Panda Buffet

My husband and I have been here several times over the years. They only get 2 stars because once out of 5 times we did not get sick (although that one time was lovely). Once we went in, complained about the quality of the food and the sudden raise in prices and were given half off one of our meals by an extremely rude manager. Rice should not be crunchy and dry.

Closed.

Since I absloutely love Chinese buffets, and just happened to find this one in Tucson today, we decided to stop and give it a try. Hmmm.
The service was prompt and friendly, though it was not very busy shortly before noon. The buffet was small, not a lot of variety. As is the case with a lot of these places, a majority of the food was luke-​warm. I was not impressed with most of what was up there, most was bland and a couple of items (stuffed mushrooms and eggrolls) were funny-​tasting. The hot and sour soup was very good!
As for the luke-​warm food… so far so good on the stomach front, but the night is still young. Will skip this place in the future.

I’ve been to my fair share of Chinese buffets and I would say this is one of the better ones, sushi was not as great as other reviews lead me to believe. The egg drop soup and other items on the menu were pretty good. Desert was delicious. I would come again since it was Only about 13.95 during their most expensive seating

Food was good until recently. My husband and I went 01÷30÷12 and the food was stale, old just all out lousy, The roast beast was so tough that you could not cut it with a knife, let alone chew easily with your own teeth. Food was cold. Women’s restroom was filthy. The ice tea was acidic.
Most of the employee are now new and quality of food has gone down hill.
We miss Emma and Mike.
We will not be returning, way to start the year of the dragon, huh?
01÷31÷12 — Was up all night, having diarrhea, severe cramping, gas, and heartburn — Should contact the BBB and maybe Food Services report food poisoning…

«The old crew’s gone… and BOY, does it show!!»
I last reviewed Panda buffet, located at 2419 E. Broadway Boulevard on June 8^th of 2011. Up till now, family, friends and I have returned time and again, as we really liked the place. However, tonight, Chinese New Year, January 23^rd 2012 will be our last time venturing through the doors. Everyone knows that ANY restaurant can have an «off night,» but tonight was beyond severely disappointing. The food was just crap. Plain and simple. The first tip off that something might be amiss, was the fact that it was a Monday night, but there were less than four cars in the parking lot at 6:45 p.m. I’ve worked in restaurants before, and on Monday people are usually still in ‘weekend mode.’
The hostess and only waitress in the place greeted my friend and I in a rather hurried and distracted manner. We almost felt like we were imposing on her. The whole atmosphere of the place has changed, and NOT for the better. When she came to take our drink orders, I asked the whereabouts of the former hostess, by name and was told that «She doesn’t work here anymore.» Then, she volunteered the following info: «The old crew’s gone… moved back to China.» That may have explained the absence of the friendly gents who’d always waited on us on former visits. They were a joy; always friendly, courteous and caring. Well, things change. I get that. We got up to move to the buffet. My friend and I circled the buffet tables, ready to fill our plates, but… the food looked, to be honest, like it had sat there for awhile. It had. What items we were able to determine looked okay were barely warm. The soup pans had obviously not been attended to for who knows how long as a bit of a crust was forming on the sides of the pans on all but the won ton soup. We were hungry, and decided to push on anyway. Nothing had much flavor. To say I was flabbergasted is an understatement. I finished my first plate, unfortunately without relish, and was considering NOT going back for seconds, but I thought I’d at least try, ’cause I was still hungry!
My friend, who is a hearty eater was picking at his fried rice. «Try this,» he asked. I did, made a face and said, «Ugh.» It was definitely burned, and had an oily taste. When the hostess/​waitress came over to ask if «Everything’s all right?» he didn’t hesitate to say «no,» and proceeded to tell her about the rice. She answered, «Well, we’re trying to get out of here early tonight, ’cause it’s Chinese New Year’s, and we’re not putting any more food out on the buffet.» The waitress also said they usually stop replenishing the buffet after 7pm unless someone specifically asks for something. «Usually» being the key word there. That is also bad! One, never tell the customers that, and two, the person that comes in at 8pm or so on a regular night, has food that’s been sitting for an hour at least.
«What!?!» I thought. They’re supposed to be open until 9:00 p.m. I understand that this particular holiday is THE biggest celebration of the year for most Chinese. The thing is this should have NEVER been said to a guest. It would have been nice to at least post a notice, perhaps on the door to the effect that they would be closing early this night, and why. Most folks would understand, I’m sure, but there was no such notice. We were there for approximately 35 to 40 minutes, and not once during that time had anyone come out to check on, or change out the food on the buffet tables. Then, to top things off, the hostess/​waitress started going around pulling the shades down and turning off the outside lights! Again, it was nowhere near regular closing time.
We paid our bill to the cashier at the front desk, who also seemed distracted. Then as we stood in the parking lot, shaking our heads and finding it hard to believe tonight’s awful, tasteless experience, the remaining patrons still inside hurriedly came out, and left. Wonder if they got the «bums rush?» There’s no way of knowing for sure, but one could easily tell that the workers who were there wanted to be elsewhere. I know that WE certainly wanted to be, and we were still hungry! Leaving a buffet like this, and still be hungry? What’s wrong with THAT picture?! The answer is: «The old crew’s gone»…and WOW, does it ever SHOW! We hopped into our cars, and looked back at an almost darkened restaurant, never to return.

