We are rarely in Upstate New York - this for those who are not familiar with New York is considered anything north or west of Manhattan by those who live in the Metro NY area. We were going to spend the day up along the Hudson for an event we wanted to attend and I started looking for where we might find a buffet - and I was in particular looking for a Golden Corral. With the conversion to Golden Corrals of some Old Country Buffets, etc. that had closed I knew that there was at least one up in this area. The one that I searched for first was the Golden Corral that opened in a former OCB in Newburgh, New York. I had heard about this in early summer along with the opening of a similar take over location in Connecticut. When I had looked up the reviews for this new Golden Corral in Newburgh, the reviews were not good - in fact they were terrible. When I went back to look now I discovered that this Golden Corral had closed! It was not open a half a year. There was some problem between management at the buffet and the NYS Department of Labor - I don't know the details - and Golden Corral pulled their affiliation and closed the restaurant. So, what else might be near enough to make a detour on the way home worth the drive. What I discovered was that there is a new Golden Corral in Middletown, New York. I did not read any reviews - I wanted to see for myself.
We drove about an hour plus out of our way and in the wrong direction to get there on a Saturday night. It is the most unusual Golden Corral I have ever seen. It is not a free standing building but part of a strip mall in one of the store spaces. At first I thought that it must be another OCB conversion - as it just seemed that way from the outside. As we went through the door there was also an open entrance - no doors to a large and noisy game arcade. Odd! I have since found out that this was not an OCB or any other restaurant before but was built as an add on by the arcade.
As we were parking two very large travel buses were parking in the parking lot near the restaurant. On the outside they had the name of a school in Georgia and they also had the name of a sports team. Oh boy!, I thought. and I commented that I hoped that they were on their way out and ont on their way in. It was about 7:00 pm and they were on their way in.
The area with the cashiers and where a line forms to go into the restaurant were very small. A big crowd here would be out the door. As we were on line one of the coaches from the bus was arranging for the team to come in. Looking at the crowded dining room we wondered where two bus loads of hungry athletes were going to be seated. It turns out there is a private dining room that they came into after we were seated.
The interior of the buffet is the smallest Golden Corral I have seen - which even more led us to thing that this had to have been an OCB. The buffet sections were smaller than usual and abbreviated in what they could hold. There was one section I have not seen before in a Golden Corral and that was an Italian foods section.
Now, this is still during the Smokehouse BBQ feature and it is a weekend night so the price is a dollar more - and for this you are supposed to get the Smoked Turkey (which they had for a while), Smoked Brisket (which they did not have), Pulled Pork BBQ (which they did not have) and several other specials for the feature. None of which they had. OK. So this was a weekend extra cost meal with nothing out that makes it special cost - except the small remains of a smoked turkey - that were pretty much totally gone during the time we were dining.
Because my rare opportunities to get to a Golden Corral now has to make up for no longer having regular buffet dinners weekly at the now gone two OCB locations that were near us, I am looking for particular things. One is steak - and they did have steak. After soup and a small salad, I went right for the steak grill - and did manage to get a piece - not a large piece as I expect to get at a Golden Corral of just about rare steak. The steak was not seasoned and pretty bland. It was also rather tough around the sides. My picky eater wife likes Golden Corral's meatloaf - as do I. She went to where the sign said Meatloaf and found a hot tray of some odd looking meat with some vegetables in a brown gravy or sauce - it was not pot roast - the pot roast was on the other side of the buffet section. This was not meatloaf - and we both were disappointed. This was not late. Something like meatloaf should not have run out - and this was before the sports team had come up to the buffet. Some of the basics at Golden Corral were also missing which made my wife's choices very limited. She also likes the pulled chicken in gravy - there was no sign of that.
When we got up for the second plate, the fried chicken was gone. I waited awhile for it to come out - it did not come out. No fried chicken. As we were leaving several pieces of fried chicken were finally put out. I went looking for the pulled pork BBQ - a featured dish - and in the place with the sign for Pulled Pork BBQ was another tray of that same odd looking meat with vegetables and gravy. While I was there a man came over also looking for pulled pork and looked at that meat in the tray and asked me what it was - I said, "I have no idea, but it is not pulled pork!" He shrugged and put some on his plate. It did not look much better plated. Trays would empty and never get refilled. I went over to the Italian section and there were fried raviolis. I was interested and took a couple. I almost broke a tooth biting into one of them. It was not fried hard but fried too tough to chew and the edges were hard. So much for that. There was a baked ziti with cheese and that was fair, but nothing I go to Golden Corral for. I went back for another piece of steak and despite a "look" for rare, I was given what would more be described as medium - and this piece was tough and full of grizzle. I like the steak at Golden Corral - this was not it. This was not the thick cuts of steak that Golden Corral usually serves.
