Gone is the buy a lobster with your buffet feature at Golden Corral buffet restaurants. The new feature is a feature that changes every night of the week and they are calling this Weeknight Dinner Spotlights.
Every night of the week will have a different feature - Monday nights are Shrimp and Seafood, Tuesday nights are $2.99 Kids Nights, Wednesday nights are Wing Fest, Thursday night is Best of BBQ, Friday night is Fish Fry, Saturday night is Hot Off the Grill, and Sunday Night is Carvers Buffet. Mondays you will find Golden Shrimp, Crab Cakes, Stuffed Crab Shells, and Shrimp topped Baked Fish. Tuesdays your kids will eat for $2.99 - the foods that are featured are always on the buffet such as fried chicken, though they are adding mini corn dogs. Wednesdays you will find Teriyaki Honey Wings, Spicy Garlic Wings, Mild Buffalo Wings, and Hot Buffalo Wings. Thursdays you will find Baby Back Ribs, Boneless Beef Ribs, Bone-in Barbecue Chicken and Pulled Pork Barbecue. Friday nights you will find Tempura Fried Fish, Bone-in Catfish, Catfish Fillets, and Salt & Vinegar Fried Fish. Saturday nights you will find Founder's Five Ounce Sirloin Filet, Mini Steakburgers, Grilled Pork Chops, and Grilled Chicken Breast. On Sundays you will find Carved Glazed Ham, Carved Whole Turkey, Carved Roast Beef, and Carved Cajun Sausage.
As it just happened, right after I learned about this, we were in an area with a Golden Corral and we went there for dinner. It was a Wednesday Night - Wing Fest. I would have much rather have been there on a Thursday for the Best of BBQ but that could not be. I went to see how prominently this feature was being - featured. If it was not for the sign in the window showing Weeknight Dinner Spotlights, one would not have known that this was any night special or different from any other. There were three half trays of chicken wings - I am not sure which of the four were missing but each that was there was described as either hot or spicy. I don't eat hot wings so I did not try any of these. No one seemed to be paying any attention to the wings and if the wings were being taken it was not evident while we were there by the looks of the trays. At one point during the evening I was passing the grill and a guest was talking to the manager asking for something that is usually on the grill. I guessed that it was ribs as the manager was telling him that tonight was the special hot wings feature and he had to come the next night on Thursday if he wanted what he was asking for as it is part of the Best of BBQ night. I had been hoping that they had the ribs also - despite the features as there were other foods on the feature nights that are often out on most nights - perhaps not prepared the same way but the same food.
While you are reading I will say that the meal without the wings was OK. I like Golden Corral. I have felt that it is now the best of the chain buffets. This particular Golden Corral in Bensalem, PA is not one of the better Golden Corrals that I have been to on the East Coast and I have written about this specific Golden Corral before. Service started out good and then slowed down for awhile. When she made herself visible she was one of the better Golden Corral servers that we have had. The restaurant was busy for a Wednesday night. The items on the salad bar were not being replenished, the same two dried out pieced of watermelon that were there in the beginning were there - almost - to the end of our meal - when someone decided behind the counter that it needed to be replaced and filled. There were duplicate items on the hot buffet which is not usual for Golden Corral and some things just did not get replenished. Like other chain buffets, a Golden Corral location is very much dependent upon the manager and the employees - and this one needs better of both.
I am not sure how long this feature of nightly features will be run. All Golden Corral features run a limited time. I am hoping that this one runs for a few months. Perhaps I will be able to get to one on a Thursday and maybe a Saturday or Sunday. Those are the feature nights that seem worth going for - at least to me.
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5 comments:
I agree, best of the chain buffets, unfortunately no longer on Long Island and the nearest one is opening soon in Freehold, NJ
Can't wait for the Freehold, NJ one to open as it will be the closest one to me (currently have to go to Egg Harbor, NJ to get my closest Corral fix). Have a feeling the Freehold location is gonna be packed though until the hype dies down.
The one at Bensalem is very dirty. I have talked with the owner before. The one in Whitehall pa is even worse. Low quality of food and a very dirty restaurant. These are in my area and I quit going. I found a small buffet off of route 78 in nj in the ta truck stop. It is very clean and the food is so much better than GC.
Went to the brand new Freedhold Golden Corral. It opened Saturday May 24, I went there Thursday the 29th. There was a line to pay and be seated which was long, but I waited 15 to 20 minutes which actually wasn't too bad considering the length of the line. The main problem was that everyone was lining up "cafeteria style" on the one side. One would have to line up and wait at the salad bar in order to proceed to most of the offerings (the soups, pot roast, Mexican-themed items) and some of the patrons were a little over vigilant in enforcing their line "code." The grill section was a little less crowded and I was able to secure a steak with relative ease, and the other side which had the Italian themed items, buffalo wings, and seafood was relatively uncrowded. Unfortunately the real "meat" of the buffet was a tremendous chore to reach and I stuck with mostly the other offerings. Because it was so busy they had trouble keeping items stocked. The chili (which is one of my favorites) was empty the entire time, and the fried chicken and pizzas were usually gone before I could reach them. Most of what I had was good though (the clam chowder seemed a bit more watery than usual), and our server was very friendly and kept our drinks full even though she was tremendously busy. I think I'll give it a month or so for the hype to die down.
On a side note, as I was walking out to my car, a woman in her car was shouting loudly into her phone how "disgusting" the place was, literally saying "disgusting" after every other word. The place was clean which was amazing considering the volume inside. I'm guessing if they offered a free meal at a later time she would jump at the chance. Some people have no consideration for the hard work of the employees, who must have been under an extreme amount of stress during the opening week of a busy restaurant.
A brand new buffet is going to bring big crowds and waiting times for awhile. The "cafeteria" approach by guests seems to mostly happen at Golden Corrals - the long counter setup seems to tell people get on the line and wait until you get to the one thing you want at the other end - and it often seems like these are people who have never been to a buffet before. If you try to go in at the middle they get vicious! I have seen people looking for trays - I guess they think that they are back in elementary school. Happy to hear that the Freehold location is now open. I will have to find a reason to be down there to try it.
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