Back to Golden Corral, Hagerstown, Maryland

I was first at the Hagerstown, Maryland Golden Corral when it had first opened. I was impressed them with this Golden Corral, and I still am. We recently went back for dinner on a Friday night.

The restaurant is in the back of the Valley Mall parking lot in Hagerstown. This was one of the Golden Corrals that started putting out the plates in racks for customers to take without relying on a server to bring clean plates when needed. This was a big deal, as a poor server at a Golden Corral in the past could be a real problem to the progress of your meal if there are no clean plates being brought to you. The plates out and available has now come to all Golden Corrals. This location also had the Asian Wok food area that has now come to many other - but not all - Golden Corral restaurants.

Since the take over of Ryan's by Buffets, Inc., I consider the Golden Corral chain as the top national buffet chain. What is served tends to be of a better quality and the presentation is certainly more grand than Old Country Buffet and what Ryan's has now become. One of my top reasons is the char-grill at the buffet and steaks served to your order. You want rare, you get rare. You want well-done, you get well done - providing the grill chef knows what he is doing. The meat is tasty and the steak generally is tender. When Golden Corral is carving turkey, as they were doing on this night, they are carving an actual turkey on the bone, and not a plumped up, reconstituted turkey breast.

There was one noticeable difference on this visit and that was that the salad bar was somewhat abbreviated from what it is at other Golden Corrals that I have been to - and this was not as it was the last time I was at this location.  There were items on Golden Corral salad bars that my wife regularly takes, that were missing here - and no place for them to be. There was a good salad bar but it was not as complete as we expected it to be based on other Golden Corrals. It may be that they made room for the Chocolate Fountain which sits in this restaurant between the salad bar and the desserts along the same serving counter.

I was glad to see that the pan fried seafood that was the feature at Golden Corral restaurants for the past two summers is now gone. No more lines at the grill while one chef cooks one fry pan at a time for each customer waiting on line for fish cooked to order.

The feature that was current when we were there - and these features seem to change now at Golden Corral very frequently - was hot wings and they had several types of hot wings on the buffet with various sauces on them. This feature is called Wing Fest. There were barbecue wings, teriyaki wings, boneless wings, spicy garlic wings, Buffalo wings. While it lasts the feature is served every night of the week after 4 pm for dinner and on Sundays after 11 am.  I am not a fan of wings and I did not try them but there were many guests taking them and enjoying them.

The only thing I was not happy with on this trip were the barbecue spareribs. They had little meat on them and they were cooked to long which dried out the meat that was on them rather than making them fall off the bone tender. The over done meat had to be scraped off the bone, and along with the meat came shards of bone. I usually like Golden Corral's ribs. Those on this night were a disappointment.

Ribs aside, I had a good meal. I enjoyed the steak. I enjoyed the turkey. There was plenty to choose from and the food was good. Desserts are more extensive than at other chain buffets.

The restaurant is still well maintained and clean. Our server was very good. Management was also making announcements that children under 10 should not be up at the buffet alone - if only the parents of the children who were up there paid attention to the announcements and did as they should and accompany their children.

I recommend this Golden Corral. There are not many buffet choices in Hagerstown any longer and this was a much better meal than our meal at Ryan's the previous night. The address is 17635 Valley Mall Road, Hagerstown, Maryland 21740. The phone number is (301) 582-6209. There is a link to the chain's website at the side of this page. You will see whatever current feature they are offering on the webpage.

Back to Ryans Buffet in Hagerstown, Maryland

A year ago I was at Ryan's Buffet in Hagerstown, Maryland and things there were marginal in terms of the cleanliness of the dishes, and a few other things that you can read about here. I ended that article saying that if I got back there, I would try it again and recently, I was in Hagerstown. I was reluctant to go back but decided that maybe it did improve in a year's time. We went and for the most part it has improved.

Starting right off, the restaurant was cleaner and the dishes were clean - as were the tables, the dining room, and the serving area. This was what I was concerned about the most and there was no problem in this regard.

This Ryan's could easily be renamed Old Country Buffet and other than the grill in the serving area and the noodles in the chicken soup you would see no difference. This Ryan's has become the most like an OCB of the Ryan's that I have been to since the take over several years ago.

We went on a Thursday night - Family Night when all kids eat for 99 cents. Other than what was paid at the register, one would not have know it was Family Night by what was going on in the restaurant or by what was served on the buffet. There was nothing kid-oriented about the food that night and there were none of the  kid activities that have gone on at the OCBs I have been to on a Thursday night. Between you and me, this was just fine with me. The nicest thing was that there were no children running around the restaurant as if it were a playground - which I have experienced at OCBs on Thursday nights since this promotion started.

There were none of the foods that I have known Ryans for - regardless of the night - found here on this night. No chicken pot pie. No smoked sausage. There apparently had been chicken fried steak, but the sign remained but there was none to be found. There was a grill chef cooking steaks on a charcoal grill and you could ask for your steak to order - but he was not cooking anything special. He just cut open a steak that appeared to be as you wanted it, and offered it. Rare was more medium well with the first piece of steak I tried. The steak was tough and grizzled. The heavy pepper seasoning that is put on the steaks was overwhelming.  Later for lack of anything else, I tried another piece. This time the steak was closer to rare - and acceptable medium rare, but half the steak was fat - not fatty, but solid fat.Ryan's steak used to be so good. Sadly, it is now the same steak that Buffets, Inc. serves at all of their chain names and this steak is far from what they promote it to be.

The usual OCB menu was out and is fine if you are at an OCB, but at Ryan's, even after the takeover, I expect more of the Ryan's menu. As I say, other than good doughy noodles in the chicken soup, a salad bar that was a lot more extensive than an OCB salad bar, and a few layer cakes out for dessert, it was not Ryan's as it once was.

The service was good and the server was there to pick up plates and offer drink refills - unlike OCB you still get your drinks from your server at Ryan's.

All in all, the meal was fine.The important thing was that the restaurant is now clean. If we are in Hagerstown again, we may go back and next time I would not hesitate as I did this time because of last year's experience there. There are few buffets now in this area so there is not much of a choice as there had been years ago.

Return to Mountain Gate Family Restaurant, Thurmont, MD

We recently went back to the Mountain Gate Family Restaurant in Thurmont, Maryland for their buffet. This was our second visit to this location and as I wrote last week, the Pennsylvania location has closed. Our first visit to the Mountain Gate in Thurmont was one year ago and that article appears here.

We came again on a Saturday night at just about the same time - 6:30 pm for dinner. The restaurant was busy and there was a short wait of about five minutes to be seated. There is a small gift shop to walk around in while you wait.

We were seated in the large dining room which is in a room behind the buffet serving room. The dining room was busy but there was a very large group of teens from a bus tour or school group that filled most of the rear of the dining room. They were well behaved and this caused no concern. Our server came over and saw that the table that we were seated at had not been wiped down or reset from the last guests, so she told us to go up to the buffet while she cleaned and set the table for us. We went to the buffet and she set the table.

Reading my review from last year, I see that that everything then is just about the same now. The same impression that I had then - that there is less being served on this buffet from what there had always been at the Waynesboro, PA restaurant. There is one long buffet server with entrees and side dishes. There is another with salad. The desserts, breads, and soup go around part of two walls, and at the end there is a carving station. While we were there I discussed this with my wife, in case I was recalling the offerings at Waynesboro incorrectly. She felt as I did and commented to me that where there would have been two trays of different items in the space of one double tray with one item at the other location, here there was only the one item in the larger tray. This comes down to the same amount of food out but less variety. Because of this selection is limited.

I always start with soup and there were two soups out - one was a red crab soup and the other was cheese and broccoli soup. My wife does not eat either of these soups so she moved right on the the salad bar. I had the crab soup and it was excellent. I thought about going back for more of it but decided to move forward with the meal.

The salad bar had a variety of types of lettuce to choose from, a number of prepared salads, and a large variety of toppings for the lettuce. The chicken salad that was on the salad bar was exceptional. I made myself a salad with romaine lettuce and chose the ranch dressing. There was no Caesar dressing. Everything was there to make a Caesar salad BUT the dressing.  There had been a year ago. There was no ham salad as there had been last year. Too bad!

Getting to the entrees, there was not that great a choice. There was fried chicken, pork with sauerkraut, and what is called here - "slippery chicken". "Slippery chicken" is the chicken stew with dumplings dish that would be called "Chicken Bot Bie" in the PA Dutch areas. At the carving area there were three carvings - roast beef, turkey breast, and ham. On the end of the hot buffet server was a hot table with a clear cover over it with an opening in the front of the cover and inside was thinly sliced salt ham - what one would consider "Smithfield" ham in Virginia. Mixed in with the entrees were macaroni and cheese, carrots, string beans with ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and scalloped potatoes with cheese. There was no stewed tomatoes as there were last year. As before, there were turkey gravy and beef gravy.

I walked around the hot serving table several times to see if I was missing something to choose from. I wasn't. I did try an assortment of what they had but it was a small assortment. I had read on their website that they are known for their fried chicken so I had to try that. It was nice, but nothing special. The chicken was a bit dry and the pieces to take all were split backs. It was fine. I was drawn to the salt ham. This is something that I rarely get to have as it is rarely served in most places I dine at including at buffets in Virginia. I took some of this ham and it was - as anticipated - very good. It is an acquired taste if you do not often eat very salty things. The "Slippery Chicken" was good - perhaps more potato than dumplings, but good. The pork with sauerkraut was good. I had a slice of roast beef and put gravy over it. It was fine. The green beans and ham was good. The macaroni and cheese was excellent. My wife had the turkey breast and regular ham. She liked both. She also took some of the "Slippery Chicken" and liked that. She then made herself a vegetable plate not wanting to repeat what she already had and the rest were things she does not eat. It was all good. We had enough to eat. We did not have the variety we would have liked to have.