There is not much to go on further about in regard to the food. This is not up to Golden Corral standards - if Golden Corral cares about their locations following consistent standards - which seem to vary from location to location.
Service started out being good - and then went downhill and the server did not have a large section to cover. When it was time to refill our soft drinks I had to wait by the table until I saw him and go over to tell him to please bring us refills. When I got back to the table my wife was there and on the table next to our empty cups were two of the large take it with you plastic cups - that cost more than the regular soft drinks. My wife told me that the server brought these and said that they are "out of glasses" and he brought the refills in these. OK - a way around being out of glasses - but "out of glasses?!". Our two glasses were on the table - no wonder they were out of glasses! In other Golden Corrals the server takes the glasses we have and refills them - either bringing a pitcher of soda to fill them with or taking the glasses to the soda dispenser and bringing them back. Not here. But OK. We had refills - and large ones at that - and the server had a chance to disappear again. So now a short while later we are going back up to find something more to put on our plates - not something that should be a problem at Golden Corral - but it was a problem here. We managed to find something. I went looking again for fried chicken - hoping to salvage something good from this meal. Still no chicken. I took a small slice of pizza that was under cooked - the cheese was not melted and the sauce was cold. I had such hopes after the experience we had just a couple of weeks before at the Golden Corral in New Jersey (see last article). Well, at least the food here was not overly salty - it was pretty much tasteless. Well - while we were up looking for food, when we got back to the table our silverware was gone, our charge receipt - which is all you are given to put on the table - and the server puts his name on the bottom and is to stay out - well that was taken away - but the empty soda glasses remained and the large cups that had been brought - still with plenty of drink still in them were still there. My wife saw this and asked me what happened. I had seen the server when I was getting up from the table and he saw me going over to the buffet - but he decided - I guess - that we had left - but why leave the cups then? Everything here is beyond understanding.
So - another not good dinner at a Golden Corral. Before writing this article I went to reviews to see what others have had to say and it gets mostly only one or two stars and most say they will never go back. We will likely never be up that way again - so we are not going back. I would love to say that even a bad Golden Corral is better than no Golden Corral at all - but with this one - skip it! Outside in the parking lot there was a Carl's Jr. fast food restaurant - which we were surprised to see as we thought there were none in the North. We kidded driving in that maybe we should go there instead - since it is very rare that we eat on one of those due to location. We should have done that - we would have enjoyed it more and it would have been a lot cheaper.
This Golden Corral - if you care by now - is located at 360 Route 211 E, Middletown, NY 10940. On the way home I hoped that this meal would sit well as it was a long drive through the mountains and no rest areas. It did, but the trip home took a few hours and when I pulled into the driveway I was hungry.
Showing posts with label worst. Show all posts
Showing posts with label worst. Show all posts
Friday, November 10, 2017
Friday, April 12, 2013
Still the Worst Old Country Buffet
All the way back in 2006, I wrote about the worst Old Country Buffet, the OCB located in Levittown, New York. Since then, and have had comments emailed to me and posted on various OCB articles here agreeing with this assessment of this particular OCB. I have been back many times - generally when I am not able to get to the another OCB that is about twenty miles from here. There have been better times there - management at this location seems to change regularly. How this OCB operates is very dependent upon the manager there at the time and the employees. Of course, management and employees can make or break any restaurant - and particularly a buffet restaurant. When there has been more diligent managers things get better. When there have been different employees combined with better managers things get better - and there have been times here that that combination has made this location fairly good. But for some reason, good managers don't remain here very long - perhaps they get as frustrated as some of the customers get, and they are soon gone.
Things have been downward here again, and so many of the same things that made this the worst Old Country Buffet before are at the same down point now. This is based on not just one visit but a number of disappointing visits. I have been to Old Country Buffets in a number of States. All have been far better than this one. Now, there had to be something keeping me going back there other than convenience and for about a year or so that has been the Thursday night feature which had been - at least up until now - a few of the old favorites at Old Country Buffet. Long gone are the Barbecue Beef Ribs, but they have had - particularly here, barbecue smoked sausage and country fried steak. Both certainly not the most healthy things one can consume but as an infrequent indulgence these can be a forgivable sin. These are dishes not generally found in restaurants in this area, and for this indulgence I have been drawn to this OCB on some Thursday nights.
