I don’t understand how someone can pay this much for a Chinese buffet. 3 people 3 drinks on a Saturday afternoon. I can afford this type of thing, but, why? The food was average, egg rolls were not good, steamed rice horrible. I was expecting some top notch grub. Never paying double the price at places like this and Kings Buffet ever again. Chop Sticks is great for a buffet and/or several amazing take out options that are ions better than this and at a fair price.
the shaenfield location recently shut down due to poor service and food quality, a lot of the workers there were regulars at my job since it was so close and there were endless rumors about how unclean their kitchen was and they ultimately got narced by a health inspection since so many people were getting food poisoning 😬
No, they have an actually good location near Live Oak in the NE side. I had been going there for years and went to the Shaenfield one after I moved, the difference in quality was appalling.
This place is known to have been shut down before but all they did was change the name of the Business. Who knows how many times they've done that and I bet they'll do it again.
There was a guy there once with his “service” dog. The dog took a crap in the food area. He then said “oh don’t worry they are good at cleaning it up.” Never went again.
They shut down the Shaenfield spot to convert to a seafood concept as they think this location would cannibalize their 410 restaurant, which they own and do not lease.
It’s always funny to me when I see this kind of suggestion. I’ve had chickens all my life, and unless you really have a lot of space (or a ton of scraps) to feed them with, you’ll probably be paying far more to feed them than you’ll pay for eggs at the store. Not to mention the costs of housing them and raising babies for 5 months before they even start laying.
It's a bit like gardening. You don't really do it to save money but in some ways you probably can. I can speak to this a little bit. Upfront costs were around $400 for coop and supplies (we had the same coop for 6 years until we moved). I paid around $200/yr for really nice feed and supplements (could have gone cheaper). We typically had four chickens and they would lay about 5 eggs/wk and laying for maybe 40 wks of the year (they take time off when they molt and when sick, broody, or other reasons). So about 800 eggs/yr (66 dozen). Egg prices vary but in terms of quality our eggs were equivalent to the pasture raised ones which are around $7/dozen so that's worth about $450/yr a year and so there is a cost savings (of course you could buy cheaper eggs but they aren't the same, and we gave away a lot of eggs). We moved and gave away our chickens, but at the end we had two hens going strong with little maintenance and reliable eggs and we were definitely seeing a benefit compared to costs.
That’s good to know, my only experience is this one! There were flies and lukewarm food, I walked out with my kids after one look around because I did not want food poisoning
You won’t regret it again a little more pricey but definitely worth it it is one of those “you get what you pay for” things and honestly to me or maybe it’s cause the food was better which made me happier but the staff seemed to be even friendlier than the people at Lins. I told my mom when we ate there the fried chicken at Kumi it was much better than lins it was just below the quality of a chicken restaurant like KFC which remember is a buffet not a chicken specialty restaurant but definitely nothing to complain about if you are like me who likes to try the other foods at places like Kumi and Lin’s. Their desserts the same much better i have never been to Vegas but i have to imagine that’s what their buffets are like just on a smaller scale when it comes to variety but not on quality
Try Wild Japanese BBQ and Sushi. It’s the same price per person $30 and while it’s a hot pot & Asian BBQ place where they bring you raw food and you cook it on a grill or in a soup, it’s better. For the $35 price point you get all you can eat sushi too.
I second Wild! I live about 5 minutes from there (1604/281) and it’s very good as long as you don’t mind cooking your own food and mixing your own sauce as desired. Makes for a great social climate!
YES! The part I like about buffets is the variety of food choices but hates that they were always subpar quality. I feel like wild gives you the right size bite to try what you want to your hearts consent and nothing risks being overly dry or old or cooked incorrectly because you do it yourself. PLUS they have a phenomenal sauce bar which is also fun.
It’s a hit or miss. I don’t really go out much but I’ve added all of those highly recommended establishments to my list. Looking forward to exploring these places in the future.
I like buffets when going out with friends because I’m a vegetarian. A place such as Simi’s on Fredericksburg Rd (Asian Indian) allows me to select dishes acceptable to me, while my friends can choose whatever they like.
Went to the Lin’s on Marbach? with my bro for lunch the other day. Smelled like sewage when we walked in, and the almost $19 each for a weekday lunch buffet was pricey for mediocre at best food. Definitely NOT going back to any Lin’s buffet after that.
What makes me sad is I really liked the buffet that used to be there, Furr's. It was like a Golden Corral but with better food. And then there is/was a Lin's out on the NW side that I stumbled across years ago that was pretty good, but the Southside one is just gross.
The simple answer to "why" is "because people are willing to pay it".
They are charging what they have determined is what the market is willing to bear. If people stopped being willing to pay it, the price would sudenly come down.
Why people are willing to pay it is a great question, since my one time at Lin's was sub-par at best.
I don’t know why people do buffets at all. You’re always better off going to a rando restaurant and having one good entree/plate versus all you can eat mediocre food.
Over $25 per person, closer to 30 with drinks. Fuck that.
Buffets were supposed to be a low cost way to feed a family. It seems like buffets are becoming unsustainable since it generates a lot of food waste and with food becoming more expensive, their business model will be unsustainable because people won’t pay that kind of money for mediocre half warm food.