Now dessert. I will say this again - the Waynesboro, PA Mountain Gate had the best dessert buffet I have encountered - and that is saying A LOT. The Thurmont Mountain Gate does not come close. There were a variety of pies, a few types of slices of cake, and some hot and cold prepared desserts. I wanted to try a dessert. There were some half donuts on the side in a covered serving dish. There were two halves left. I went to take one of those and felt through the serving tongs that it was hard. I passed on that. I decided to take a small scoop of bread pudding. My wife likes bread pudding. This was was more custard that bread and she decided she would not have any of the desserts and took a slice of cinnamon bread for dessert. The bread pudding was very good and very much the consistency and taste of a very thick egg custard. The cinnamon bread that my wife took was dry and she said the baked breads were very disappointing.  Gone forever is that wonderful dessert buffet that only was in Waynesboro!

Service was very good. The server cleared plates away fairly promptly - more promptly once the large teen group had left. Drink refills were offered several times and brought right away. 

The food was good. Some was excellent. I liked the food. I recommend the food.  Choices are more limited than they should be compared to other buffets and compared to their former location. This was a Saturday night. I expect that a buffet will offer the most and best of their dishes on a Saturday at dinner.

The location is very much out of the way - unless you are local to this area. To get here when I am in Maryland I have to drive out of my way to go here. What is odd is that the closed PA location was closer and easier to get to from the Hagerstown area of Maryland than this is. Do not be fooled by the shorter route through the mountainous Catoctin Mountain Park. Anything but a small car will be on the edge of cliff drops driving through that park to the town of Thurmont. Once again this year my GPS wanted to take us through this and we routed the trip ourselves with a map.

Should you go? - If you are near here, you should go. You will like the food. You know what the choices are from reading here and if that is fine with you, try it.

Mountain Gate Restaurant in Waynesboro, PA CLOSED

A year ago I returned to the Mountain Gate Restaurant in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania after being away for about four years. As I wrote after that visit, the Mountain Gate Restaurant there never disappoints. We were able to arrange a trip to that area again about a week ago and I looked forward to returning again. About a week before the trip I check the website of the restaurant to see if there were any changes. Everything looked good to go. A few days before the trip I went to the website again, and did not see the Waynesboro location of the restaurant listed any longer. The Thurmont, Maryland location was the only one listed. This was strange as it was listed just a week before.

I started doing some searching to find out what was going on and came across a news article that the Mountain Gate in Waynesboro was closing in the second to the last week in April. I was shocked! The article explained that the owners of the Mountain Gate Restaurants had decided that the operation of the two restaurant locations and a conference center that they also own was too much and that as they were spread too thin, the operation was going to suffer. The decision was to close the Waynesboro restaurant. The property has been leased to someone who will be opening an Asian restaurant - apparently not a buffet - in the building that now formerly was the Mountain Gate, Waynesboro.

The Thurmont restaurant will continue to be open for business as always. I had visited that location also last year and was not as impressed with it as I have always been with the Waynesboro restaurant. In addition, the two restaurants are not really close to each other so being near Waynesboro means being a distance from Thurmont. 

So gone is the Mountain Gate Restaurant in Waynesboro, PA. Gone is the overwhelmingly great dessert buffet that was included in the buffet meal. Some time ago, I wrote that this was the best dessert buffet that I had come across at any buffet. Now, it is just a pleasant memory. A lot of good buffets are closing. The economy is bad, but these are buffets that always seemed to be busy.

I was so set to go to Mountain Gate during this trip, that I did make the trip to Thurmont. You can read about that visit next week.

Mountain Gate Family Restaurant, Thurmont, Maryland

The Mountain Gate Family Restaurant has two locations owned and managed by the same family. The location in Thurmont, Maryland is the original location and restaurant and began as a truck stop. It evolved into a full restaurant serving both menu and buffet meals and has a gift shop. I had never been to the Thurmont location until recently and I went the night after I had dined at the Waynesboro, PA location - which is reviewed in the last article.

Thurmont, Maryland is one of those famous, but unknown places. It is at the foot of the Catoctin Mountain and on that mountain, hidden away, is Camp David, the retreat for Presidents of the United States since Eisenhower. I have written about another buffet in this area - Cozy Restaurant - that has a hotel where the White House Press Corp would stay and dine when the President was at Camp David. The Mountain Gate Family Restaurant is just down the street from that restaurant.

Getting here can be quite an experience depending upon the direction that you come from. If you come west from Pennsylvania, you are not far from Gettysburg. If you come north from Maryland your GPS will likely route you through the Catoctin Mountain Park which is a roller coaster ride of narrow roads that wind around the mountain and in some places come very close to the edge. I went that way once, and I will never go that way again. We actually drove south and then east to travel on interstate highways to get to Thurmont to have dinner at the Mountain Gate. This was out of the way and longer in miles but actually about the same time as going the more direct but daunting route.

We arrived at the Mountain Gate Family Restaurant on a Saturday night at about 6:30 pm. There was no line to get in when we arrived but shortly after a line began to form. It is evident right away that this is the older of the two restaurants. I have spoken about the Christian decor that had been at the Waynesboro location and it is evident here. This is not any problem for us. I have read reviews where some people were troubled by it.

We were seated at a booth in what seemed to be the smaller dining room. There are three dining rooms with the buffet area located in the middle. Prices are the same at both locations. There is a noticeable difference in the tax - one restaurant is in Maryland and the other is in Pennsylvania.

I have been to the Pennsylvania location on a Saturday night and anticipated the same menu on the buffet. The buffet serving area is large - larger than in Pennsylvania, but as we went through the meal I had the impression that there were less choices being offered. The food here is, as expected, American Country and Pennsylvania Dutch. There are two soups - beef vegetable and chicken with dumplings, and a salad bar with an assortment of prepared salads, lettuce and romaine lettuce, and a large array of toppings for your salad. There were the makings for a Caesar Salad, and unlike the night before in Pennsylvania, the Caesar salad dressing was the creamy type. I tried the chicken with dumplings soup and it was very good. I made myself a Caesar salad and enjoyed that. I also took some chicken salad and some ham salad on my salad plate to taste. Both were excellent. Ham salad may be common in some areas but it is not common near us. I have had it in Pennsylvania Dutch restaurants and some (but rarely) buffets. If you have an opportunity to try it, do. It is little more than chopped ham with seasonings and mayonnaise, but it is good.

There were four carvings being sliced. The night before there had been only three. There was turkey, ham, pork, and roast beef. This roast beef was not like the beef that I had the night before in their other location. This was pretty much sliced roast beef. See my last article for my description of the one the night before. I did try the turkey and the ham. The turkey, while a turkey breast was pure turkey meat and not a turkey breast with fillers that is sometimes served. The ham was a basic sliced ham and it was good.

Looking around at the entree choices I was not seeing as much as I expected - and this surprised me. There were so many choices the night before - yes, they were seafood and it was seafood night, but I would have expected other entrees to take their place on a Saturday night. There was fried chicken, pork and sauerkraut, and chicken bot bie - a PA Dutch stew of chicken and large dumpling noodles with potatoes, carrots, and celery in a thick chicken stock. All of these are excellent. The vegetables and side dishes were very much the same as there had been at the other location - kernel corn, green beans and ham, beets, sweet peas, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, carrots, stewed tomatoes, and stuffing. There was gravy for the turkey and gravy for the roast beef. There was cranberry sauce also. All of the food was good. I just expected there to be more - though there was the fourth carving. The chicken bot bie was just as good as I expected. The fried chicken is home sytle. The stewed tomatoes are very good. The macaroni and cheese - like the one the night before - is thick with cheese and crusted with a heavy layer of melted cheddar on top. I have said it before and I will say it again - wonderful!

The dessert selection equaled the Pennsylvania selection and this was also a dessert feast with a large assortment of cakes, different fruit pies, nut pies, cream pies, pudding pies, prepared desserts, puddings, fruit, jello and on. Here it was spread out more around two serving counters that went around a wall so the presentation is not as overwhelming as it is in the smaller area at their other restaurant, but it is all here. I wanted to take something and chose a small piece of chocolate cake with white frosting. It was good.

Your meal includes soft drinks and they serve Pepsi products. They have fresh brewed ice tea and this is very good!

Our server was very good and she took the soiled plates off our table each time we got up to get more and came around with drink refills. She also came by at dessert to offer some of their in-house made ice cream.

The food was good. The service was good. I like the Pennsylvania location better. I am not really certain why that is - perhaps atmosphere. Perhaps that coming to this location is really out of the way - at least from the area that we visit when we are close enough by to come here or to the Pennsylvania location. If I were in Gettysburg, I might make the trip over to this location.

I certainly recommend that you come here. But do so only if you are already coming to this area or are very nearby. As I say, it is not easy to get to and very much out of the way. If you happen to be on the White House staff, of course, you are right near by when the President is at Camp David so you certainly should come down the mountain for a good meal.

There was a time that this restaurant was not opened on Sundays. It is now. This Mountain Gate Family Restaurant is located at 133 Frederick Road, Thurmont, Maryland 21788. The phone number is 301-271-4373. There is a website and that is linked at the side of this page.

Return to Mountain Gate Family Restaurant, Waynesboro, PA

I have not been back to the Mountain Gate Family Restaurant in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania since 2009. I have always liked this buffet but I have not been in that part of Pennsylvania since then. A trip back there meant a visit back to Mountain Gate was a must.

The Mountain Gate Restaurant is a combination menu restaurant and buffet. The buffet is a combination of American Country and Pennsylvania Dutch cooking, though you are quite some distance hear from the area generally considered the Pennsylvania Dutch Country. We come to Mountain Gate when we are traveling in Maryland, as it is just across the border. As I have said before in my reviews the restaurant is really off the beaten path. It is at the foot of a mountain area and to get to it, I always feel like I am driving more than I should be from east I-81 before I get to it. It is a large restaurant with several dining rooms. The buffet is set right in the center.