Over the past several months, the smoked sausage has been an on again and off again item on the buffet on Thursday nights. At one point we called and asked if it was on the buffet that night. What we were told was that it runs out early. Fair enough, but an item that runs out early because of popularity should be stocked in greater quantity. The night we called we were told that it was there on the buffet. We actually rushed on over. When we got there the tray was still half full - until a manager went up to the buffet and filled his plate with the remaining sausage and then sat down to have his dinner. Hmm. Another found no smoked sausage and another visit after that found another half full tray - and with no manager in sight, I made sure to get a portion before it was gone - but this should not be like this. The country fried steak and white gravy had been there on each visit - until this last visit, when that was gone also - and on an evening when it had been snowing through the day and the restaurant was far from crowded. But what gets put out instead here when something runs out. Well, meat dishes are replaced with potatoes or rolls. Rarely does an equivalent meat dish come out to take its place.
Now, this is not about not finding two particular dishes. This about a lot more than that. In that first article, cleanliness, the failure to refill empty trays of food items, and table staff who do not do their jobs were the key problems here. These all still exist - perhaps worse. Food trays go down to a few scraps or completely empty and sit empty for more than an hour. On one night the string beans - simple dish to prepare and replace - were empty on arrival. At the time we were ready to leave a new tray finally came out - barely cooked and almost raw. On another visit, an hour and a half before closing the carved turkey was gone - and never came back out - and no other carving replaced it. On one night there were scraps of pork ribs in the tray. Over an hour later more finally came out. Then there are the items that because of an attempt to get them out - or lack of it - come out undercooked or overcooked. Chicken needs to be cooked through - broiled chicken has come out undercooked. On the opposite end - fried chicken has come out so well done that it was impossible to bite or cut through. On one night, corn dogs were served one shade of brown lighter than black - and shriveled. And you ask who is watching all of this? Who is making sure that the food that comes out and assures that more food does come out, comes out properly cooked and promptly. There are managers - if they are around, but this all seems to be left up to the few employees who are responsible for things like carving, the Mongolian Stir-Fry, and tending to the soft serve machine. It is very evident here that there is not enough staff - and some of those who are here just seem to go through the motions. On more than one night, we have had empty dishes pile high on our table - and this is not just happening on our table. When we eat at a buffet, we do not pile one plate so high that you can not see what is there at the bottom. We both take small portions and then go back for more of what we want. We might go up five or more times during a meal and take another plate of small portions. At all of the buffets that I will recommend to my readers - and that is a lot - each of those dishes is taken away by the table server shortly after it is set to the side of the table. On one night, we sat down at a table that (along with the other tables in the section) had no salt and pepper shakers and no dish of sweeteners and sugar. None of the tables here had them - other sections did have them. The table server came over to wipe down the table and greet us. As it is supposed to be. I figured that he would soon be back with at least the dish of sweeteners - as we had purchased the additional $1.99 beverages, clearly marked on our table paper that the server signs at the bottom, and perhaps we were going to have coffee, tea, or ice tea. That was the last time we saw that server all night. He was off in another section and never came back. With a stack of plates piled about eight high including soup cups and salad plates, another server came walking past to his section, saw our plates and picked them up. Some more empty plates followed those on our table, and as we were just getting ready to leave, the original server showed up again, ignored the plates and put down a dish of sweeteners on our table along with a salt and pepper shaker. I have had poor service here and at other buffets, but this tops them all as worst.
To make things worse - on Thursday nights - Thursday has been, chain-wide, children eat for 99 cents. A nice gesture, but other than cotton candy at this particular OCB, there is little to no kid food other than the usual pizza. And, partially due to parents who do not control their children, and partially due to a restaurant management that only weakly makes announcements that children should not be away from their tables unsupervised rather than stay visible and tell the children who are running around wildly in the dining room and around the buffet tables to stop, the entire room becomes more of an uncontrolled playroom that a restaurant. Again, I have been to other OCBs and also Ryan's on Thursday nights when it is children's night and there has not been problems like this. I like kids, but here someone has to be in charge - and when it is not the parents (as bad as that is), it needs to be the proprietor of the restaurant - or someone falls, gets burned, or hurts someone else.
