Updated: I don’t know if it’s the msg, but my head hurts. Came here long time ago and promised myself I would never come here again. Today, I had no idea that I was coming here. Thought I was going to Golden Chopstick. When we arrived, I noticed several Chinese tour buses parked outside with long lines of Chinese tourists. We didn’t have to wait & was seated right away. The young waitress looked stressed out but she was smiling constantly :) At the time, there was way too many people to get any food. Most of the food was empty and these tourists had no manners what so ever. They would cut you in line(to them, there were no such thing as lines), giving out food to people who were not even in line, etc. The owner should have set a limited amount of people allowed because it was way too crowded to even move around, most of the food was empty, bowls for the soups were never there(prob ran out). I even used a plastic utensil… Because they also ran out of silverware… I had to spit out some food because it tasted horrible. The only thing I actually ate & enjoyed were steamed corn & soup… The older Asian man was nice when we were paying for our food. Should try limiting the amount of people allowed at once. Because most of the trays were empty and looked unappetizing.
Oscar S.
Tu valoración: 1 Compton, CA
Dead. Worst orange chicken I’ve had. The waitress just stand around looking at you while you get your food making you feel uncomfortable. Pricey for the shitty food it carries. And to top it all of the ice cream machine was broken. Save your money and time.
Charlene D.
Tu valoración: 1 San Diego, CA
Had the«salt and pepper» shrimp. Was terrible. It wasn’t cleaned and was so over cooked that you couldn’t peel it. Not to mention that it wasn’t salted or peppered! The«fried rice» looked like it came from a box of rice a roni and the Mongolian beef was mush. Oh, and the egg drop soup had something unidentifiable in it… It was blue!
Jaimie L.
Tu valoración: 4 San Diego, CA
It is what it is for a Chinese buffet in national city. Obviously not gonna get 5 stars but I’ll do 4… For a Chinese buffet in national city. This one is one of my favorites because they have the mussels with the mayo. A lot of cheaper Chinese buffets don’t have any seafood at all. They also have Chinese eggplant(with the oyster sauce) and salted pepper chicken and shrimp! Overall food tastes pretty good for once again being what it is. One cool thing about this one is it includes a drink. You don’t have to worry about HAVING to get a water, or paying $ 5 for a small Pepsi.
Calvin I.
Tu valoración: 1 San Diego, CA
This has no selection at all, no flavor whatsoever it taste like crap, the ice cream machine is broken, everything is cold and is hard as a dang rock. There was ONE sushi roll to choose from. To top it all off, even the FORTUNECOOKIEWASSTALE. How could you get that wrong? Not worth a dime. Wish I could have an hour of my life back and $ 25 back as well.
Sergio S.
Tu valoración: 1 San Diego, CA
I mean the soda was ok… Haha And my donut crunched, I don’t think that’s normal. Saw the sushi and said«What is that!!!»
Andrew K.
Tu valoración: 2 Parma, OH
Went in here around 7pm. Two and a half hours before they close. And I immediately regretted getting the buffet once I saw what they had. The rice and chow mein was cold. There were a few varieties of meat but all of them were almost empty and not very hot. There were maybe one or two dishes that were actually fresh(within the past hour or two). And the TV was playing a show about surgery where they were operating on people. REALLY?! That is not what I want to watch while I’m eating. Maybe during peak hours or right when they open, the food would have potential but my experience was just awful. Not worth my $ 10.
Aaron H.
Tu valoración: 3 San Diego, CA
Much better than anticipated and the reviews. Was going next door to try Chili Brothers, but they were closed and I was starving. Nice man and young girl working this place on a quiet Thursday night. All in all, great deal for mostly good food. $ 8 for all you can eat with iced tea. The buffet was kept up pretty nicely. A couple dishes were a miss and one was cold. Everything else exceeded expectation. Did feel a little light headed for awhile. Not sure if it was over eating, MSG or the combination. The good: fried ragoon with cream cheese, BBQ pork, fried chicken wings, chicken & mushroom, bok choy The not so good: beef buns, egg rolls, cold pork skewers, horrific nerf fake crab sushi
Doug A.
Tu valoración: 3
When they are cooking fresh food, and it’s not sitting there all day. This place is excellent. Lots of flavor and good smells. The owner is very friendly, and I enjoy supporting him with my business. If the food is sitting there, then of course, not very good, but when it’s fresh-oh My!
Stefania R.
Tu valoración: 1 San Diego, CA
Food was cold, very little selections, the lady was trying to over charge me by $ 10… Never going back
Phuong B.
Tu valoración: 3 National City, CA
Decent buffet. Not the worst but not the best. Came here a few times but not my fav Chinese buffet and customer service is ok.
Jean R.
Tu valoración: 1 San Diego, CA
Expensive. No food on trays. Regret coming here
John M.