I have mentioned in the past that the decor at this restaurant has a religious theme. On this most recent trip it was not as obvious as it has been in the past. The owner is a very religious man and this is a very Christian area. This has never had anything to do with the food. Just what is hanging on the walls, but as I say, if this had been my first time here on this last trip I would not have noticed.

We went on a Friday night. The buffet was primarily various seafood mixed in with meat entrees. Fried shrimp seemed to be the most popular item on the buffet, as people were filling plates with fried shrimp and not much else. The fried shrimp was very good. But there were so many other things to try. What is served on the buffet varies by the night of the week with certain mainstay items on most nights.

There were three carvings being served and there was a gentleman who would come over right away when you stepped up to the carving station to carve for you. The carvings were ham, roast pork, and a very well done, but fall apart roast beef that was delicious. I like rare beef but this was slow cooked until it fell apart and was moist and almost melted in the mouth.

As I say, this was Friday and there were several seafood entrees on the buffet. There was broiled haddock that was very good. There were fried clams that were excellent. There was a seafood casserole that was very good. Those of you that read this site regularly know that my wife does not eat any seafood other than shrimp. She had no problem finding plenty of things to eat including the fried shrimp, the roast pork, and ham. There are plenty of side dishes. Freshly mashed potatoes, a Pennsylvania Dutch side dish of green beans and ham, another Pennsylvania Dutch dish of pork and sauerkraut. And of course, there is always fried chicken and the fried chicken here was especially good. There were plain vegetables like kernel corn, hot beets, stewed tomatoes, sweet peas, and carrots. They have the most wonderful macaroni and cheese. This mac and cheese is covered in and has mixed through a thick layer of cheddar cheese and is crusted on the top. I should not eat this - I could not resist this and I had to go back for more. I want to also make note of the Green Beans and Ham. This is a simple dish of chunks of ham cooked by boiling together with fresh green beans. In some places it can be a very bland dish. Here there was a rich smokey flavor that came from the ham and permeated the green beans. This was one of the best green beans and ham that I have had.

There are two soups and a long salad bar with the makings for salad, as well as prepared salad. There were the fixings for Caesar salad but the dressing that was out for it was the oil type of Caesar dressing as opposed to creamy Caesar which I prefer. I skipped the Caesar dressing and used a very good Ranch dressing instead. There are also a number of prepared salads. I was tempted by the macaroni salad and I took a little. It was very good! The soup I took was Maryland Crab and it was excellent. My wife had the vegetable soup and enjoyed that.

All of the food here is very good. It has been on every one of my visits. This is home cooking and farm cooking. The buffet might not be considered large when compared with some, but there is plenty to eat and to choose from. You will easily eat all that you care to eat and enjoy it - but do not eat too much because what sets this buffet apart is the dessert area.

This is one of the more bountiful dessert sections (if not the most bountiful) of any buffet that I have been too - and it is all home baking. There is a section with a variety of layer cakes. There is another section with a variety of cream pies, meringue pies, pudding pies, nut pies. And there is yet another section of fruit pies. Name a pie - you will likely find it here. Then there are puddings, fruits, jello, prepared desserts, and if you want ice cream - your server will ask you which of the seemingly countless flavors of ice cream that they make would you like to have. It would be easy, if you are so inclined, to make a meal just of desserts here and you would feel that you got your money's worth.

Our service was good. The waitress cleared our plates promptly and refilled our soft drinks.

This is one of those buffets that most people don't know about. This is a local restaurant and the people that come are primarily local families. This is a buffet not to be missed if you are even remotely in this area. If you are a dessert fanatic, this is absolutely a must.

The restaurant is located on Route 16 east of Rt. I81 at 10530 Buchanan Trail Road in Waynesboro, PA. There is now a website and that site is linked at the side of this page. The phone number is 717-765-6772.

Mountain Gate Family Restaurant has two locations. This one and there is one in Thurmont, Maryland. In our next article, I will tell you all about my first visit ever to the Thurmont Mountain Gate Family Restaurant. On this trip I was determined to try them both!

Ryan's Buffet - Hagerstown, Maryland

I have been to the Ryan's Buffet in Hagerstown, Maryland before but it has been at least three years since I have been back and this is the first time after the Buffets, Inc. takeover. This past December I was at a Ryan's in Virginia and that had been my first experience at a Ryans under Buffets, Inc. rule. I was curious to see how this one compared.

I have to say that I was not pleased with what this Ryans has become. While the Virginia Ryan's just six months or so ago had not been very much different from what that Ryan's had always been, this Ryan's was noticeably under the influence of Buffets, Inc./Old Country Buffet. Other than very few of Ryan's signature dishes, most of what was on the buffet servers were very much the same as what is on the Old Country Buffet servers.

There was a special feature at this Ryans that I am assuming may - or may not - show up at Old Country Buffets who have grills on the buffet serving floor. They very well may be there now. There was a grill saute feature. You choose chicken or fish, choose rice or noodles, and choose your sauce - spicy or mild - and the chef at the grill cooks this to your order. This is just like the disastrous seafood saute feature at Golden Corral. Here at this Ryans the same chef cooking steaks was also in charge of the saute grill. While at Golden Corral the problem with this is the massive backup of people waiting while each individual order is cooked, here at this Ryan's there was NO ONE getting this saute. I watched to see. I was minorly tempted to try it but I cannot eat rice, did not want sauteed noodles and did not want spicy sauce so I passed. So did everyone else. As I looked around the dining room no one had this on their plate.

Throughout the time we were there, the restaurant was having a dish washing problem. Every stack of plates that were put out had a good number of crusty and dirty dishes in the pile. It was quite evident from the stacks and stacks of dishes that were taken off the piles in an attempt to find a clean dish and placed on the side of the dish counter. I went down the stack through several dishes before I found one that was clean. Everyone else was doing the same. At some point about an hour and a half later some employee or manager noticed this and suddenly new stacks of dishes started coming out, steaming from the dish washer that were actually- for the most part - clean. This is not good. This is how you lose customers and with the current hunt by Buffets, Inc. to close more Ryan's and Old Country Buffets based upon sales, losing customers is not something that you want to do.

My wife likes Ryan's chicken pot pie and they did have that. It was just fair and not up to that just tasted at the Ryan's six months ago in Virginia. I have always liked Ryan's char-grilled steak. I went up to the grill and the grill chef had a rare steak both times that I went up. The first piece of steak that I had was good in taste but the steak was literally half fat and grizzle - not on the side, as one might expect, but on the bottom of the steak (or top depending on which side was up). There were spots that would not cut with a knife. I wound up eating what I could of it by cutting into the thickness of it as if filleting the meat, and peeling away what was edible. The second piece was like this and was edible meat throughout, but the taste was just bland and it was tough. I will say that as both of these pieces of steak were, they were better than most of the steak that I have had a Old Country Buffet in taste and cooking. There was no smoked sausage on the grill as has been usual at Ryan's. There were chicken hotdogs out on the buffet which is another sign of the OCB influence. Hot dogs at OCB are chicken hotdogs.

The chicken noodle soup with thick doughy noodles was 100% Ryan's and was not a disappointment. The salad bar was very much OCB and very little Ryan's. They did have the romaine lettuce, Caesar dressing, shredded cheese and croutons separate and not per-mixed as at OCB, but the large selection of salad toppings and salads that Ryan's once had - and was there in Virginia - was not here.

Desserts were a combination of OCB and Ryan's with several of Ryan's full sized layer cakes out for serving. This Ryan's had a freezer case with hand-dipped ice cream in addition to one soft serve machine (Ryan's usually has two soft serve machines, one with yogurt), but in that case through the glass top I could see pre-scooped bowls of vanilla ice cream sitting on a tray with four tubs of hard ice cream below that must have been other flavors besides vanilla.

Service, on the other hand, was good and this server was quick to pick up plates from our table and also came by to offer refills of drinks.

I am in this area just once a year and if I am there again next year, I will go back to see if it is any better - or if it is there at all anymore. There is an alternative nearby in Golden Corral and there is another Ryan's about thirty miles north in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, also along Route 81. Should you go? I just gave you what I observed and experienced, I leave it up to you.

Ryan's Hagerstown is located at 17380 Garland Groh Blvd, Hagerstown, Maryland. The phone number is (301) 766-4440. This is a large outdoor shopping center and the Ryan's is near the Walmart end of the shopping center.

Desserts at Buffets

I have recently had readers ask me to be more descriptive of the dessert offerings at buffets. The problem is that desserts at many of the buffets are not much to write about. Now, that is not to say that there are some buffets with fabulous dessert offerings, but these are few and far between.

I have been to many buffets and over the years I have written about a few buffets that offer a great variety of good desserts. Just about every buffet in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania has a decent dessert bar included with their buffet. This is the heart of the Pennsylvania Dutch Country and the Amish and the Mennonites are known for specialty desserts among which are Shoo Fly Pie, Apple Dumplings, Cracker Pudding, Funeral Pie (raisin pie), Funny Cake, and more. Of these you will find Shoo Fly Pie in each of the buffets in the area. The other desserts mentioned will be found at various times at various buffets. Shoo Fly Pie is a pie shell filled with a wet and gooey mixture of molasses and table syrup (sugar syrup or corn syrup) that is thickened and poured into the shell. That is then covered with cake crumbs. The traditionally favorite of Shoo Fly Pie is called wet bottom and that means that the molasses syrup mixture is moist. It has been a long time since I have seen dry bottom Shoo Fly Pie - and never at a buffet. This version tends to be more cake-like at the bottom. As I say, you can go to any buffet in Lancaster and find Shoo Fly Pie. It is best served warm but few buffets do this. Top it with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Another variation is Chocolate Shoo Fly Pie. This replaces the molasses with chocolate and is a real treat. The Bird in Hand Restaurant buffet has been known to serve this but don't expect to find it on every visit.

The Bird in Hand Restaurant has a dessert only buffet as an alternative to the full buffet and if you like to skip the "real" food that your mother wanted you to eat before you could have your dessert and get to the good stuff, you can go all you care to eat with desserts alone.