It is all too much! What would I do if I was running this OCB? I have said this before to people who have spoken to me about this OCB and agree with what I am about to say. For a manager to come in and take full control and make this a location that is desirable to come to, all employees need to go and need to be replaced with well screened new hires that would be kept as long as they demonstrated that they did their jobs well. This would allow the management to do what the management needs to do and that does not mean hide in their office or off the dining room/buffet table floor. I would also change the system here for informing the kitchen what is needed. There is an intercom here that is the only communication with the kitchen. Apparently, to actually go into the kitchen requires I don't know what, but no one in authority seems to go into the kitchen. They shout into the intercom - "we need more X, Y, Z" and at some point it is passed to the buffet area through a warming bin that opens on both sides. Now, what happens - the order for more X, Y, or Z is forgotten on the floor and never does appear in the warming bin - which results in another yell into the intercom - maybe - if anyone even bothers. At other OCBs, I have seen a manager look at the serving trays, go directly into the kitchen - you can see it is the kitchen as they open the door behind the buffet tables, and in a few minutes come out - hopefully, with what needs to be replenished. I can only wonder what is going on in the "secret" kitchen, that results in an hours wait to get basic items that should be cooking continually, per the crowd that is dining, back out onto the buffet. And many buffets when a night is slow, bring out smaller servings and make sure to keep more on hand in the kitchen to refill. Not here. One other thing that needs to be watched here is that the recipes are followed according to the OCB book. Often at this OCB, food is over spiced and over salted - to the point that it is inedible.
The Old Country Buffet in Levittown, New York is still the wort buffet in the chain. Will I go back? Certainly I am not going back to be disappointed on what is not there on Thursday nights any longer. I will likely give it some time and try it again to see if there has been any change for the positive, but on those occasions so far, the positives have been short lived.
There is another Old Country Buffet on Long Island, New York. It is in Bay Shore. It is a lot better than this one! If you are in this area, go there. Despite the drive, you will be happier.
Things have been downward here again, and so many of the same things that made this the worst Old Country Buffet before are at the same down point now. This is based on not just one visit but a number of disappointing visits. I have been to Old Country Buffets in a number of States. All have been far better than this one. Now, there had to be something keeping me going back there other than convenience and for about a year or so that has been the Thursday night feature which had been - at least up until now - a few of the old favorites at Old Country Buffet. Long gone are the Barbecue Beef Ribs, but they have had - particularly here, barbecue smoked sausage and country fried steak. Both certainly not the most healthy things one can consume but as an infrequent indulgence these can be a forgivable sin. These are dishes not generally found in restaurants in this area, and for this indulgence I have been drawn to this OCB on some Thursday nights.
Over the past several months, the smoked sausage has been an on again and off again item on the buffet on Thursday nights. At one point we called and asked if it was on the buffet that night. What we were told was that it runs out early. Fair enough, but an item that runs out early because of popularity should be stocked in greater quantity. The night we called we were told that it was there on the buffet. We actually rushed on over. When we got there the tray was still half full - until a manager went up to the buffet and filled his plate with the remaining sausage and then sat down to have his dinner. Hmm. Another found no smoked sausage and another visit after that found another half full tray - and with no manager in sight, I made sure to get a portion before it was gone - but this should not be like this. The country fried steak and white gravy had been there on each visit - until this last visit, when that was gone also - and on an evening when it had been snowing through the day and the restaurant was far from crowded. But what gets put out instead here when something runs out. Well, meat dishes are replaced with potatoes or rolls. Rarely does an equivalent meat dish come out to take its place.
