Oriental Buffet
| Address: | 5000 Valley W Blvd, Arcata, CA 95521, USA |
| Phone: | +1 707-822-2286 |
| Rating: | 3.6 |
| Working: | 11AM–9PM 11AM–9PM 11AM–9PM 11AM–9PM 11AM–9PM 11:30AM–9PM 11:30AM–9PM |
Location
Photos 59
Reviews 17
EM
Em Bill
Im very fond of this place - I feel the poor ratings its gotten are kind of silly. Its true that the staff dont look deliriously happy to see you, but that doesnt bother me, having worked in food service and knowing how exhausting that emotional labor is. Many of the staff are friendly, and they are all polite and courteous. You will have to listen more carefully to understand many of the staff as English is clearly their second language. I dont think that should be a problem, though - its kind of ridiculous to go to a Chinese restaurant and expect the experience to cater to westernized tastes. In terms of quality the food is very good. Going to restaurants of any kind of this price range often means an angry gut later on for someone with a sensitive digestive system like me. I never have that problem here. Its not heavy or overly sweet like a lot of Asian food chains, and the food tastes very authentic. Plus, an all-you-can-eat buffet dinner for $15 is pretty reasonable, especially since that price includes seafood. Take out can be a little more pricey, but Ive gotten four to five good meals out of $25 worth of takeout, and for a college student thats pretty nice (especially since I dont have to cook). Its not the absolute best Asian food Ive ever had, but for the price and convenience I would say its pretty awesome.
S
S Simons
I, literally, drive 60 miles just to eat their crispy fried peanut chicken and chow mein. I really enjoy their peppered cabbage and Mongolian beef too. All of their food is good. The staff have always been attentive and professional and the service is excellent*; plates are removed and drinks refilled quickly. * I read several reviews complaining that staff at Oriental Buffet were "unfriendly." I have never experienced anything but professionalism and politeness from their staff and I cannot begin to count the number of times our family has eaten there. Really, we do a disservice to our young people, women in particular, by requiring them to maintain a plastic smile throughout an 8 or 9 hour work shift, or risk being assessed as "unfriendly" or "mean." If you tell your waiter/ess, host/ess, or cashier a humorous joke then you enjoy a reasonable expectation that they might smile. Barring that, professionalism and politeness are all that can reasonably be expected.
RE
Review Meister
This is your typical Chinese food buffet, perhaps slightly better food than some. Lots of fried, terribly unhealthy but oh-so-tasty goods. But the wait staff is just extraordinarily awful! They never, ever, ever stop staring at you the entire time you are there with the most evil eye in the world and they have their faces permanently locked in a mean-mugging frown. Seriously, if they could let up on the extremely hateful glares, I would probably consider going in there more often. They get an extra star because they serve yummy sushi...its not high quality fish and its definitely not rolled well, but theres a nice variety. Watch out if you dont eat chicken -- sometimes they sneak chicken into a roll and its not labeled, plus the sushi chef usually doesnt understand English, so you might be spitting some into a napkin like I had to.
CH
Christopher Brannon
fresh cheap but well made oriental food, sushi is good, not amazing but well worth what you pay, Im from redding California and the grand buffet is 15.99 and is terrible. sushi is decent but besides that over priced. the oriental buffet has gotten some bad reviews from the kinds of people you would expect to complain about everything. but good job oriental buffet, its well worth the 7.95 cheers:)
A
A Private User
My girlfriend found half of a Plastic coat button in her soup. When we told them the guy just took it and walked away. No sorry, or anything. They left the soup out. They told us the meal would be free but tried to charge us for it at the line. They lady reluctantly didnt charge us and slapped my change down on the counter again no sorry or even a thank you.
KE
Kevin Zhao
The food was great with many different selections to choose from. The food was warm and delicious The service was great. The waiters and waitresses often came to take our used plates and asked if we needed refills. Everything was clean, especially the bathroom. I would say this restaurant is the best in Humboldt and I would certainly come back next time.
AB
Abast Shinobi1
Really bad over priced food. If you want to waste money And get a stomach ache than this is the place for you. Its conveniently located by the hotels so people get tricked into trying it but you would be way better off driving half a mile to somewhere else where you will get way better service and feel more welcome in our town. DO NOT EAT HERE
RI
Ricky McBeth
Excellent lunch and dinner prices, food is delicious, best in town! This is also where we locals recommend travelers on 101 stop for a bite to eat, as is it conveniently close to the freeway exit and a great value. The staff is always very friendly and they have a cool cut the string game in the lobby where you can win an iPad!
RI
Rich Maybach
Excellent food, prices are very reasonable. Very popular local Chinese food spot, the best in Arcata. Huge selection of food at an affordable price, and they have a prize game in the lobby where you can win iPads and Apple Watches and other electronics. Servers are very friendly! Highly recommended.
KR
Kristine Harrington
Hands down my favorite Chinese restaurant. Have been a regular for around 5 years now and tried pretty much all of the menu. All of it is great! My favorite has to be the orange chicken with a strawberry slushy though. The service here is amazing and the staff is all very friendly. Good vibes!
MI
Michael Scott
Nice selection of food choices. Mongolian BBQ option is great. Wait staff was attentive. $12.95 for dinner. I didnt see any empty areas of the buffet as the food was continuously replenished. Seemed like a very popular restaurant as most table were taken at any one time.
CH
Chirsten Young
Lunch pricing was very inexpensive, the food was hot and fresh, even when we rolling in at 2:00 in the afternoon. They had a huge selection of Chinese food plus a little sushi and a large dessert counter too. The washrooms felt dirty but that would be my only complaint.
NI
Nicol Rosas
La verdad no me gusto porque las que atienden nomas se te quedan viendo lo que comes y murmuran cosas criticando
MA
Max Rousselot
lots of mediocre food choices that have consistently gone bad in my tummy leaving me nauseated over the following 12 hours. Went there 3 times trying different things, thinking just made some poor choices but the effect is allways the same. Not recommended.
A
A Private User
I like crap China food, but thats just me. So this place is great for me. The service is awful. I always feel the servers eyes on me and I know they talk s*@# about us in their native language. But you know what, it is all good.
A
A Private User
I like the food and the atmosphere. I just dont like the service. All these years Ive been going there that girl at the front desk who takes the payment never says hi or thank you. What kind of customer service is that?
WI
William Whitehead
Its not the best buffet, by any stretch of the imagination. However, its one of the only ones in Humboldt County, and for what it is, its not half bad. Somewhat expensive, average food, but the selection is good.