The ultimate dessert buffet is in Boston where you can have an entire meal of chocolate desserts. This has been featured in my article on Cafe Fleuri at the Langham Hotel. This is for the extreme dessert eater. I know I could not do it. I know that many do. And it is all done with elegance in one of Boston's top hotels.

The best dessert selection at a buffet that I have been to - and I have written about this several times - is at a small buffet in an out of the way town called Waynesboro in Pennsylvania. This is just above the Maryland border and the restaurant is called Mountain Gate Family Restaurant. The buffet at Mountain Gate is good and the food is American/Pennsylvania German. The desserts are given a section of the room all to themselves and there were more varieties of good cakes and pies than just about any other buffet that I have been to - and included with the buffet at a good price. There was nothing fancy here but the baking was good and there was just about every kind of pie and cake that one can think of. This is an out of the way place to go and there is little around it except a lot of nice scenery, but if one were on a trip to the meccas of dessert - this is the place to include. Of course, there was puddings, fruits, and ice cream, but with all of the things to try... well...

Casino buffets tend to go big on dessert offerings but they are not always so good. They may dazzle you with presentation, but the taste does not always stand up to the show. There are some that are very good. The two casinos in Connecticut - Mohegan Sun (with two buffets) and Foxwoods Casino - both have large and good dessert offerings. Both offer hot desserts and crepes filled with ice cream are the most tempting. Top that with syrups and whipped cream and eat it before it melts! At both you will find cheesecake, layer cakes, fruit pies, ice cream, pastries, and, of course, fresh fruit. While I have not been impressed by the taste of the Atlantic City casino buffets' desserts - I really can not say that any one of those have stood out and there are several casino buffets in the casinos in Atlantic City - the desserts at both Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun deliver taste along with the presentation.

I wish that I could say that desserts are not to be missed at so many of the other buffets that I have written about and been to. When something stands out I do write about it - but too often they do not excel when it comes to dessert. The Chinese/Asian buffets are the worst when it comes to dessert and almost everyone - no matter where it is - serves the same or close to the same little, overly sweetened and commercially baked squares of cake. I have referred to these many times as the "Little Debbie" cakes. "Little Debbie" is a discount brand of snack cakes sold in supermarkets throughout the US. They are small squares of cake - and if you are in need of a sugar rush, well they fill that need quite well. The cakes at the Chinese buffets are just like that. And I have found out that they come from commercial, wholesale bakeries that cater to Chinese/Asian buffets. They are boxed sheet cakes that are cut into those little squares. I have yet to be at a Chinese/Asian buffet - all along the East Coast of the US that has not had these same cakes. Some of these cakes pretend to be something that they are not. If it says cheesecake it is yellow cake with a light spread of cheese and sugar on top. Not cheesecake.

I should note that the Japanese buffet chain - Minado (in NY and other locations) - does have hot crepes made to order with ice cream and toppings. They are good and a pleasant change from the sweet little cake squares that they also serve. Many Japanese buffets also serve green tea ice cream and that is something different to try. It is very refreshing after the meal.

Now, the chain buffets - Old Country Buffet, Ryans, and Golden Corral. Frankly, the desserts are not that great. At one time the desserts at Ryans were pretty good but since the take over by Buffets, Inc. that then turned Ryans into a carbon copy of the other buffet chain that it owns, Old Country Buffet, the desserts took a downturn. Golden Corral is not much different though I have on occasion have had a nice cupcake at Golden Corral. These are not always offered. There is always soft serve ice cream at all of them and with that a section of syrups, nuts, and candies to put on top. Golden Corral has fresh fruit - mostly melons of various types cut up and without syrup added. You will also find hot bread pudding at all three and some form of hot fruit cobbler - fruit filling in a pan with pie crust on top and kept hot in the steam server. At Old Country Buffet right next to the fruit cobbler you will find a hot chocolate dessert that is brownies mixed with hot chocolate syrup. While this sounds tempting, it is overly sweet. It is a good thing to mix in with vanilla ice cream. Do avoid the "haystacks" at OCB - these are canned Chinese snack noodles covered in chocolate and allowed to harden Not good at all though they look good and are tempting until you try one.

When the desserts merit talking about, I always talk about them. I just wish they were worth talking about more often. As I say, you really have to go out of your way to find a really good dessert selection at a buffet. The standard is fine to fill a sweet tooth and I know that many fill plates to the brim with more dessert than a family of six should eat together - and devour the whole thing, and if they enjoyed it then good. Keep in mind though that as I do with everything that I eat at buffets - take a small sample of what appeals to you and if you really want to, you can always go back and have a little more of what you really liked.

Cactus Willies Steak Buffet and Bakery - Lancaster, PA

In 2006 and in 2007 I reviewed and re-reviewed a small buffet chain called Cactus Willies Steak Buffet and Bakery. At that time the chain had only six locations - five in Maryland and one in Pennsylvania. Since then two of those locations in Maryland have closed.

I recently passing through Lancaster, Pa on a Sunday night on my way back from a trip and wanted to stop there for dinner. As I have written many times before, Lancaster could be called the buffet restaurant capital of the country - if not the world, but the one problem is that 98% of them are closed on Sunday. Of course, Cici's is available, as are several Chinese buffets, but my good wife was not inclined on this night toward Cici's and I really did not feel like Chinese food. We then remembered Cactus Willies. It was good when we were last there so that was the place.

We arrived at 6:30 and saw on the door that they close at 7:30 pm. The last time that I was there the hours on Sunday nights were to 8:30 pm. Sometimes when you go to a buffet an hour before closing you can expect empty trays that will not be refilled and the buffet serving taken down some time before closing. I was a little hesitant, but we were there. As it turned out this was not to be a concern. You pay as you enter - as at most chain buffets - and you are escorted to a table. The layout of the room has not changed any since I was there in 2006 and in 2007 so I will not go into a description again of the room layout or the buffet servers. Read my two previous articles from July 28, 2006 and April 20, 2007 for that information. The price of the meal has gone up $1.50. It is now $11.99 with refillable soft drinks at $1.59.

My experience at this visit was actually a cross between my first visit and my second and my recommendation that you will read from 2007 is going to be a bit tempered down now. The food at Cactus Willies at this time at this Pennsylvania location on a Sunday night is fine. It is not great. It is not bad. It is ok. There was nothing wrong with it. All was well after the meal. It was just not up to the quality and taste of what you get at other brand chains. Many things were tasty. Some things were not.

There are three soups offered. This night one was vegetable soup, the other was called Manhattan Clam Chowder but was actually the white cream New England Clam Chowder, and the other was Minestrone. Since Minestrone is basically vegetable soup I wondered why two such similar soups would be offered. I tried the "vegetable" soup. It was thin with the usual canned vegetable soup bits of vegetable in it. Nothing spectacular and not what one might call "hearty". Had I re-read my 2007 review before going I should have chosen the Minestrone which I described then as good, savory, and thick. It did not look that way in the soup server.

The salad bar is quite extensive but you must look beyond the cold buffet server to the counter across the aisle because significant cold dishes are there - some that I first considered missing from the salad offerings. The salad bar included several local Pennsylvania Dutch prepared salads. As I noted in the past articles, this Cactus Willies includes some local specialties on the buffet. On this night they were on the salad bar. One was PA Dutch Chow Chow, which, unlike southern chow chow, is sweet pickled vegetables. Another is a combination of two things found on the salad bar - cottage cheese and apple butter. The cottage cheese is just your average cottage cheese, but you take a few spoonfuls of apple butter and dollop it over the top of the cottage cheese. Try it - it is very good. Way back when this area was first attracting tourism to see the Amish people who live today with no electricity and travel in horse and buggy, one of the things the restaurants would advertise was that the PA Dutch meal always includes 7 Sweets and 7 Sours. Chow Chow and Cottage Cheese with Apple Butter were always part of those 7 Sweets and 7 Sours. (These dishes are far from exclusive to Cactus Willies in this area and you will find them in almost every PA Dutch buffet here.)

Back to Cactus Willies - I went up to the steak grill for flame grilled steak. Now, on my last visit, the chef asked how I wanted the steak and then cooked a steak to order for me getting it just right. On my first visit, the chef looked around at what was on the grill and guessed which one had not been sitting there too long to be rare or medium rare. I order my steak rare or medium rare depending on the circumstance of how it is being cooked - if from what I can see rare will result in raw then I order medium rare. If it seems that the steak has just been sitting out, I order rare in hope of not getting well, well done. This night was just like that first night at Cactus Willies. The gentleman picked up one of the steaks that had been sitting on the side of the grill, cut into it and showed it to me - it was just pink on its way to gray well done. I told him that it was too well done and he picked out another one. This time the inside looked slightly pinker in the dark light near the grill. I did not want him cutting into every steak that was there so I took it. When I got back to my table I saw that it was more well done than the first one he showed me and it got thinner along the way which made the rest of it really well done - which if you enjoy well done steak is fine, but I don't. The steak did have a nice taste and it was not tough. While we were eating there was a family at the table across the aisle from us and the father was telling the grown son that he likes the steak at Cactus Willies much better than the steak at Old Country Buffet because the steak at OCB is always tough (which very, very often is true - so it is not just the OCB near my home). He really was enjoying the Cactus Willies steak and went back three or more times for more. Had it been cooked to my liking I would have also.

There were barbecue spareribs on the buffet that were cooked in a nice barbecue sauce. The ribs were good - though they had been sitting a bit in the server. They had the one dish that my wife loved at Cactus Willies when we were last there and we have not seen it at any other buffet or restaurant and that is Turkey Pot Roast. It is made with turkey thigh meat which looks like beef and is cooked in as sauce with potatoes, onions, carrots, etc. just like Pot Roast. She once contacted them for the recipe but could not get it. She and I both took some. She enjoyed it, but I did not think that it was near as good as I remembered. What I remember as a savory gravy was now thin and had an odd under-taste to me and a similar odor from some seasoning. It was not bad, but I did not like it this time.