To be honest, I’m not a big fan of Chinese food and especially buffets but I went here with a couple friends who LOVE Chinese buffets. They felt this buffet’s food was lacking in flavor compared to their favorite in town. While I only sampled a little of the food, they tried many of the dishes. One friend thought the sushi bar was a 5 Star and the seafood selection was excellent. They had an excellent variety of dishes. Tons of sweet food plus an ice cream freezer.
One concern is that the dishes weren’t being hot enough and we passed this concern on to them.
The dining areas were spacious and I liked how the islands of food had lots of room to navigate. One suggestion I would make to them is to replace their carpeting. It’s very gray and dingy-​looking and full of food stains.
The staff was very friendly and welcoming and the price of the buffet was more than fair.

This is the best buffet I have found in Tucson. Our whole family loves it and there is something for everyone. Great hot food, good sushi, yummy desserts. Don’t forget to ask for military discount if you can.

Your standard chinese food buffet. Nothing exceptional, except that they have a little more seafood than the rest… not that it’s stellar, either, because those big slimy oysters are a little *blech* (stick to the mussels). Some of the items that are usually frozen and thawed by most buffets were a rung higher than the other joints in town, including the dim sum and the stir fried dishes (veggies seems less sodden than comparable buffets). Overall, not bad but I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat here.

This place is pretty good for an Asian buffet. One of my favorite things about it is the sushi bar/​area. The sushi isn’t the best in the world but its not horrible either. If grocery store sushi was a ¹⁄₅ and Yoshimatsu was a ⁵⁄₅ the sushi here could easily be a 3.5 or a 4. There is ample seating and I don’t think there is ever a waiting line or anything like that. The service was pretty good but sometimes it felt like they were hovering over you which isn’t always bad but it felt awkward at times. There is a huge variety of food available from soups to dumplings. Only problems with food is that some items can be too dry or too saucy. It is pretty inconsistent each of the times I’ve been here. The price is reasonable, I usually come for the dinner buffets and that runs around 13 – 14 bucks while the lunches comes out to around 7.
Service: ⁴⁄₅
Price:4/5
Food:3/5
Sushi:4/5
Dining:4/5
To sum it all up, the sushi bar is definitely worth a try, don’t eat the seafood if it has been sitting out too long (I made that mistake with their baked oysters), price is good, service is good, and there is a huge variety of all kinds of food. I would definitely recommend this place to any of my friends.

We went to eat here on a last minute decision based solely on Rachel P’s review and I have to agree the tastiness of the food is above average for these types of buffets. They serve the best Sesame Chicken I’ve ever had! It reminded me of the super awesome Chinese food I used to get in N’Awlins. The selection of dishes was large and there were some nice presentations of the food which I’ve never seen at a buffet.
Thanks Rachel ;)

Based on a review from the Caliente Magazine in the Tucson Daily Star we ventured here on a whim. It was the best buffet that I have experienced of the asian variety so far.
The food was fresh, the vegetables were crisp in all the dishes were that is required, the trays were small so they weren’t vats of sauce and oil soaked selections, the trays were regularly traded out.
We ate until we were content and were disappointed that we had yet to try all the selections. We also found plenty to eat for our 2.5 year old. As an added bonus there is an ice cream bar with ice cream in buckets that can be scooped, not some soft serve machine like you find at so many buffets (I am looking at you Sweet Tomatoes!).
I would go back if only to make sure that I have tried everything.

