6 Missouri Buffets That Disappoint & 6 That Locals Call Hidden Treasures
Missouri’s buffet scene offers both disappointments and delightful surprises.
When you’re hungry and craving unlimited options, knowing where to spend your hard-earned cash matters more than ever. Some spots promise the moon but deliver processed food limbo, while others fly under the radar as genuine culinary gems that locals guard like precious secrets.
12. Grand Country Buffet (Branson)
Oh no!
Despite its impressive name, the Grand Country Buffet falls short. Rubbery chicken and bland mashed potatoes are frequent complaints made by resort visitors as they leave. It may have a dazzling entertainment complex, but what about the food? Not at all.
With stale cookies and artificially flavored puddings, even the dessert station, which is usually a buffet’s saving grace, fails.
11. New China Buffet (Bridgeton)
Lukewarm food alert! New China Buffet in Bridgeton serves dishes that seem trapped in temperature purgatory – neither hot enough to enjoy nor cold enough to safely skip.
Though spacious with plenty of seating, the quality control issues leave diners checking their watches wondering when fresh replacements might arrive. The egg rolls might have been crispy… three hours ago.
10. Golden Corral (Joplin)
Walking into this Golden Corral hits you with an unmistakable funk – part grease trap, part industrial cleaner. Even superhuman hunger pangs might retreat at the entrance. While the chain promises endless variety, this location serves up endless mediocrity instead.
The steak station? Forget it. Those gray slabs couldn’t decide if they were overcooked or undercooked, somehow achieving both simultaneously.
9. Dietz Family Buffet (Clinton)
At Dietz, timing is crucial! While late eaters endure crusty casseroles and dried-out poultry that has been warming since the Bush era, early birds enjoy good food. While the idea of “homestyle” seems appealing, it turns out to imply “forgotten in the oven.”
No amount of Midwestern friendliness can save food that has been left out longer than most people’s workdays, despite the best efforts of the welcoming staff.
8. Ocean Buffet (St. Robert)
Quantity crushes quality at Ocean Buffet where the sea of options drowns in bland sameness. The crab rangoon? Cream cheese with the faintest whisper of crab. Despite impressive variety spanning Chinese classics to American comfort food, everything tastes suspiciously similar.
How can sweet and sour chicken and beef with broccoli share the exact same sauce? That’s the unsolved mystery haunting this establishment.
7. Amazin Buffet (Springfield)
What makes this buffet so amazing? Not the flavors that stick in your memory! Amazin Buffet in Springfield has generic food syndrome; it’s neither bad nor exceptional.
The team keeps stations stocked and tidy because they sincerely try. Even frequent customers, however, find it difficult to identify any particular dishes when questioned about their favorite foods. It’s the elevator music of buffets: it’s there but completely unmemorable.
6. Joy Luck Chinese Buffet (St. Louis)
Hunters of crab legs, rejoice! Joy Luck has unexpectedly substantial crab legs that aren’t only for display, defying the usual Chinese buffet cliché. Handmade dumplings with flawless pleats and see-through wrappers are hidden in the modest strip mall locale.
At the Hong Kong-style BBQ station, where crispy-skinned duck virtually flies off the carving board, weekend warriors wait in line.
5. Hokkaido Seafood Buffet & Grill (St. Louis)
Sushi enthusiasts vouch for Hokkaido’s consistently restocked rolls, which don’t lay around getting depressed and soggy. In fact, the cook behind the counter is quite skilled! In addition to raw fish, the hibachi station offers delicious made-to-order dishes.
The quality of the seafood, particularly those buttery scallops that melt more quickly than your resolve to eat light, makes the somewhat higher price tag than typical buffets worth it.
4. Don’s Family Style Buffet (Huntsville)
You can enjoy Grandma’s cuisine without going to see her!
Don’s little Huntsville eatery attracts customers from three counties with its homemade comfort cuisine that resists the shortcuts of chain restaurants. KFC can only dream of the fried chicken’s legendary crispy-on-the-outside, juicy-on-the-inside excellence.
Locals set alarms to ensure they don’t miss out on the succulent portions floating in authentic gravy when Thursday’s pot roast sells out by precisely 6 p.m.
3. Iowa Buffet (St. Louis)
Don’t let the name fool you – this isn’t actually a buffet! St. Louis locals guard this secret spot where the term “buffet” means “place to eat” in old St. Louis slang.
What you’ll find instead is a legendary cash-only bar serving enormous pork steaks and burgers that could feed a small family. The ancient grill, seasoned by decades of use, imparts a flavor no fancy restaurant can replicate. Arrive hungry and prepare for a meat coma!
2. Ichiban Buffet (Springfield)
Buffet sushi often screams “food poisoning waiting to happen,” but Ichiban’s shockingly fresh rolls don’t taste like scientific experiments from the refrigerator. Not only does the hibachi chef’s amusing spatula techniques look good, but the meal tastes great too!
Ichiban invests on high-quality items like perfectly marinated meats that haven’t been frozen since last winter and genuine crab (not that fake orange thing), whereas other buffets take shortcuts.
1. Truman’s Bar & Grill (Columbia)
College town genius alert! Truman’s transforms from sports bar to brunch buffet paradise on weekends, creating the perfect hangover cure for Mizzou students and professors alike. The build-your-own Bloody Mary bar deserves its own fan club.
Meanwhile, the kitchen cranks out impossibly fluffy biscuits drowning in sausage gravy that would make your Southern grandma weep with joy.
Game days bring special themed items celebrating whoever the Tigers are crushing that weekend.