Fried chicken was real fried chicken and not the broasted-style that is common in this area. It would have been better if it were crispy - rather it was on the soggy side. There is grilled chicken at the flame grill. Also at the grill were a tray with two remaining hot dogs. They had been either steamed or boiled and were a bit gray so I passed that by. There is a taco bar and you can create tacos, burritos, and nachos. There was also fried shrimp.

Side dish offerings included the usual assortment of vegetables - kernel corn, string beans, very good stewed tomatoes, mashed potatoes, seasoned fries, and on. There was macaroni and cheese that looked more promising than it tasted as it was bland. There is pizza but this is another one of those items that you have to look for because it is part of the dessert counter. I missed it and by the time I saw it we were heading for dessert.

There is a wide assortment of desserts including hot cobblers, puddings, cakes, cup cakes, pies, cheesecake, and soft serve ice cream with sundae toppings. There was also several candies out including gummy worms. The cup cake was good. The soft serve was icy.

As it turns out the time that we arrived posed no problem at all. The trays remained full the entire time that we were there and they were seating new tables all the way to around 7:15 pm. The staff did start cleaning around the buffet servers but this did not interfere with getting more food. As we were eating dessert they actually came over and asked if we wanted anything more from the salad bar as they were going to close that down - not the other servers but just the salad bar. They asked and had we or anyone said yes, we want more salad they would have not closed it down.

Service this time and on our last visit was excellent. The young man who was our server was there quickly to take away dirty plates, bring more soft drinks, and make sure all was well. When he saw that I had taken ribs he brought packages of hand wipes. All excellent. When we were in the midst of dessert he brought a tip tray with mints in it - a reminder to leave a tip which is fine as many at buffets need this reminder. We actually did tip him more than we usually would because his service was that good.

So - as to my recommendation. Let me put it this way - if I have no other buffet to go to I would probably go back. If you are in this area on any day other than a Sunday there are so many excellent buffets to go to . If I had to rank this against the other buffet chains this was definately be number 4 - below Golden Corral, Ryans, and OCB (yes - even OCB). I have only been to this Pennsylvania location. There are three others in Maryland - I would try one of those to compare. Had this visit been more like my second visit, I would have been happier. I am not even sure that I would say that this was an off-night. There is nothing really wrong with the Lancaster Cactus Willies but there is so much better to enjoy just minutes away from here.

Mountain Gate Family Restaurant - Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

I first reviewed The Mountain Gate Family Restaurant in April 2006 and I wrote about a special highlight of this buffet again in 2007. Two years later I went back to both enjoy this small treasure and to see if it has maintained all that I remember.

There are two locations of this restaurant - one in Thurmont which is actually right at the foot of the mountain that Camp David, the President's retreat home in Pennsylvania - and the other in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania which is just north of the Maryland border in south central Pennsylvania. I would love to get to the Thurmont location to see how that matches up but I must wait until I get close to that area. This restaurant that I am reviewing is the Waynesboro restaurant.

If you do a Google search for this restaurant besides my reviews you are going to find some positive and some negative reviews - the reviews are left for both locations so there is no way to tell if this is the location they are commenting on. I must say that I do disagree with negative reviews that have been left on other sites. One of the most consistent things mentioned - for and against - is the decor and I commented on it myself in my first review. This is a Christian restaurant - not in any way that you are treated but in how the restaurant is decorated. No one is preaching while you dine. If you have a problem with a Cross on the wall in the dining room - and this is in each of the two dining rooms - then don't come here. It does not bother me. It seems to bother some people.

This restaurant is basically in the middle of nowhere. It is off the main north/south route 81 about eight miles to the east. You travel on a nice road that runs through large towns and small towns, past fast food, farms, homes, and shopping centers. It seems like you are driving forever and then you come upon the restaurant. Mountains loom in the front of you as you reach the restaurant.

Since my first visit in 2006 the price has gone up to $12.99 on a Saturday night and it seems that the hours have been shortened to close at 9 instead of 10 as the restaurant dining rooms were starting to be cleaned at 9 and but the doors were all still open so they may have just been preparing for a limited seating area in one of the two dining rooms which had dinners in them while we were there. Some people who have written about this restaurant on other sites call it expensive. The $12.99 included unlimited soft drinks - Pepsi products and excellent fresh brewed ice tea. The chain buffets are just as much. Few if any of the independent buffets are that low on a Saturday night. I cannot agree with anyone calling the Mountain Gate expensive.

The buffet serving area takes up half a room but is actually small in comparison to many buffets. THIS IS NOT TO SAY THAT THERE IS NOT ENOUGH OFFERED TO EAT. There is plenty. The food here - though the restaurant is a distance from the main Pennsylvania Dutch region is Pennsylvania Dutch and this is not tourist Pennsylvania Dutch but food as it had been at the Lancaster restaurants many years back before that area became as commercialized as it is now.

The room layout has not changed in the past two years so I refer you to my article of April 30, 2006 to read about that. I will describe the food again as there were some interesting variations there on this night. There is an extensive salad bar - it fills a whole wall - and it has everything that you would want to create a salad and it has a nice variety of prepared salads - many local to this area such as cucumbers in milk sauce and a delicious ham salad. There were two soups - Pennsylvania Dutch Chicken Corn Soup and Crab Soup. The Chicken Corn soup was full of corn, shredded chicken, and small dumplings that are called rivels in this region. The crab soup had a good crab taste and was full of vegetables, barley, shreds of crab visible in the soup, and it was seasoned with Maryland Old Bay seasoning. This is the homemade original of what one of the new Campbell's Choice soups is trying to be but the canned version is over spiced and burns the mouth with its seasoning. This restaurant's crab soup had a nicely, mild taste of Old Bay. (In Maryland when you order crabs Old Bay is poured in quantities over the crustaceans to bury them.) I tried both soups offered here this night and was very pleased with each.

There are three meats being carved at a heated carving station. There was turkey, ham, and roast beef. At 8:00 when there were no longer many people left in the restaurant the last slice of ham was sliced from what was out. When I came back for more food a new half a ham was out and ready to be sliced. Everything was continually refilled as needed. There were a number of other meats, side dishes, and vegetables on the hot buffet server. There was very good fried chicken. There was a dish of chicken and mushrooms in a sauce. There was a crab and mixed seafood dish in a tomato base. There was Pork and Sauerkraut - a PA Dutch special dish that is shredded pork cooked in sauerkraut. This dish is often very vinegar based in taste. Here it was milder and much more of delight to enjoy. Another PA Dutch dish that is not uncommon at buffets in this area is called Chicken Bot Bie - chickens cooked in a thick broth with dumplings, potatoes, and carrots. This was on the buffet at Mountain Gate the first time that I had dined there. This night there was a variation made with small shreds of beef. I had never seen this ever before. It was good and very different.


Side dishes were plentiful. There was a nice assortment of vegetables including kernel corn, peas, beats, and green beans with ham. Green beans with ham is another of the "old-style" PA Dutch dishes - not often found any more at restaurants. Green string beans are cooked with chunks of ham until the fat of the ham flavors the beans. It is served with the chunks of ham and I really enjoyed this here - not having had it for a long time. There were small fried apple fritters served with powdered sugar on top. There was macaroni and cheese with a cheese crust and orange and white cheese so thick that it pulled as you scooped a serving from the tray. This was one of the best that I have had. There was homemade mashed potatoes and candied yams. There was stuffing but this was unlike what you would generally find at PA Dutch restaurants. It was more traditional bread cube stuffing than it was PA Dutch Filling - which is more of a stuffing pudding of either bread or potatoes. The stuffing was fine but not as special as the rest of the dishes.

Every thing was tasty - everything was good. This is basic, well-prepared farm food seasoned for local tastes.

Now, I have written about the dessert here twice before. This is the buffet with the BEST dessert bar of any restaurant that I have ever encountered. All home baked and fresh made. What do they have you ask? Everything! Every pie you can imagine, cakes, fruit, puddings, prepared desserts - all there out for the taking and taking - plus this restaurant is known for its ice cream and there are many many flavors. Your waitress will offer you ice cream when you are ready for dessert and list off the flavors from the top of her head. I tried something that I have not had before - it may be common to some - lemon pudding. It was very refreshing and this had been an uncommonly hot day with record breaking heat. It was nicer than the center of lemon meringue pie (which you could also have had in the assortment of pies). There were fruit pies, cream pies, local PA Dutch pies, Reese's pie, red velvet cake, coconut cake, and on and on. The dessert bar is worth the price of the dinner.

Service was excellent. My ice tea glass was continually full. Dishes were cleared away regularly. The restaurant is very clean (despite what someone wrote on one of those review sites). It was perfectly clean on each of my three visits since 2006! Restrooms are well maintained and towards the end of the night were still spotless. All of the staff were very friendly.

This is another of the hidden treasures of buffets that I have been coming across. This is not one that many will get to because of its remote location but if you are driving across Pennsylvania or are driving through the north/south center of Maryland on I81 this is a place to try.

The restaurant is located on Route 16 east of Rt. I81 at 10530 Buchanan Trail Road in Waynesboro, PA. There is no website. The phone number is 717-765-6772.

Golden Corral - Hagerstown, Maryland

A new Golden Corral restaurant recently opened in Hagerstown, Maryland. This Golden Corral has several changes that I am not certain will yet be found at all Golden Corrals, but I must say right up front that this was the best Golden Corral I have been to.

The restaurant is located outside the Valley Mall, one of the larger shopping centers in the area. It has opened in the past 12 or less months and many who were there commented on being there for the first time. I went on a Friday night for dinner and the restaurant was very busy.