Now, this is not about not finding two particular dishes. This about a lot more than that. In that first article, cleanliness, the failure to refill empty trays of food items, and table staff who do not do their jobs were the key problems here. These all still exist - perhaps worse. Food trays go down to a few scraps or completely empty and sit empty for more than an hour. On one night the string beans - simple dish to prepare and replace - were empty on arrival. At the time we were ready to leave a new tray finally came out - barely cooked and almost raw. On another visit, an hour and a half before closing the carved turkey was gone - and never came back out - and no other carving replaced it. On one night there were scraps of pork ribs in the tray. Over an hour later more finally came out. Then there are the items that because of an attempt to get them out - or lack of it - come out undercooked or overcooked. Chicken needs to be cooked through - broiled chicken has come out undercooked. On the opposite end - fried chicken has come out so well done that it was impossible to bite or cut through. On one night, corn dogs were served one shade of brown lighter than black - and shriveled. And you ask who is watching all of this? Who is making sure that the food that comes out and assures that more food does come out, comes out properly cooked and promptly. There are managers - if they are around, but this all seems to be left up to the few employees who are responsible for things like carving, the Mongolian Stir-Fry, and tending to the soft serve machine. It is very evident here that there is not enough staff - and some of those who are here just seem to go through the motions. On more than one night, we have had empty dishes pile high on our table - and this is not just happening on our table. When we eat at a buffet, we do not pile one plate so high that you can not see what is there at the bottom. We both take small portions and then go back for more of what we want. We might go up five or more times during a meal and take another plate of small portions. At all of the buffets that I will recommend to my readers - and that is a lot - each of those dishes is taken away by the table server shortly after it is set to the side of the table. On one night, we sat down at a table that (along with the other tables in the section) had no salt and pepper shakers and no dish of sweeteners and sugar. None of the tables here had them - other sections did have them. The table server came over to wipe down the table and greet us. As it is supposed to be. I figured that he would soon be back with at least the dish of sweeteners - as we had purchased the additional $1.99 beverages, clearly marked on our table paper that the server signs at the bottom, and perhaps we were going to have coffee, tea, or ice tea. That was the last time we saw that server all night. He was off in another section and never came back. With a stack of plates piled about eight high including soup cups and salad plates, another server came walking past to his section, saw our plates and picked them up. Some more empty plates followed those on our table, and as we were just getting ready to leave, the original server showed up again, ignored the plates and put down a dish of sweeteners on our table along with a salt and pepper shaker. I have had poor service here and at other buffets, but this tops them all as worst.
To make things worse - on Thursday nights - Thursday has been, chain-wide, children eat for 99 cents. A nice gesture, but other than cotton candy at this particular OCB, there is little to no kid food other than the usual pizza. And, partially due to parents who do not control their children, and partially due to a restaurant management that only weakly makes announcements that children should not be away from their tables unsupervised rather than stay visible and tell the children who are running around wildly in the dining room and around the buffet tables to stop, the entire room becomes more of an uncontrolled playroom that a restaurant. Again, I have been to other OCBs and also Ryan's on Thursday nights when it is children's night and there has not been problems like this. I like kids, but here someone has to be in charge - and when it is not the parents (as bad as that is), it needs to be the proprietor of the restaurant - or someone falls, gets burned, or hurts someone else.
It is all too much! What would I do if I was running this OCB? I have said this before to people who have spoken to me about this OCB and agree with what I am about to say. For a manager to come in and take full control and make this a location that is desirable to come to, all employees need to go and need to be replaced with well screened new hires that would be kept as long as they demonstrated that they did their jobs well. This would allow the management to do what the management needs to do and that does not mean hide in their office or off the dining room/buffet table floor. I would also change the system here for informing the kitchen what is needed. There is an intercom here that is the only communication with the kitchen. Apparently, to actually go into the kitchen requires I don't know what, but no one in authority seems to go into the kitchen. They shout into the intercom - "we need more X, Y, Z" and at some point it is passed to the buffet area through a warming bin that opens on both sides. Now, what happens - the order for more X, Y, or Z is forgotten on the floor and never does appear in the warming bin - which results in another yell into the intercom - maybe - if anyone even bothers. At other OCBs, I have seen a manager look at the serving trays, go directly into the kitchen - you can see it is the kitchen as they open the door behind the buffet tables, and in a few minutes come out - hopefully, with what needs to be replenished. I can only wonder what is going on in the "secret" kitchen, that results in an hours wait to get basic items that should be cooking continually, per the crowd that is dining, back out onto the buffet. And many buffets when a night is slow, bring out smaller servings and make sure to keep more on hand in the kitchen to refill. Not here. One other thing that needs to be watched here is that the recipes are followed according to the OCB book. Often at this OCB, food is over spiced and over salted - to the point that it is inedible.
The Old Country Buffet in Levittown, New York is still the wort buffet in the chain. Will I go back? Certainly I am not going back to be disappointed on what is not there on Thursday nights any longer. I will likely give it some time and try it again to see if there has been any change for the positive, but on those occasions so far, the positives have been short lived.
There is another Old Country Buffet on Long Island, New York. It is in Bay Shore. It is a lot better than this one! If you are in this area, go there. Despite the drive, you will be happier.
