain, boring food. I was so disappointed in this buffet. After having been to Pechanga and Morongo buffets, I thought this would at least be comparable. Boy, was I wrong, they are more on the level of a city buffet.
The desserts had no flavor, the sushi was hard and the bread was hard. The only thing good was the mashed potatoes and the small amount of prime rib I was able to eat from around the fat.
Go to Morongo the food is good and the fruit is so fresh, they have amazing chocolate covered strawberries.

*BEWARE FOOD CONTAMINATION*
I came here for lunch and it was a round $ 16 per person. They had six stations, Mexican, Italian, Asian, american, a huge dessert station and a salad bar. All though there were a lot to choose from the food looked old and dull not at all appealing to the eye.
Given the fact that I spent a good some of my money with a family of three I ate my fill. Left with a full belly and a cup of coffee as my souvenir.
Fast forward 24 hours I found myself clinging to the toilet, sweating and cold in 93 degree weather, vomiting everything I ate throughout the day. Horrific as this sound my only thought to such cause was this buffet.
Handling food and serving guest must take absolute devotion to cleanliness. Then again I guess they don’t really give a crap. Next time think twice before you go to a buffet in the middle of the desert and always be cautious.

The selection was small compared to how they were a few years back.

Our waiter, Martin, was excellent. He took note of what we were eating (and weren’t) and brought some food items that weren’t out, such as shrimp, chile rellenos, warm fresh homemade corn tortillas, and avocado. Excellent server!
Here are some food items that we did not like:
1. baked potatoes (which should have been cooked in foil in an oven but instead were hard and seemed microwaved) (also, the green onions as chives were way too big and should have been chopped up)
2. Rotisserie chicken (very dry and not well-​seasoned)
3. creamed spinach (tasted like either poor-​quality cream was used – or other mystery ingredients had been added)
4. honeydew melon (not ripe or sweet)
5. flan (not real flan – yuck)
6. crème brûlée (also not baked right or glazed with a blow torch)
6. the three cookies I tried were mediocre (lemon, ginger, oatmeal)
7. the peel-​and-​eat fresh shrimps Martin brought us were mediocre
8. the bread pudding (good flavor, but too custardlike and mushy)
Here are some food items that we very much enjoyed:
1. pork with mango chutney
2. broccoli and cauliflower
3. prime rib (ask them to cut off the fat)
4. corn tortillas (definitely ask for them, as they are so delicious with butter, which is real butter in the gold foil wrapper)
5. chile rellenos and avocado (ask for it)
6. watermelon, strawberries, and pineapple
7. banana cream pie (ask for it because it’s kept in the fridge)
8. root beer float (ask server for half a glass of root beer, then add vanilla ice cream)
I hope this helps! I ended up eating very little dinner and trying to many deserts!
One more suggestion is to bring a jacket, as the air conditioning is very cold throughout the casino. We came in dressed for the 110 degree weather, and froze our asses off.

So after being up all night and driving all morning. I was starving and needed copious amounts of fatty foods to satisfy my empty tummy. I couldn’t even concentrate on gambling, that’s how hungry I was. So my perception of this particular buffet may be skewed. However I found the food to be hot, fresh and plentiful. And at that point that’s all that I really cared about. There was the usual Mexican, Asian, American, Italian, etc food stations. As well as a carving station. All with your typical buffet items.
My actual only complaint was that I wasn’t digging the dessert station. I liked the fresh fruit and melted chocolate, but other than that I wasn’t impressed with their dessert selection.

I went Grand Palm Buffet Thursday; Friday night & Christmas night. Thursday night– not good. Friday seafood night — Prime rib & crabs quality went down dramatically. Christmas night — I don’t recommend to go there. We had to stand in line for about two hours. It’s not worth it. Dessert selection is good. Overall waitress/​waiter service is good & foods are okay.

At the risk of palming off a cliché often found at the top of Unilocal reviews, I really wanted to like this place. But, just a minute, I really did used to like this place, Grand Palms Buffet at Agua Caliente casino.
It’s main weaknesses were always cooling food in some of the steam tables, and occasional chaos around the popular chef stations at Sunday and holiday champagne brunches. My two most recent visits have been for lunch ($ 14.99) and weekend breakfast (6 – 10 a.m., $ 10.99), home-​cooking being so 10 years ago.
At lunch, your best bets in «hot» food are carved meat, specifically prime rib, and two varieties of soup. Everything served in a tray in the Italian, Asian and Mexican sections is lukewarm at best. And, as you might have guessed, meats are also lukewarm, but no colder than you would find in a carved-​meat deli sandwich. The prime rib, au jus and horseradish are excellent.
Breakfast is only half as bad, but that’s because the buffet offers just two breakfast nationalities: American and Mexican. Everything ranges from tepid to cold except your order from the omelet station, and waffles that you make yourself on one of three ready, time-​regulated waffle irons (keep an eye on your curtain-​climbers).
I’ve never tried chilaquiles before. Is it really supposed to be lukewarm, soggy, bland, meatless nachos? The perfectly cooked bacon had a faint, unusual aftertaste, and the sausage patties had the look of, and might have even tasted like, outdoor shuffleboard pucks.
Thus, the priority at this buffet is to concentrate on intentionally room-​temperature or chilled items, particularly the salad, fresh fruit and dessert bars at lunch, and the pastries and fresh fruit (melons, pineapple and bananas) at breakfast. Now I’m reluctant to return for the brunch buffets fondly remembered from years past.
I’d warn those on a hot date against gambling on today’s Grand Palms Buffet.