The first thing that we noticed as we were on the line to pay was there were no trays and no stacks of dishes at the cashier. You still order your drinks and then move along to pay at the cashier. Generally, at this point you would be handed two plates each to start your meal. No plates were given. As we walked through the cashier we noticed large signs over several food stations that we had never seen before at other Golden Corrals - "The Pagoda" and "Chocolate Station" were what caught our attention the most. Other signs - "The Greenhouse", "The Grill, and "The Bread Shop" may have been at others but these seemed like new labeling to both of us as well. The last time that I have been to a Golden Corral was last July and that was at the "Mystery" Golden Corral which had been no different from the last time it had appeared out of the myst - you really have to go back to last summer's posts to know what this is all about. Anyway - some things were different at this new Golden Corral.

As we were escorted to our table we past another major change - plates stacked in a large rack next to the silverware. Golden Corral has always relied upon the server to bring you clean plates to continue your meal past the two plates that you are given at the cashier. In the past articles I have commented that a meal at Golden Corral can only be as good as your server is - because you rely upon your server to bring you clean plates and if you have a server that disappears then your meal comes to a halt. This was never a good thing and more than once at numerous Golden Corrals we would somehow get the server that would disappear. (Actually, this visit to this new Golden Corral was not different but more about that later.) Never the less, with this new plate system - much as every other buffet employs - you get your own plates and no longer have to rely upon your server.

Several weeks ago I wrote an article about Golden Corral's limited time seafood fest special. I was eager to try this special on this visit and I was not dissapppointed.

Golden Corral always has a nice assortment of several soups and their home-style chicken noodle is one of the best. Nice thick, doughy noodles in a semi-thickened chicken broth makes this soup stand out from other buffet chicken noodle soups (Ryans similar chicken noodle often comes close.) There were three other soups including New England clam chowder which is part of the every night seafood feature. I like their chicken noodle and that is what I had.

The salad bar - or should I say "The Greenhouse" is very extensive. There are several types of greens and lettuce. There is a ceasar salad section to create your own ceasar salad. There are cold meats to create an extensive chefs salad and these included large pieces of chicken, strips of ham, pieves of roast beef, and cold, peeled , mini-shrimp. In addition there are cheeses and just about everything that you can think of to add to a salad. There are several prepared salds including a very nice tuna salad and a seafood salad - served from a giant clam shell that was shreds of seafood and very tasty.

The buffet servers are laid out in a long and continuous line with areas behind for refilling and maintaining and it was all kept full and was all well maintained. There was nothing that was not moist and nothing was left to sit too long. This long buffet counter does lead some to feel that it is like a cafeteria and need to stay in line as they move along the counter - upset when someone comes up to the middle to take what they want - without even considering to go wait at the end of the line (which they should not have to do). The other thing that this encourages is to over fill multiple plates at one time. This may all go into its own article on silly ideas at buffets. Anyway - there was a bit of all of that observed here - no fault of the restaurant .

This Golden Corral had a large grill area and a chef that was cooking several steaks at one time each at a different level of cooking. If you wanted rare, it was there for you. If you wanted well done that was there to along with everything in between. The steak here is very good. It is now the best of the chain buffet steaks. It is a good, tasty cut and is cooked on a flame grill. Next to the grill was a griddle and another chef who was griddle frying crab cakes - another of the seafoods on the feature. Next to the crab cakes was broiled salmon. The crab cakes were very good and seemed to indeed be real crabmeat.

I have had a yen for good fried fish with good tartare sauce for awhile. I found the cornmeal breaded fried fish - which were next to the batter dipped fried fish. The breaded fish looked exactly like what I have been craving. I took the fish and headed over to "The Greenhouse" where the tartare sauce was. Some tartare sauces can be oddly seasoned, have too much, onion, or just not a good compliment to the fish they are intended for. This tartare sauce looked right and I scooped some on my plate. I headed back to my table with the odd assortment of steak, crab cake, a bit of mashed potatoes which were fresh and not from a mix, and some fried corn breaded fish with tartare sauce. The fish was just what I was hoping for and the tartare sauce was just right. Sounds like I am making a bit much about the sauce? It really was good.

Rounding out the seafood special was supposed to be fried coconut shrimp. These were a bit of a disappointment as there was no coconut. The shrimp were good as butterflied fried shrimp but we had to go back and look at the sign to verify that these were supposed to be the coconut shrimp.

There was a lot besides seafood. Most of what you would generally expect to find as entrees and side dishes at Golden Corral was there - and in addition, there was "The Pagoda". There inside Golden Corral was an Asian buffet station . Here there was another chef who had another flame grill and he was cooking terriaki chicken thieghs over the flames. He was also cooking Mandarin beef - small strips of beef sauted with mushrooms in a tasty brown sauce, fried rice, General Taos chicken, and sauteed green and wax beans in an overly spicy sauce.

Back along the regular entree and sides sections were two types of pot roast - both beef and pork, rotisserie chicken, fried chicken, three more types of rice, baked sweet potatoes, griddled sliced potatoes with onions and many other things. There were two types of pizza out - both looked moist and nice.

Further along was "The Bread Shop". This was a section in the wall with a number of types of rolls. There was skillet corn bread. There was focaccia.

This Golden Corral - and perhaps all of them now, had one of the best dessert areas at a chain buffet - and perhaps at many of the buffets. There were real caked - n0t little pieces of sheet cakes. There were four hot desserts. This area is called the "Chocolate Station" and keeping with the name there were fresh dipped chocolate strawberries, several chocolate cakes, chocolate fudge, chocolate brownies, various balls of chocolate, and so much more. My picky wife can even get picky about desserts and generally she will look to decide what of anything she will try. Here she told me that she had to decide what of several things she would try. There were many "sugar-free" dessert choices also (which I do not recommend unless you know what they have been sweetened with - often a sugar alcohol is used and sugar alcohols are laxatives - I am not saying any is used here but I do not know what they are using and for that I avoid it).

Way back at the beginning of this article I said that your server can make or break your experience at Golden Corral. Well, that was the case this night. In our section there was a great server who was running around making sure that every dirty plate was removed and every drink remained full. Our server on the other hand seemed to disappear right at the beginning of our meal. Plates were stacking high and our glasses were empty. My good wife went over to the woman who was working so well and asked what happened to our server. Apparently she was leaving early and had not asked anyone to take over her tables - of which there were several. The "good" server said she would take over our table and she was wonderful - definitely the best we have ever had at any Golden Corral.

This Golden Corral was very clean. The restrooms were clean - they had the new superblow hand dryers that actually blow so hard that the skin on your hands is moved by the force - and are dried very quickly. Then on the door was a "sanitary opener", a hook with a diagram showing how you put your harm into the hook and pull the door open without your hand touching the door handle - something that many do not like to do (you might wash your hands but did the person before you and then you both grab the door handle to get out).

There were signs all over the buffet servers that no child 10 and under should be at the buffet server without an adult supervising. At one point an announcement was made saying this also. This is very good. Children should never be sent around the buffet server alone. Not only can they get hurt but they often do not understand not to put their fingers into the food.

If you go to a Golden Corral let us know if you find plates to take yourself or if you find these new stations. If you are in Maryland be sure to try the Golden Corral located at the Valley Mall in Haggerstown.

Cozy Restaurant, Thurmont, Maryland

Sometimes the going and the returning is as much of an adventure as the restaurant. My trip to and from the Cozy Restaurant is no reflection on the restaurant – in fact as you will soon read, I loved the restaurant. The trip to get to the restaurant and to get back to where I was staying was quite something. If you are going to go to the Cozy Restaurant and you are near Thurmont it is quite easy to get to, however, I went there from Hagerstown, Maryland.

I will talk about the trip first and then get on to the important focus of this article which is the restaurant. There is an expression – “as the crow flies” – well, our trip to the Cozy would have been simple if we were crows. We had no indication of what was in store for us when we consulted the computer map and set the route into our laptop computer GPS. The roads appeared twisty on the map – had we looked at a topographical map we would have seen the mountains that we were going to ride up, around, and down. The directions were simple. We did not get lost (as we have at times before), What we found as we got deep into country roads was the water falls and mountain state park that we had to get through. We climbed up roads that turned quickly right, and then left, and then right again. There were large warning signs at the side of the road about the hazardous turns that stretched for four miles. One turn made a complete right angle. All of this on one lane each way roads with a line of cars behind me that thought that the speed limit signs were just suggestions. It was uncomfortable driving but it was in daylight with clear visibility of what was ahead. I kept thinking that coming back, this would be much more of a nightmare in the dark. I told my good wife to check the laptop’s map software and find an alternative way back – if there was one.

The return trip could be made on two highways, but would make a trip of about 25 miles into a trip of about 45 or 50 miles. Fine – worth it, but when we left the Cozy it was heavily pouring rain. We still would be driving over and through mountains, but on a high speed interstate with blinding rain and at one point patches of clouds – yes, clouds – not fog – that had settled in spots on the road, just visible ahead in the vehicle’s headlights. If you have not figured it out yet, I do not like driving at night in heavy rain. I want to be able to drive at a good, but safe speed that other drivers do not necessarily agree with. Sure, they drive these roads all of the time – they know that it will turn this way and that. I, to quote a probably forgotten science fiction novel, am a stranger in a strange land. Well, white knuckled and a little shaky, I made it back to write all of this for you.

So, now that I have gotten all of that out of my system, I can now concentrate on this restaurant. The Cozy Restaurant is very famous – but probably none of you will have ever heard of it, unless you are or have been a President of the United States, or one of his cabinet or advisors, or if you are support staff to leaders of countries since World War II. The Cozy Restaurant is also an Inn (hotel) and has been in business since 1929. It is located in the town of Thurmont at the foot of the mountains - specifically those mountains that I had to drive over. Thurmont is also the location of Camp David. The country retreat of all American presidents from Franklin Roosevelt to now, In fact it is at the Cozy that the President’s advisors and support staff have stayed – and dined. It is at the Cozy that the delegations and support staff of foreign dignitaries and world leaders have stayed during Peace Summits. And the Cozy has a BUFFET!

I learned about the Cozy from one of my readers, Brian – who also told me about the Lighthouse Restaurant (see last week). I love hearing from my readers and I especially love getting buffer suggestions and recommendations. I thank him for telling me about these two – but especially about this one. My good wife said to say thank you from her too!

