Joy Buffet

Food ok. Sat next to service area, table of 6. Saw a waitress popping a pimple on another server. Never again.

It’s NEVER a good sign when a buffet is nearly empty at noon and has advertised prices lower than posted prices (major hint that business isn’t booming, and probably for good reasons). At first glance, buffet looks decent. Unfortunately, the food looks better than it tastes. The noodles were flavorless and almost tasted raw. The coconut chicken was boarder line raw. The «cheese puffs» aka crab meat ragoon were absolutely horrible. What was really gross was when I dropped a dessert on the counter and decided to leave it there to be thrown away and I no more than turned away and saw an employee pick it up off the counter and put it back in the tray of desserts ready to serve! The place is dingy and dirty with broken down/​cracked seating. My husband absolutely REFUSES to ever step foot back in the place because of how filthy the men’s restroom was. He actually elected not to use the restroom because he was afraid he may catch something. He’s by no means picky and is always the last one to complain about anything, so I can only imagine how bad the bathroom was. We had almost finished eating and he kept saying he wanted to go puke because he could only imagine how they clean the kitchen if they kept the men’s restroom so filthy. We definitely will NEVER return. It’s worth paying a few more bucks to eat at a semi-​decent Chinese Buffet, such as King’s Buffet down the road.

At best: Mongolian grill with a variety of fresh ingredients, including seafood, to choose from and tender, juicy, sirloins
At worst: Everything else
We came on a Thurdsay night around 8pm. There promotional buffet price of $ 8.99 is what lured us in. I’m going to tell you right now this buffet isn’t worth half of that price.
The two stars are for service and the Mongolian/​hibachi. Everything else was terrible. The fried shrimp were rock hard, crab rangoons were more like Philadelphia cream cheese rangoons, sautéed seafood delight was overcooked to the point that it was mushy, and I was too scared to try the sushi considering everything else.
My advice, go to Chopsticks or Teppenyaki right down the road. Both are more expensive but WORTH your money. I wouldn’t feed a homeless person from this place.

Don’t do it… Sign says dinner $ 8.99. But they charged us $ 11.99 for dinner (valentines a holiday) Meat was tough, rice was hard, chicken was chewy. Don’t do it!

Came in for a late lunch with my husband. It was our first time here and were really surprised by how big it is! The options really do seem endless. We enjoyed it very much! We LOVED that this place has an option for Kimchi! We love Kimchi! They didn’t have any Bulgogi to eat with the Kimchi, and that’s fine. Everything else was just as good! I wish I would have remembered they have the Mongolian Grill in the front. I’m getting that next time! So in closing; I would definitely recommend. There’s so many options you’re sure to find something you love!

The bar for Chinese buffet restaurants has been raised in San Antonio with the likes of King Buffet and Teppanyaki Buffet and as a result some of these lesser buffets are struggling. In an increasingly competitive market, you’ve for to raise your game or it’ll be lights out for your establishment. I would venture to guess that Joy Buffet is not long for this world.
A nearly empty parking lot during peak singer hours should have been a glaring earning sign. I did not heed that warning.
After being seated we headed for the sushi bar and found it nearly empty. What was available wasn’t very good and any chances of replenishment seemed unlikely as no sushi chef was anywhere in sight.
The typical Chinese buffer items were in offer but I find most of then lacking in flavor. Maybe more MSG next time… It appeared that their more popular items were not being refilled as quickly as they should have been but considering the entire restaurant only had about 15 people in it, I doubt it was a priority.
The highlight of the meal was their Mongolian Grill. While not very expansive, the outcome was tasty.
The dessert bar was just OK with the usual selection of stale mini cream puffs, pudding, and soft serve ice cream which was flavorless and comprised mainly of ice shavings.
We actually passed up King Buffet which is just a few blocks away inside Loop 410 on Bandera. Big mistake. We had a great waitress, an older Chinese gal, that unfortunately didn’t realize she’s a passenger on the Titanic. We will not be back.

This is what was known as East Buffet. Same food, though. Good prices, good food, but just another average Chinese buffet.
With the limited diet now thanks to a recent diagnosis of gastric paresis, I have to cut out most processed meats (AAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!! NO BACON! NNNNNNNNNOOOOOOO!!!) and fresh vegetables (HUH?), so I’m more limited as to what I can eat. Fortunately, that does include fresh meats, eggs, and cooked vegs, and some rice. I was feeling seafood, so I gave the wife a choice between Joy and Sea Island. We wound up here.
Again the food was good, nothing out of the ordinary. Sushi was pretty good, but the variety was quite limited, probably because we got there a bit late. No worries.
We’ll be back.

First time to this buffet. It’s Sunday afternoon busy and desserts not replenished. I waited at my table for staff to put out cakes and was handed the bill. I then instead selected another dessert, while eating the waitress say well you want to pay your bill? I wasn’t done eating and we were not offered refills at anytime. And I was still waiting for someone to put out the cakes. Feeling rushed I paid and left. Due to poor service will not be returning even if the food was good.

Beware, we use to eat here when it was East Buffet. The name changed along with the staff. We were welcomed by very pleasant host however our waitress was something to be desired. Our old plates sat on the table for who knows how long. It was 8:30pm on a Thursday night so the place was not packed. My company ordered a steak and it sat on the counter for over 5 mins before he was let know it was done. Just terrible and the food was just okay. Nothing like it was before.

Went on a Friday night and it was pretty dead. Thought this is a bad sign food most be really bad. Wow was I surprised on how great everything was. Friendly staff. Food was hot and tasty. Same selection as other buffets but taste way better. Will be going back real soon.

First time here and not really impressed… wait staff is good and everyone is friendly, bc of the staff i feel bad for writting a bad review, however the most important part the food, is not that great. I dont know if the food had just been sitting out long or if the food was just bad to begin with. Noodles tasted awkward, shrimp tasted old, the «chicken flautas» tasted like fish, n come to think of it im not sure if any of the chicken was actually chicken. As far as dessert goes its better if you just look at it. Chocolate cake didnt taste like chocolate, the ice cream was watered down, and im pretty sure the cheese cake was made out of old/​expired ingredients. After trying nearly everything to see if anything tasted good me n my girlfriend threw in the towel of playing food roulette. At this point im still in shock and im not sure if i should intentionally throw up to refrain from an illness or not. guess ill find out later tonight.

Best buffet i been too everything is so delicious espically the steak at mongolian grill i ordered medium well done was tasty, lo mein, chicken n brocoli everything just a great buffet the only thing i wish they would make the general tso taste more like general tso to me it just taste more like sesame chicken ive had many different general tso from restaurants and they are what general tso should taste like sorta alike but this one just aint no general tso but is still good ! Is pretty good price for lunch 7.99 plus drink 1.99

Foods OK new owner same everything else not grand opening like posted outside just change of ownership

There are a lot selections: steak, stir fired, special item lemon grilled fishes, delicious sushi and desserts. I

This place looks and runs like the previous restaurant. «Clean» dishes had multiple scraps of rice. Not just one plate but four plates in different stations. Food was cold, not even luke warm. Told the staff and all they did was throw the plate in the microwave. The fish, didn’t even taste of fish, had no taste, the sesame chicken was soggy, and the sushi felt dried out. The steaks were burned, even when asked for a medium. Overall I’m disappointed with this place.

Not bad place. Used to be called East Buffet. Went for lunch. Above average selection with a Mongolian stir fry bar. Huge variety of food to list.