Came here for lunch on a Saturday. Not really all that great. The Asian section was horrible as I was expecting some kind of stir fry or better assortment, but there was none to be found. The carving station and the dessert was the saving grace as I can get the slice of beef and get it thrown on the grill which helped out tremendously. Either than that, the food overall was blah.

It’s a buffet. .nothing was outstanding and nothing was disgusting. The pizza and the prime rib were my favorite things. The staff was very friendly.

Was looking forward to the buffet especially as the sister casino Oasis buffet at the Spa Resort was amazing. So I’ll start off with the dinner buffet. The pizza… amazing. Prime Rib good, the food in general was of good quality, impressed that the crab legs were split open, the desserts a lot of option and what food we could squeeze in tasted good. The service was great too!
Why 3 stars? Well definite lack of variety, only 4 different varieties of food. No lamb like advertised and the most ridiculous of all the butter for the crab was NOT real butter! First time I ever experienced this, must have been melted margarine… not happy!
The other reason for the 3 stars is the breakfast menu for the buffet. We do not eat pork, so if you like meat your out of luck!!! No turkey substitute, so definite lack of options. Quality of the rest of the food was great though especially the chocolate muffins, definitely the best we’ve had!

Let me first say that I am reviewing the Saturday and Sunday breakfasts only.
I read a few other reviewers complaining about the limited breakfast hours on Saturday and Sunday, but let me take a moment to explain: 6AM-​10AM is breakfast and it’s $ 9.99 plus tax. This price includes unlimited orange juice, coffee, tea, soda, you name it. I must have had half a gallon in OJ alone and they just kept ‘em coming! They have eggs made to order and do it yourself waffles that are so good, it’s sinful.
Now after 10AM, they revamp things for their $ 24.95 brunch which starts at 11AM and goes for hours. It includes all the breakfast items, plus all the brunch type things you’d typically expect — prime rib carving station, salad bar, etc. There is an option for Champagne for an extra dollar or two, and sure, it’s the cheap stuff, but who cares, as long as you’re not driving. But let’s get back to the breakfast.
Where can you go anywhere near here (except maybe the Hometown Buffet which doesn’t have as nice an ambiance) and get heaps of bacon and custom eggs for under ten bucks? Answer? Nowhere!
If you have a player’s card, even the most basic one, you get 10% off, bringing this down to less than ten bucks for a very decent breakfast. If you have the better players cards, you can get 20% or 30% off.

Buffet, on the better side, but still a buffet and what they charge I should at least get a 15 minute back massage. :-)

Another Casino Buffet.
I eat at many different places all over the country and Casino Buffets are just some of them.
The Grand Palms was just ok for quality and selection. At $ 26.00 for SUNDAY Brunch its a bit overpriced for what they offer for food selection but if you enjoy Champagne with your Brunch than this place isn’t so bad.
They did have over cooked Prime Rib Beef and a few other things. The brunch crab legs and peel and eat shrimp were good though and the high light of the meal for me. The service is a little rushed as they seem to be trying to get you out of there ASAP.
There are much better Casino Buffets in San Diego County such as Pala Casino’s, Choices Buffet. It’s the best of them all.
This place is convenient if trying your luck at Agua Caliente Casino and you will leave full. This is more of a $ 12.00 Buffet at best but any port in a storm.

2.5 stars. Nothing special here, but the employees are friendly. We went for lunch and it’s your run of the mill buffet. Typical meats like prime rib & turkey, then Asian & Mexican options and desserts. It wasn’t very busy, but our server was very attentive.
I like the idea of casino buffets because if you’re not a gambler you can get a great deal. It’s nice that it’s near Palm Springs, but I wouldn’t return for the food.

It’s a buffet, so… Don’t expect 5 star service or 5 star food! The food overall is about 3 – 4 stars. The service was a bit off… We asked for milk for our little one, and he didn’t bring it. Then later when I asked him from napkins, he goes «I believe there are some on the table…» There was like 6 – 7 of us, and 3 napkins lol
Anyways, food was ok, dessert was good. I don’t know if I would stop by again, but its not that bad (not that great either, lol).
Don’t know if I would recommend it, but I guess you can try it…

The buffet is small, but very nice quality. Breakfast has limited hours, closes at 10am. Huh, what? Breakfast is 6am-​10am, that’s it. Pmmffff! They stop the cashiering and don’t let you in… hoping to clear the room for the 11am lunch crowd. Weird and too early.
Lunch is very good as well. Prime rib, chicken wings, cheese enchiladas, raviolis in a red pepper sauce — all great.
Brunch and/​or dinner, I can only imagine (but I would be game to try it).

Winner winner, chicken dinner.
Crab Legs were good, didn’t run into any that were particularly dry.
The prime rib for a buffet was not particularly bad either. Moist if you got a medium rare piece.
I also enjoyed their ravioli and their chinese brocolli. Their orange chicken was pretty good when it was fresh made as well, so crispy and orangey and non authentic!