From what I could see of Thurmont it appears to be a quite and quaint town. Almost next door to the Cozy is the second location of the Mountain Gate Restaurant and Buffet. I have written several times about that restaurant’s other location in Pennsylvania. The Cozy is actually a complex of buildings with the restaurant and another building with the Inn (which may actually be connected somewhere. As you see the restaurant from the road there is a bright red neon sign beckoning you into the parking lot. At one end of the building a railroad caboose is sticking out. When you enter the restaurant building you are entering a labyrinth of hallways – styled as streets with store false store fronts along the way – with signs directing you to the restaurant. As you make a turn you come to the Camp David Museum, which is free to enter. It is a room with memorabilia, pictures, and news stories about Camp David – and its connection to the Cozy. We saved the museum tour for the end of dinner. We also passed the Camp David Souvenir shop which we should have gone into first because it was closed when we finished dinner. This is the closest that the average person will come to Camp David- as it is strictly off limits to all. All of the décor is quaint and out of the ordinary. Rustic and fun. Window cases along the way show pictures and memorabilia of famous guests of the hotel and those who have dined there. Names like Babe Ruth jumped out. The same family has owned this restaurant and inn since it opened in 1929 and now is under the guidance of the third generation. We came to a podium and told the gentleman that we were a party of two and we were escorted into the dining room where the buffet servers were located. The size of this restaurant is deceptive as there was at least one other large dining room adjacent to where we were seated – and there were several banquet rooms near the entrance that we came in.

The dining room is rustic with wood plank ceilings, rough hewn beams across those planks, pleasantly quaint decorations strung around. I was immediately reminded of restaurants in small mountain towns that I dined in with my family when we vacationed when I was a little boy – and I am talking about quite some time ago. I loved it. The buffet servers were off to one end of the dining room that we were in. We were there on a Saturday night. The restaurant was not crowded but there were people there – and there was a second room with diners there as well.

The restaurant has the buffet and a menu to choose from. We, of course, had the buffet. The buffet prices were at the back of the menu and we only had the menus for a few moments before the waitress came over, took our soft drink orders, and then pleasantly collected the menus when we said that we were having the buffet. I got a brief look at the prices and not long enough to accurately tell you what they are because what I immediately saw is that they change every two nights. Monday and Tuesday is Pasta Night. I am pretty sure that the menu said $10.99. Wednesday and Thursday are Steak and Shrimp Night and I think that the menu said $11.99. Friday and Saturday are the Land and Sea buffet and the price (definitely) is $15.99. There is a Sunday buffet with ten entrees – I do not know the price. With the exception of Friday and Saturday I may be wrong about the prices. Soft drinks are $1.98 each and they are refilled by the waitress. They serve Coca Cola products. The ice tea was fresh brewed and excellent.

I started with the soup and there were two choices – Land and Sea. One was vegetable beef and the other was creamy white clam chowder. I tried the chowder and it is very good. Next to the two soup tureens, which are located in a small alcove at the side of the room, were several choices of fresh breads and rolls. The cinnamon bread was calling to me and I had to cut myself a slice from the loaf. It was sweet, soft and had a great aroma. Next to the bread on the third wall of the alcove were fresh cut up fruits and the fixings for Caesar salad.

There were three double buffet servers (two of them hot) in the center of the room, a counter on the side opposite the alcove, and a carving station on the end wall. The salad bar had a large bowl of lettuce and many toppings and dressing. There was also a full section of prepared salads. On this night this included a shrimp salad that was great with large pieces of shrimp blended into shell pasta and dressing. There was excellent chicken salad. I tried sweet pickle slices that tasted freshly made – very probably at the restaurant.

At the carving station there was a tray of cold steamed shrimp cooked in Old Bay Seasoning. Next to that there was a tray of cold sliced deli-style ham. The shrimp was good. My wife tried the ham and she say that it was tasty and not like ham that you would buy at the deli counter for sandwiches.

The selections of entrees both land and sea are plentiful. There was a lot for those who love seafood and for those who do not. There were baby steamed clams, there were mussels, there were fried oysters, fried butterfly shrimp, clams casino, two seafood in pasta dishes, steamed crayfish (which were smaller than I have ever seen – the nickname in the South for these is bugs and these really looked like bugs), a dish they called Mediterranean Tilapia which was very different and good, lobster orzo, crab Norfolk, baked salmon, catfish, crab au gratin, and much more. I must say that though the crab dishes were tasty they did not use real crab but it was definitely the crabmeat substitute, It was not labeled as such and was labeled as crab. On the “land” side of the choices there was carved turkey breast, carved beef that was a small round of rare beef that was nicely charred on the outside and pink red on the inside - it was very good, fried chicken that was excellent, barbecued pork ribs, and more.

There were equally many side dishes and vegetables including kernel corn, string beans, carrots, mixed vegetables, broccoli, mashed potatoes with bits of red potato skin, kale, baked potatoes, rice, macaroni and cheese, and more. The carrots and the mixed vegetables had some type of sweetener on them. The carrots were sweeter than the mixed vegetables. They were nice but if you want plain, pick some of the other vegetable choices.

Deserts were along the side wall and there were several fancy cakes, pies including pecan, chocolate, coconut cream, and a selection of sugar free pies, there were puddings, jello, fresh fruit, and there was a soft serve machine in the middle of the wall, but it was labeled as a cholesterol-free, non-dairy vanilla soft serve. There was a nice selection of desserts. Some of the cakes were labeled as “special” including one that was a Mexican wedding cake with nuts.

All of the food was good. There was nothing that I tried that I did not like and I took a small sampling of a large variety of items. My picky wife was happy too! We thoroughly enjoyed the meal and the atmosphere of this real “country” restaurant.

All of the staff were very friendly and accommodating. Empty dishes were picked up regularly. Drinks were constantly refilled when needed. The entire restaurant was very clean and the waitress was cleaning the carpeted floor when she was not waiting on tables. There is an effort being made here to make sure that you are having a good experience. There was a paper on the table saying to tell them immediately if you want anything or are not satisfied, claiming that they will make you happy. When the check was brought to the table – after we completed desert – there was a satisfaction survey printed on the bottom for you to complete, if you wish. They go all out to make sure that everything is good.

I only wish that it was not raining when we left and the ride home was a pleasant as the meal. I strongly recommend the Cozy. Do go there. Avoid driving through the mountain park. The Cozy is located at 103 Frederick Road in Thurmont Maryland. This is about 20 miles from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on street Route 15, as opposed to Interstate 15, and 50 miles from Washington, D.C. and Baltimore. The hours of the restaurant are 11:00 am to 9:00 pm and weekend from 8:00 to 9:00 pm. The phone number is 301-271-7373. There is a website and it is linked at the side of this page.

FAMILY TRADITIONS LIGHTHOUSE RESTAURANT, NORTH CHAMBERSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA

This restaurant was referred to me by one of my readers, Brian. If you have been reading this site for some time I have mentioned that I travel to Hagerstown, Maryland once each year and when I come I am always looking for buffets to try. This restaurant is just across the Maryland border into Pennsylvania about 30 miles from Hagerstown – and is right along the route that I take traveling south. I was so happy when Brian emailed and told me not only about this buffet but also another that I hope to also try this trip.

The Family Traditions Lighthouse is a large restaurant in a rural area. The restaurant has both menu and buffet dining and the building also accommodates a banquet facility separate from the restaurant. The restaurant was easy to find and the outside is unmistakable because there is a large lighthouse on the entrance end of the building. We arrived on a Thursday night at the end of April and the parking lot was almost empty. We wondered for a moment if the restaurant was open. Another car parked and went inside. We followed. The building and the entrance way are very plain outside and the lobby followed suit. A sign next to the cashier station said “Seat Yourself” and we did. There is a large dining room and another dining room off to the side that is down a few steps. There were people dining inside and while we were there business was steady with people coming in.

There is a blackboard in the lobby with the buffet prices. Monday to Thursday and Saturdays this is a very reasonably priced restaurant. Fridays are another story. The dinner price Monday to Thursday is $9.95. Saturday dinner is $10.95. Sundays the restaurant closes at 3:00 pm and dinner is served for $10.95. Friday is seafood night and the price is $18.95! If you would like to add unlimited crab legs to the Friday night buffet the price is $29.95! Wow! I am sure that you will be getting a lot of fish but this is more than the best seafood buffets that I have been to in large metro areas. And basically, here we are inland and a distance from the sea. Soft drinks with refills are $1.59. Lunch on Monday to Thursday is $7.95. Saturday breakfast buffet is $5.95. There are children’s prices – under three is free but the sign was erased where it listed ages four to ten.

When we sat a very nice waitress came over and asked what we liked to drink. She did not offer menus – though a sign mentioned menu dining – and she told us to go up and help ourselves. There are signs scattered around the buffet servers that say to take a clean plate each time and to help all children at the buffet.

The buffet servers were situated at the front end of the dining room. There were two sets of half sized servers – one set hot and one set cold. There was a dessert counter along one wall and at the opposite side was a large, double, hot buffet server. As usual I started with the soup choices – there were two – one was cheeseburger soup and the other vegetable beef. I did not try the cheeseburger – a thick cheese soup with chopped meat (a cardiologist’s nightmare). I did try the vegetable beef. The soup was full of vegetables and well cooked beef. The soup was VERY spicy – not the usual vegetable beef soup that I expected. It was not bad, but if you do not like hot and spicy it is not for you. (Many of the meat items in sauces were spicy.) The soup shares a server with the two hot dessert items.

There is a salad bar with a nice assortment of salad toppings and dressings. There were also several prepared salads – the basics – cole slaw, potato salad, and macaroni salad. There was a bean salad and several fresh and canned fruits. There was also apple sauce and apple butter. Dessert puddings were here too.