Friday, June 03, 2011
I Knew I Would Regret It
Over the years I have been pretty hard on Old Country Buffet but the fact of the matter is that it is not the overall chain of Old Country Buffets that I have a problem with but just one location. Since this location is nearby to me, it is the one that I have visited the most and the one that I have come to call - "the worst Old Country Buffet in the country". It would take one extremely bad to be any worse. I pull no punches and will tell you - as I have told you before - that this is the Levittown, New York Old Country Buffet.
Despite its location I do not go to this Old Country Buffet any longer. We drive about a half hour into the next county to go - regularly, I might add - to the other Old Country Buffet on Long Island which compares favorably to other Old Country Buffets that I have been to outside of New York. I have written about the managers at the two and the differences. Others who have been to the Levittown OCB have left comments and have written to me and have agreed. There is a problem at this location - and despite changes in managers, the problem persists.
I recently had a week where I had been physically ill - not due to eating at any buffet or food poisoning, though I will admit that the thought passed through my mind as I went through this stomach virus. But, it was a stomach virus and nothing more. It came and went but I spent the week not eating much but it got to the point toward the end of the week that I had to start eating regular again and have full meals once more. It was a Friday and we generally go out to dinner on Friday nights - either to a Chinese buffet or OCB. I was not yet up to a Chinese buffet and decided that OCB would be fine.
It was time to head out for dinner and I did not really feel like driving the distance out to the other Old Country Buffet - the good Old Country Buffet. I told this to my wife and I suggested that we give Levittown a try. As soon as I said that to her, I also said, "Somehow I know that I am going to regret this."
We arrived at a little after 7 pm which for this area and OCB on a Friday night is not late (people were still coming in to start eating here at 9 pm). There was no line and we went in and got a table. We went up to the buffet for soup. I passed the salad bar and noticed that the Caesar salad bowl was empty. I brought my soup bowl back to the table and while my wife collected silverware to bring to the table, I went up to the "beverage bar" to get our soft drinks. The "beverage bar" costs $1.99 each now and has for a while. With the introduction of paying for your drinks separately from the meal price they lowered the price of the meal to $10.99, BUT the beverage and the meal now costs more than it did before. Yes, prices are going up all over but this price went up before everyone else's did and before there was any real reason for the jump. This is true now at all OCB's and has nothing really to do with any one location. Back to my tale - so I went to get our beverages. I went up to the ice tea dispenser, put my glass of ice under the spigot and pulled the handle and nothing came out. OK. It happens. I looked around for someone to tell and there was no one. (Let me add one more fact about the Levittown OCB - if the majority of those working speak English, they pretend not to - if they really don't speak English, well there is one of the problems that many encounter at this OCB. So even if you try to tell someone about any problem, you get very little response or resolution.) I took soda instead, but I really do prefer a non-carbonated beverage with my meal and if I am paying $1.99 for it and it is not there, well... I figured that sooner or later it would be refilled.
We finished our soup and went up for salad. Again, I went to the empty bowl of Caesar salad. No one had noticed and there was no one to tell. I got back to the table and said to my wife, "I said I was going to regret coming here, didn't I?" Big deal? More of an annoyance, but an annoyance that is being paid for - and therein lies the rub! I am a strong believer in value - as those of you who read this site regularly know from my reviews of buffets. I have said many times that if you get something of value, it is not a problem paying a little extra for it, but you must get value for the money that is so hard to earn these days.
Finished with our soup, and now finished with our salad plates, the soiled plates were stacking up on our table. I looked around for the person who is supposed to clear the plates away. She was cleaning a table across the room that a group had just left. When she was finished with that I expected that she would start to make the rounds of the tables that were occupied and clear away the stacks of dirty dishes. No, she didn't. She seemed to disappear for a bit and then when she reappeared she was off cleaning another table that was no longer occupied. Now, don't write and tell me that she had to get tables ready for new guests because there were few coming in and there were plenty of clean tables. It was not until we were well into the hot entrees that she came by for the first time and picked up the plates off our table.
I counted the tables that she was responsible for - about twenty five. This really is too many tables for one person in this buffet. There need to be more employees AND that is the main reason why there are so many problems at the Levittown Old Country Buffet.