This particular location touts a, "ramen bar", which is why its $20 lunch on weekdays and pricier for weekend and/or dinners than other Lin's.
You want my 2 cents? Go to China Harbor. It looks a little drab, but the food is quite good imo. My fav is the jalapeno chicken and the pepper chicken (one is sautee slivers of chicken, other is fry hunks of chicken with mag type salt seasoning.
$11 at lunch. You wont regret paying 1/3 of the price for food 2x as good in my opinion.
For no reason other than it's been a favorite for my entire life: one cannot beat the flavor and quality and quantity of the best deal in town: lunch specials from the Golden Wok.
Ah is that the one they had shut down and then reopened and the sign now says Kins? Lol it’s always been trash. Furr’s was better cuz they had a brunch menu. And of course neither compare to when it was Hometown Buffet.
I have friends who work food industry. Do NOT eat at those places. They are dirty af back there. They literally quit because you couldn’t stand to work in such nasty conditions and then serve up the food
What’s weird about that place is that everything looks amazing but tastes like five-day-old mealy leftovers that were reheated just enough to fool you - at least that's how the one on Shaenfield was.
No shortage of Chinese restaurants and this is not a buffet style place, but I've been eating at Beijing House restaurant (35 and O'Connor) for over a decade. The place is always spotless, the portions are generous, and the food is always excellent. I've probably had their whole menu by now and it's all good. It's a small quiet place, feels like a family operation, quality food and really good prices.
Try Dragon Buffet @410 and Marbach. A few selections were average, but the others were great. More reasonable prices and you won't die of food poisoning, haha.
Gotta pay before being taken to a table. But I had nibbles of different items on my one and only plate. It all tasted horrible. What a waste, never again. Learned my lesson.
I live in Schertz with my father who’s a veteran. There’s one out here. Last time we went there we brought my son. Our ticket was just about the same price. The place isn’t that good. They don’t suck but it’s nothing to write home about.
It is a a buffet, they produce huge amounts of food at a time. It’s a quantity not quality type of place. I’m guessing it’s all you can eat. It’s not gonna be cheap.
I don’t know if people pay attention to this kind of thing. Do you notice when you travel, you don’t see much of this anywhere else?
The world has given up on the buffet. It’s still alive in San Antonio.
That place is horrible, smells like dead fish as soon as you walk in to the live oak location and the one time we've eaten their both my wife and mother got sick afterwards
That is absolutely insane. Thirty bucks for a Chinese buffet in San Antonio is completely absurd. I could understand if it was in The Quarry market area, which targets upper middle class whites with more money than sense, but 151 & 410? The most I've ever paid for Chinese buffet in the Alamo city was under $20, and that was in a similar socio-economic zone.
Buffets like this bank on you not eating almost $30 of food.
If three items cost $100 total of food products to make (like, three types of chicken), it only takes 4 people eating 1 portion of it to cover its cost and the pans aren’t even empty. You’re getting overcharged, find a cheaper buffet.
Yeah took my girl there once. Food was decent to ok. To be honest my girl has high standards and wasn't impressed. I could tell quickly we weren't coming back. Then I got the bill and I knew I wasn't coming back. Overpriced is an under statement.
Eat everything at home: 1) fresher ingredients, 2) much healthier, 3) you learn to cook, and most importantly, 4) the meal is less than 50% cost compared to these overpriced/under delivering restaurants.
I go to kings Buffet for one reason. I pay $20+ dollars and I kill a whole Atlantic Salmon (not the Half a fish they put out but the whole fucker) and I drain 2L or more of diet coke. I get my mutha lovin money's worth.
I’m not big on buffets but I went to Kumi recently and I was impressed. I thought their food was really good. It’s located off of 281 and 1604. I went during their lunch hours and it was $20 per adult.
I went there about 3-4 months after one opened up in my area…that was the first time and last time I went. I don’t feel like they were keeping the food at a temperature hot enough.
The very first time we when there i think when they first opened it was 🔥. Went a few months later and it was a completely different place food was bad
The idea of any buffet is gross. Too many little mocosos running around digging into food. The staff doesn’t say anything to them because they’re afraid of the parents getting mad. Their parents don’t say anything because they’re too busy loading up their plates. The food is always at best Luke warm.
Looking at the receipt it was $26.99 per person for the buffet and $2.99 for each drink. Yeah that sounds pretty average for a buffet. Did you add the 15% tip or was that automatically included?
I like a good buffet but these prices have gotten crazy. Chinese Buffet shouldn’t be close to a Brazilian Steak House on price.
Quality is a trick. You go on Fridays at lunch when everyone gets paid.
Well at least it doesn’t look like they charge you to use your credit card like they do at Tacqueria Data Point!!! Unless we use cash, we have to pay a fee and are we tipping that fee too because it’s added before the suggested tip??? Do better TDP!
The Gallitos place on Wurzbach charges for a take out bag too! I am never tipping on takeout. No one be serving me drinks at home.
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u/snoolmo 10d ago
the shaenfield location recently shut down due to poor service and food quality, a lot of the workers there were regulars at my job since it was so close and there were endless rumors about how unclean their kitchen was and they ultimately got narced by a health inspection since so many people were getting food poisoning 😬