Imperial Buffet
| Address: | 1950 E College Ave, Normal, IL 61761, USA |
| Phone: | +1 309-454-4848 |
| Site: | imperialbuffetil.com |
| Rating: | 4.2 |
| Working: | 11AM–9:30PM 11AM–9:30PM 11AM–9:30PM 11AM–9:30PM 11AM–9:30PM 11AM–9:30PM 11AM–9:30PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 10
PE
Peachez Beautiful
I took my first visit here finally! I am a mother of 4 and I went here without my husband. I got the price they told me over the phone which was $44.58 for two 3yr olds, one 7yr old and a 10yr old and then myself. WHAT A GREAT PRICE! The restaurant was clean and beautiful with a lovely Christmas tree to welcome you. The staff very nice even though I had no idea what my waitress was saying. The Chinese staff actually are Chinese and they eat here (I like the idea of authenticity) My daughter said the egg rolls were nasty but I happen to like them! The sweat sour sauce was great!!! I didnt like my coconut shrimp it has too much mayo nut enough honey bit it wasnt disgusting. This is the only place that has coconut shrimp,cream cheese wantons (they claim its crab rangoon but there is no crabmeat) I will be coming back I love Asian food I wish I saw hot sour soup it was probably there they had soon many options next time Ill go earlier. The one weird thing is leaving I saw a black cat and Im like where the heck did it come from?? The restaurant is located by a highway and businesses....Im hoping the little kitty didnt come from the restaurant,m maybe he got lost somehow it does happen ..I will be going back to this place
ER
Eric Jensen
Reviews of Asian style buffets are always conditional. Unless you regularly eat there at different times of the week and day it is hard to be definitive. I will say that my one time in town on a Wednesday evening around 6:30 found a well rounded buffet of authentic Asian food, seafood, Americanized Chinese, and standard buffet fare.. All 3 rounds I tried to get a good variety on my plate and found it all very fresh. I would have to visit at least 3 or 4 times to get everything. I highly recommend their Mongolian BBQ section for fresh food grilled right in front of you. Only the salmon I tried was a little over done.. The rest was quite good. The downfall of these places is usually food left out to long under a heat lamp.. I could only see two items of the over 100 items that fit that description ( the salmon and the bacon wrapped asparagus) And a final measure, a whole family of first generation ( non English speaking) Asians obviously enjoying large portions of the Seafood from their Asian cooking section..so points for authenticity.
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Ryan Huang
This place has changed since I got here. The old crew was great but now theyve gotten sloppy. Weekday lunch rate is $8.99 - you cant beat this. However, weekend and night rate is $13.99 and they have a few extra dishes for the higher price. Theres no limit as to what you can take. While this is good when the place is not crowded, but when it is, like the past weekend, some white trash takes all the 30+ oysters like he never had it before in his life and left everyone else waiting. The kitchen took more than 1 hour to make new ones and most of us just left because we couldnt wait. The waitress wasnt even apologizing and just make some poor excuse that they were busy. The way I see it, if you couldnt make new ones fast enough, then limit the quantity each person can take. Otherwise, it isnt fair to all the rest of us who paid a higher price for NOTHING. Sure, you satisfied that one guy by not limiting but you left many of us dissatisfied because we couldnt get what we came for.
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Kelsey Blacker
I am so disgusted at the service at this location.....I have never had worse service and dont encourage others to come....we had to ask for refills and then were told by the waitress " I dont work for free and you need to find a different area next time cause we didnt tip her for her crappy service" then when I went to talk to a manager I was told they couldnt do anything for me....that they were sorry" mind you I paid $37 to eat the tree for 2 people.....I cannot believe a waitress was allowed to talk to a paying customer like that and get away with that. I refuse and will never go to this location again....I am so upset that a company would stand behind their employee for her actions being like that....I refuse to ever come back due to the horrible service from this company...something shouldve been done more then just a sorry!
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A Private User
Imperial Buffet is much better than Bings Wok- the selection is HUGE! They have a station where you pick out your meat, veggies, sauce, and noodles, and a chef makes it right in front of you (Mongolian Barbecue). They also have a HUGE sushi buffet, with tons of choices to choose from! There are also strange dishes you can try like frog legs. There is also a dessert and salad buffet. It is a very big place with much more selection than Mings. The price was not that bad, and for all you can it, I dont think its bad at all. My personal favorite here: the crab legs! I am replacing Mings with Imperial Buffet!
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Stephanie Conley
Went there for the coconut shrimp! Unfortunately we arrived midway through the buffet and the shrimp offered had been left out for a while no suace it was hard not crunchy! Our waitress Tammy rushed us out, I dont know about you but if Im eating at a buffet for $10 dollars Im eating atleast 2 plates of food and a desert. They basically cleaned up our table and had us leave after 2. When I called to complain about the service they offered no compensation and said Im sorry about your experience our waiters are careless... Thats a great way to promote yourself! Worst. Date. Ever.
AS
Ashlee Knapik
I had high hopes for this place because of the high ratings on google (which I have no idea how on earth it does). The food was cold and chewy, much more than a buffet should be. Both the prepaid noodles and the make-your-own-noodles tasted freezer burnt and stale. Our waiter never asked up how our good was and barely checked up on us. The best thing at this place was the self serve ice cream. This place is way over priced (especially to Supreme Buffet that I normally go to in Springfield, which is phenomenal). I wouldnt even feed this food to my dog.
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A Private User
Great restaurant with lots of choices. However, the last couple times that I have gone to this restaurant during lunch I have been charged dinner rates. Each time that I went I was out of the restauarant before dinner hours (5pm). When I questioned them about this they said "sorry". My advice to anyone going is if you go late afternoon you should ask for your ticket as soon as drinks are ordered. Verify that you are being charged for lunch instead of dinner.
JE
Jessica Seat
Large selection, but the food was bad. Many things just tasted wrong. Fried rice was horrible tasting. The staff doesnt speak much English, so they cant answer questions on what you want to eat. The deserts were odd to say the least, the cake was sour tasting. Desserts that were good: Apple crumble, sugar donut, and some flakey layered puff pastry. The sushi was ok, most were bland in flavor. Probably will not go back.
EL
Elizabeth List
Excellent, huge buffet with discounts for students. Beef brisket is delicious and tastes like it was in Grandmas crockpot. Fresh fruit such as watermelon and cantaloupe slices. Fresh sushi and Mongolian grill. Ribeye steaks grilled for dinner. Unusual variety of desserts. Hard packed and soft serve ice cream, and several slices of pie and cake to choose from. Banana cream pudding.