Looking around at who or the lack of who is doing what - there are too few people working to handle jobs that absolutely require more employees and this goes from the table people to the people working at the buffet servers to the people cooking in the kitchen. There is no one looking after the salad bar. There is one person who comes to the refill trays that are empty on the buffet - and when that person goes to the heating unit that is in the wall between the serving floor and the kitchen what they need is rarely waiting for them to put out. Next to that unit is an intercom and repeatedly you hear the person covering the buffet tables ask for the same item - over and over again. This is not just this one night but on so many other occasions when we would go there semi-regularly - before we decided to go to the next county. On this night a "new" manager came out and started carving as there was no one else to do it. Between carving and during carving she would run over to look at a near empty or empty tray and then dash to the intercom to ask for that item to be brought out. A long while later - still nothing to refill that tray and she was still the one carving. I have to wonder if there is actually anyone paying attention or listening to the other end of that intercom. This one worked hard on this night - and the restaurant was not that busy. But little was accomplished. Another recently new manager was going in and out of the kitchen - most times with empty hands, but every so often he was filling trays. At one point a guest asked for a dessert item that was empty. She was told it would be out as soon as HE went into the kitchen to make it. Business here is not that bad that the managers are doing all of the jobs. There needs to be people hired - and with the unemployment rate there is no reason why there are not more people - and responsible, responsive people working here.
In comparison, the other OCB has none of these problems. For one thing the manager sees something is empty on the buffet and he goes into the kitchen directly and with a booming voice that can be heard in the buffet area tells the kitchen crew exactly what he wants sent out and he wants it immediately - and comes out very quickly after that with several people coming in and out of the kitchen refilling trays. Yes, on some nights I have seen management help where needed. But this is not often needed - and there are weeks that I have been there on more than one night.
Well, the ice tea was never made. The Caesar salad finally came out as we were finishing dinner - about an hour and a half after we arrived to see the empty salad bowl. There were a few points that we went up to take food and were at a loss for what to take as there was little there.
Another typical night at Old Country Buffet in Levittown. I am not sure why but it continues to live up to the name of Worst Old Country Buffet in the Country. To correct that I believe it needs a clean sweep of employees and management. It needs a newly trained staff of employees who actually care about working and have a desire to do a good job and there needs to be a strong manager with equal commitment to the guests. Over the years there had been good employees and there had been some good, but short-time spent managers. Whenever they seem to get a good one that makes some improvements, he/she is shortly gone and it all slips back again. Yes, I should have made the drive out to the next county on this night, no matter how I felt about driving. I would have been much happier.
Threatening emails and comments from employees of this OCB - as I have received in the past - will not be acknowledged. Legitimate comments are always welcome.
Despite its location I do not go to this Old Country Buffet any longer. We drive about a half hour into the next county to go - regularly, I might add - to the other Old Country Buffet on Long Island which compares favorably to other Old Country Buffets that I have been to outside of New York. I have written about the managers at the two and the differences. Others who have been to the Levittown OCB have left comments and have written to me and have agreed. There is a problem at this location - and despite changes in managers, the problem persists.
I recently had a week where I had been physically ill - not due to eating at any buffet or food poisoning, though I will admit that the thought passed through my mind as I went through this stomach virus. But, it was a stomach virus and nothing more. It came and went but I spent the week not eating much but it got to the point toward the end of the week that I had to start eating regular again and have full meals once more. It was a Friday and we generally go out to dinner on Friday nights - either to a Chinese buffet or OCB. I was not yet up to a Chinese buffet and decided that OCB would be fine.
It was time to head out for dinner and I did not really feel like driving the distance out to the other Old Country Buffet - the good Old Country Buffet. I told this to my wife and I suggested that we give Levittown a try. As soon as I said that to her, I also said, "Somehow I know that I am going to regret this."
We arrived at a little after 7 pm which for this area and OCB on a Friday night is not late (people were still coming in to start eating here at 9 pm). There was no line and we went in and got a table. We went up to the buffet for soup. I passed the salad bar and noticed that the Caesar salad bowl was empty. I brought my soup bowl back to the table and while my wife collected silverware to bring to the table, I went up to the "beverage bar" to get our soft drinks. The "beverage bar" costs $1.99 each now and has for a while. With the introduction of paying for your drinks separately from the meal price they lowered the price of the meal to $10.99, BUT the beverage and the meal now costs more than it did before. Yes, prices are going up all over but this price went up before everyone else's did and before there was any real reason for the jump. This is true now at all OCB's and has nothing really to do with any one location. Back to my tale - so I went to get our beverages. I went up to the ice tea dispenser, put my glass of ice under the spigot and pulled the handle and nothing came out. OK. It happens. I looked around for someone to tell and there was no one. (Let me add one more fact about the Levittown OCB - if the majority of those working speak English, they pretend not to - if they really don't speak English, well there is one of the problems that many encounter at this OCB. So even if you try to tell someone about any problem, you get very little response or resolution.) I took soda instead, but I really do prefer a non-carbonated beverage with my meal and if I am paying $1.99 for it and it is not there, well... I figured that sooner or later it would be refilled.