Great buffet, prompt and professional service, very affordable at $ 8, clean and elegantly decorated interiors, and an overall excellent experience.
Just be careful – it gets very expensive on the weekends, like ~$ 16/​person for the same food.

Panda has been open for about 6 or 7 months. Not sure if it was just a rebranding or if it’s entirely new. I never ate at the old place that was there before them.
The first thing that I noticed walking into this place was the condition of their carpet. For being only 6 months old, it is very stained and worn. Definite need of replacing immediately.
I didn’t have any food expectation going into this place, and I was lucky for that. Got my plate of assorted food, came back and my first bite was met with a cold oily texture. This was supposed to be hot. The majority of the 7 things I put on my plate where luke warm at best. I really dislike cold food.
The remainder of the food was very bland and without flavor. All the soups basically tasted like water, and the food was a bit like paper.
They’re getting 2 stars because their staff really made an effort to be friendly and engage in conversation. The hostess came over at least 3 times during my 1 hour there to check and see if we needed anything.
This type of attention is not usual for a buffet place, and it made the place somewhat memorable.
Also their Sushi was very decent for a buffet. I believe this is about the only thing amongst the buffet that I enjoyed.
The problem with buffet places is that if there isn’t enough people in there eating then there isn’t anything to warrant them changing over the food. Thus, most of the food had been sitting there for what looked like near 2 hours (especially the salmon).

The Sunday night dinner buffet runs $ 15 per person. I found that price to be a little high for dinner in Tucson.
Highlights from the buffet: dim sum, hot-​sour soup, orange chicken, baked shrimp
Not-​so-​great: lobster, salt-​pepper crab, dessert options
My small appetite did not think $ 15 was worth it– I’d rather pay this amount for small portions of higher quality food.

As the reviewer below me mentioned, it’s pretty much what you would find at any chinese buffet place. The sushi was ehh, not the best. The servers are friendly and it’s an ok place to head over when your tummy grumbles.

I went on Friday for the Seafood Buffet (13.95) and easily got my moneys worth. They have a small but very nice sushi selection, fresh made adjacent to the Sushi Bar. This includes 4 nigiri, 3 rolls and 3 salads.
Lots of shrimp choices. Three Baked fishes. Muscles with cheese, raw oysters (good), Baked oysters (very good). The usual chinese selections and even a carve your own beef roast.
Desert includes a scoop your own ice creams and several cakes.
I will definitely add them to my rotation.

Suzi! Lol, stop going there! I cash checks for a living and I just had a nice long conversation with their dishwasher who says DO NOT EAT HERE! It’s dirrrrrrty…

Since this place has opened my significant other and i have been to panda buffet 5 times (it hasn’t even been open a full month yet)
Every time we go the food is fresh, the presentation is wonderful, the waitresses are great and everything is clean and the food is delicious.
Panda has all the old Chinese buffet favorites as well as some awesome and creative things i haven’t seen anywhere else such as baked shrimp (shrimp baked with meat around it) scrambled delight, (basically an amazing omelet layed on lettuce leaves for presentation) and my absolute favorite, their cheese stuffed mushrooms. Panda is also the home of THE best crab puffs i have EVER put on my tongue.
I am a a connoisseur of sorts of Chinese buffets and this is by far the best and cheapest I’ve been to. between 11 and 3:30 during the week days lunch is only 7 bucks and i have never walked in to smell overly fishiness. the buffet is considerably more expensive on the weekends because they have lobster and other expensive seafood that obviously they couldn’t afford to do buffet stlye without the higher prices. They’re sushi is made fresh right in front of you and is absolutely great. I sincerely believe that Mr. Mitchell P. must be from a competing buffet because his review is just waaaaaay off.

Panda Buffet took over China Super Buffet and opened in the beginning of July. They serve lunch and dinner 7 days a week. You will see most items you expect to see in a Chinese buffet place: Mongolian beef, orange shrimp, sesame chicken, chicken and broccoli, ice cream, jello, Chinese cookies, fruits, soup and salad. They also serve sushi and seafood. The place is well-​lit, spacious, servers are friendly and attentive. Lunch is around $ 8 per person and dinner $ 11 per person. Weekend is more expensive because they have more items. Food is not too greasy, but about the same quality as all the other Chinese buffet.