There was a good assortment of entrees and side dishes on the hot entrée server. Next to the soup and hot desserts there is another half server with more hot entrees. There were meat dishes and fish. Entree dishes included grilled chicken medallions in a sauce, medallions of beef, sausage and peppers in tomato sauce, a large ham on the bone that was being carved, broiled scrod, good and crunchy fried chicken, stuffed chicken breasts, fried shrimp, and white meat turkey that was shredded. There were two types of potatoes – mashed and boiled potatoes. There was kernel corn, string beans, baked beans, macaroni and cheese, spaghetti in tomato sauce, deep fried onion pieces, corn fritters, stuffing, and both beef and turkey gravy among other selections. There was plenty to choose from. The fried chicken was better than most. The sausage was good and I wished they had more of it to bring out when it was gone – obviously others thought it was good as well. The ham was very good. The mashed potatoes were fresh and creamy. The macaroni and cheese was nicely thick. They claim that their selections change daily and that they introduce new items to the buffet every week. On their website they say to give them suggestions for dishes to add to the buffet.

Trays were checked by staff, stirred, refilled, replaced, and checked for temperature continually. This is probably the best tended buffet that I have been to. The staff took well care of that buffet! When the sausage and peppers were empty they took the tray away and replaced it with fried clams. When anything else emptied or was low it was replaced with the same item. Remember that I said that there were no many dining here this evening – but they kept replacing trays of food. Even twenty minutes before closing they were still stirring and tending the hot server.

Desserts were not extensive but there it was not hard to find something. There was a hot berry cobbler and hot French toast sticks – deep fried sticks of French toast. There was an assortment of pies, cookies, and very large chocolate brownies. There is no ice cream (not necessary, but their website claims “soft ice cream”). There is also the fruit and puddings at the salad bar.

The décor of the restaurant is pleasant – a nautical theme on all of the walls. The lighting fixtures hanging throughout the dining room all had bulbs out – not missing, but out. At first we thought this might be to conserve electricity or for mood, but they were too erratically out. The room was lit enough. The tables and chairs are plain and adequate – nothing fancy. This is a family restaurant and not a fancy restaurant (which is why the Friday prices surprise me so much). The entire restaurant was clean.

The Family Tradition Lighthouse restaurant was good. It was not spectacular but sometimes you do no need spectacular as long as you get a nice meal and we certainly had a nice meal. Would I drive out of my way to come back – maybe not, but I certainly would come back if I were in the area. I can recommend that you try this buffet, but unless you want to spend a lot of money do not come on a Friday night. Every other night the value is excellent and the quality of the food is as well.

A history of the restaurant says that the Lighthouse restaurant has been opened for thirty years but has been taken over by a husband and wife who have reopened it as the Family Traditions Lighthouse. No date is given as to when this happened. They state that they are making many changes for the better. As I do not know what it was like before I cannot comment. What they are doingm from my experience, is working.

The Family Traditions Lighthouse Restaurant is located at 4301 Philadelphia Avenue, Route 11 North, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. The phone number is 717-263-4878. There is a website and there is a link at the side of this page. If you look on the website you will also see that Gospel concerts are given by locally known groups in the banquet hall on scheduled nights. This should not interfere with the restaurant as that area is well separated.

Cici's Pizza Buffets Moves NorthEast

I have written several articles about Cici's Pizza Buffet. I had my first and up until now only opportunity to eat in this famous chain a year ago in Maryland. At the time the Hagerstown, Maryland location was the furthest north east that Cici's had opened. Now to my very pleasant surprise Cici's has opened in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. There are now 11 locations in PA - all but this one in the western portion of the state.

I had heard several months ago that a Cici's was about to open in the Allentown/Lehigh Valley area of Pennsylvania - an area near the New Jersey border. This was causing some exuberance from those that I heard about it from but at the moment there is no mention of it on the Cici's website. On my recent arrival in Lancaster, however, we passed a familiar shopping center to see that since we were there in December, there is now a Cici's! Of course, we had to work a meal in there during the course of this trip.

For those of you who may not be familiar with Cici's and don't want to look back to last April and May to see what I wrote about it - and about what the corporate offices wrote back to me - I will give you a fresh look at Cici's. Cici's is a buffet chain located across the US that offers Salad, Pasta, Pizza, and Dessert - all you care to eat for one SMALL price. Now, I have to give an aside here from my "fresh" description to say that one year ago the price at Cici's was $4.49 per person. Now the price - at least at this new location is $5.49 per person. This is still a bargain - but a one dollar jump is quite a lot. I do not know if this "new, higher" price applies to all locations or this one. I was quite to surprised to see the jump. On the Cici's website it says "All you can eat for under $5*". Note the * - at the bottom of the page it says prices vary by location - so I guess I found one of the above $5 locations. How many others are there? The most recent Cici's television ads no longer mention a price. They just say "at an incredibly low price." Has Cici's now hooked us and will start raising the prices? I hope not. Unlimited soda still remains at $1.59 and the children's price remains at $2.99. These are the prices and they are the same all day and every day.

The Lancaster Cici's was exactly like the Hagerstown Cici's inside. You enter the same way, the counter and dining rooms are identical. When I was at Hagerstown they did not take charge cards - here they did. I was told by corporate after my Hagerstown visit that that had just been a temporary situation in Hagerstown. For Cici's newbies, you pay as you enter and you are given a plastic cup for your soft drink. No hot drinks here so be ready for soda or ice tea. You pick up a tray if you want one and move along a long counter to pick up your selections. You seat yourself and serve your drinks yourself from the soda fountain.

The first area is a salad bar with lettuce, toppings, cold vegetables, and a few prepared salads like pasta salad. You next come to a server with chicken pasta soup and then a tray of pasta follows with two sauces - tomato sauce and alfredo sauce. You next encounter a long row of pizzas. The pizza's are quite different from what you will usually find. Their signature pizza is Mac and Cheese Pizza. They also have the likes of Taco pizza, Barbecue Chicken Pizza, Barbecue Pizza, spinach pizza, white pizza, jalapeños pepper pizza, and many others. As was true of my first Cici's experience, the pizza's are not labeled as to what they are. I am told that this is because new and different pizzas are constantly brought out and take the place of something else. They could not keep up with labeling. I was also told not to be shy and ask one of the many people setting out pizzas what anyone is. And, indeed, on this visit I asked and was promptly told with a smile. One thing that was happening in Lancaster - perhaps because they are so knew and still doing things the way things are supposed to be done was when a pizza was put out it was loudly announced by name. Some pizzas - the taco pizza for one had a little song that several employees performed- "Ole!" Each pizza is about 12 inches in diameter and is cut into ten or so small slices - these are not large NY style pies that you fold and eat. Each piece is big enough so that you can enjoy a number of slices and take as many of the many selections that you would like to try. Each pizza is fresh and kept hot. There is cheesy garlic toast as well.

Once you have had your fill of pizza there are three desserts - an apple crumb pizza, hot cinnamon buns, and chocolate brownies. Wash it all down with Coke products, "sweet tea" and unsweet iced tea.

So how was the new Lancaster location? Good. The staff were extremely friendly, greeting everyone as they entered and left. The bus staff were very polite. The counters and the tables were kept very clean. The staff kept stirring the pasta and the sauces, mixing the salads to stay fresh, and continually put out pizzas.

My wife had some criticisms - which I will share - but these are with the chain in general and not specific to this location. I have been told several things about Cici's by readers which I will share here. If you do not see a pizza out that you would like, ask for it and it will be made and you will be brought slices. I witnessed this at Lancaster. I was also told that if you would like something special you should ask for it and if they have the ingredients they will make it just for you. My wife's feelings about this are these - and she kept commenting this to me through out the meal. "How does anyone know this and how do they know what the pizzas are to ask for one?" She feels that somewhere on the counter or on the wall there should be a list of all of the pizzas. In this way if you see a pizza on the list that you would like to try you can ask for it. She says that it all should not be a secret. She, of course, is right. I could understand that there could be chaos with everyone reading the list and asking for something different - but if it is truly the case that you can ask for something that you do not see, then everyone should know what to ask for - and that they may ask.

Now, she wanted something special - a vegetable pizza without cheese, but she would not ask for it and did not want me to ask for it. They do have "zesty" vegetable cheese pizza, so all the ingredients are right there - and pizzas are made in a matter of minutes. But there is nothing indicating that you can just up and ask for your own combination - and her concern was that she only want a slice or two, so what would happen if they brought her an entire pizza. If, indeed, all of this request stuff is true, then it should not be a secret and there should be some sign about it. When we entered the cashier asked if I had ever been to Cici's before and would I like to know all about it. Interested in hearing what a new person is told, I told her to give me the pitch - all she told me (very friendly) was the prices and that you get all the salad, pasta, pizza, and dessert that you want - and that soda was extra. No mention about special requests.

I have had more positive comments about Cicis to my articles than any other buffet. Everyone loves these buffets. They are great for kids - there is a game room in the back, pleasant classic rock music playing, and two large screen television sets at the ceiling. Adults love them. Kids love them.

If you are on a diet and can resist the pizza and be happy with the small salad bar and pasta then you too will enjoy this buffet - but it is really hard to resist. If you do not eat cheese for any reason you are in the same dilemma, and perhaps should seek out someplace else. But if you do not care about carbs or your cholesterol this is heaven. (I ate many and too much of things that I should not eat - but love.)

I come to this area of Pennsylvania a number of times a year and I am very happy that Cici's has come to Lancaster -and is moving north east. (BUT I am not sure that I want one in NY because most chains are changed for the worse when they come to NY.) I could also never maintain my health with a Cici's too close by.

Cici's Lancaster is located at 2405 Covered Bridge Road in Lancaster.Pennsylvania which is on Route 30 in the shopping center with Target. Cici's has a website for all of its chain and that link is at the side of this page. There is a location finder on the website with links to maps. The Lancaster phone number is 717-392-2740.

Enjoy pizza? Enjoy a filling and good meal for little money? Enjoy Cici's Pizza Buffet!