We finished our soup and went up for salad. Again, I went to the empty bowl of Caesar salad. No one had noticed and there was no one to tell. I got back to the table and said to my wife, "I said I was going to regret coming here, didn't I?" Big deal? More of an annoyance, but an annoyance that is being paid for - and therein lies the rub! I am a strong believer in value - as those of you who read this site regularly know from my reviews of buffets. I have said many times that if you get something of value, it is not a problem paying a little extra for it, but you must get value for the money that is so hard to earn these days.
Finished with our soup, and now finished with our salad plates, the soiled plates were stacking up on our table. I looked around for the person who is supposed to clear the plates away. She was cleaning a table across the room that a group had just left. When she was finished with that I expected that she would start to make the rounds of the tables that were occupied and clear away the stacks of dirty dishes. No, she didn't. She seemed to disappear for a bit and then when she reappeared she was off cleaning another table that was no longer occupied. Now, don't write and tell me that she had to get tables ready for new guests because there were few coming in and there were plenty of clean tables. It was not until we were well into the hot entrees that she came by for the first time and picked up the plates off our table.
I counted the tables that she was responsible for - about twenty five. This really is too many tables for one person in this buffet. There need to be more employees AND that is the main reason why there are so many problems at the Levittown Old Country Buffet.
Looking around at who or the lack of who is doing what - there are too few people working to handle jobs that absolutely require more employees and this goes from the table people to the people working at the buffet servers to the people cooking in the kitchen. There is no one looking after the salad bar. There is one person who comes to the refill trays that are empty on the buffet - and when that person goes to the heating unit that is in the wall between the serving floor and the kitchen what they need is rarely waiting for them to put out. Next to that unit is an intercom and repeatedly you hear the person covering the buffet tables ask for the same item - over and over again. This is not just this one night but on so many other occasions when we would go there semi-regularly - before we decided to go to the next county. On this night a "new" manager came out and started carving as there was no one else to do it. Between carving and during carving she would run over to look at a near empty or empty tray and then dash to the intercom to ask for that item to be brought out. A long while later - still nothing to refill that tray and she was still the one carving. I have to wonder if there is actually anyone paying attention or listening to the other end of that intercom. This one worked hard on this night - and the restaurant was not that busy. But little was accomplished. Another recently new manager was going in and out of the kitchen - most times with empty hands, but every so often he was filling trays. At one point a guest asked for a dessert item that was empty. She was told it would be out as soon as HE went into the kitchen to make it. Business here is not that bad that the managers are doing all of the jobs. There needs to be people hired - and with the unemployment rate there is no reason why there are not more people - and responsible, responsive people working here.
In comparison, the other OCB has none of these problems. For one thing the manager sees something is empty on the buffet and he goes into the kitchen directly and with a booming voice that can be heard in the buffet area tells the kitchen crew exactly what he wants sent out and he wants it immediately - and comes out very quickly after that with several people coming in and out of the kitchen refilling trays. Yes, on some nights I have seen management help where needed. But this is not often needed - and there are weeks that I have been there on more than one night.
Well, the ice tea was never made. The Caesar salad finally came out as we were finishing dinner - about an hour and a half after we arrived to see the empty salad bowl. There were a few points that we went up to take food and were at a loss for what to take as there was little there.
Another typical night at Old Country Buffet in Levittown. I am not sure why but it continues to live up to the name of Worst Old Country Buffet in the Country. To correct that I believe it needs a clean sweep of employees and management. It needs a newly trained staff of employees who actually care about working and have a desire to do a good job and there needs to be a strong manager with equal commitment to the guests. Over the years there had been good employees and there had been some good, but short-time spent managers. Whenever they seem to get a good one that makes some improvements, he/she is shortly gone and it all slips back again. Yes, I should have made the drive out to the next county on this night, no matter how I felt about driving. I would have been much happier.
Threatening emails and comments from employees of this OCB - as I have received in the past - will not be acknowledged. Legitimate comments are always welcome.
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