Tu valoración: 1 Cliff Island, ME
When my friend and I walked in, we got our drink orders. We then walked to the buffet and noticed it was gross, and with very little options. As my friend and I made it around the buffet to meet each other, we discussed if we should eat there or not. During this time, the lady would not leave us alone and kept showing us how to use the buffet, as if we had never been to one before. After being pestered enough, I said let’s go to my friend, told the lady we were leaving, and walked towards the door. She said ‘we have your drink you no pay’, I calmly but firmly replied back, ‘shut your g– d — - mouth’ as I walked out. I, Jason Miller, vow to have this restaurant closed down, and have a nicer Chinese buffet open in its wake.
Aleksandra M.
Tu valoración: 4 San Diego, CA
Time to get this place some fresher reviews! This one will only be for vegetarian dishes, so I don’t know anything about their chicken, beef or seafood. Let me tell you that being from Eastern Europe where Asian cuisine is just starting to grow and become popular, it took me a while to get used to Chinese(and other) places(Yes I know how close a lot of them are to authentic food served in Asia). Perhaps I seek in the food different things than people here, but after me and Hubby went to Beijing Buffet today I can say I left satisfied. I am also not a big buffets fan. Why? Because. I can’t eat too much at once… I feel bad about spending money and still having stuff to try but just not being able to stuff it. Today I actually barely walked out(maybe it’s because I’m 8 months pregnant, but the food really helped). What did I try? * Fried rice — not bad, could have had more egg in it but I liked it * Lo mein — a little bit too greasy yet still edible * Rice noodles — I approached them very carefully but they were DELICIOUS. One of my favorites for today * Egg roll — it was normal. Nothing special * Cheese Wontons — the winner. Now I forgot to ask if they were only cheese or had crab in them… That would make me sad, no more of those :( * Roll of veggie sushi — I am not big on sushi in general, and never tried one that was non-vegetarian. To me this one was very mediocre, another reason to just not bother with it. * Fried banana — I really wanted it to be better, came out just fine -* Fruit. — I had a piece of orange and a strawberry, not much to screw up there I guess? * Cookies — the coconut ones were FANTASTIC. Wish I could take just a box of those home. There were also ones with chocolate and cream, pretty good as well, kinda tasted like eclairs. But the coconut ones won my heart. The servers were nice and friendly. Refilled my Hub’s cup almost as soon as it got empty, no rushing us out, no problems. For a $ 6.99 lunch and $ 9.99 dinner buffet I know we will be back.
Meiko H.
Tu valoración: 2 San Diego, CA
So, usually Chinese places in the hood are decent but there’s always a bad apple. Beijing is a bad apple, nothing Royal about it at all! The fried rice didn’t look or taste fried. Salt n pepper wings didn’t taste like any I’ve ever tasted before… and not in a good way! Broccoli beef broth and other entrees where there is a a sauce or broth of some sort looked extra greasy. No, you don’t understand… you could see the layer of grease, kinda like when you’re separating oil from gravy. The only thing I felt was decent was the coconut shrimp. I’ll definitely never go back but this occasion wasn’t about the food, it was about 1 of my oldest friend’s bridal shower. We had a blast, regardless of the lackluster cuisine!
Johana T.
Tu valoración: 1 San Diego, CA
By far, THEWORST chinese buffet I have ever been to! Its so gross, I don’t even know where to start. First of all, there’s a sign next to the food that says to not waste their food so that they can serve good food. well then I guess everyone wastes a bunch of food because the food is disgusting. And besides, isn’t that a little rude to tell the customers that? Well anyway, the food didn’t look bad when I first saw it so I grabbed some noodles, orange chicken, fried rice, steamed rice, fries, and salt and pepper chicken wings. So usually no matter how bad the food is, I can always count on the noodles to be somewhat edible. Well here I was wrong! Nasty noodles, nasty chicken, nasty rice, nasty everythin! I honestly could not have more than one bite of each item. The only okay thing was the steamed white rice. which I think would be impossible to mess up. Then I decided to try the ice cream and a weird watery mixture came out the machine. not ice cream. So take my word. unless you want to pay $ 10 for all you can eat steamed white rice, you will NOT enjoy this place.
Lauren E.
Tu valoración: 1 San Diego, CA
Do you like to be rushed out of a restaurant? When my grandmother and I went to have lunch here — the check was placed on our table very quickly. The female server walked past us several times checking if we had paid our bill then came up to our table once again — but this time saying. «Are you gonna pay?» — um??? HELLO! I had no idea we were on a time limit! Also! What made her think we weren’t going to pay?! The server was very rude and unfriendly. She rushed us out of there! Way to make your customers feel comfortable! Safe to say we won’t be back here ever again. plus the food tastes like we could get it at any other inexpensive chinese food place. nothing special here. No Thank You.
Jerahmeel B.
Tu valoración: 3 La Jolla, CA
I’ve been to this buffet twice. It’s a great place to eat if you’re simply looking for a chinese buffet that’s close by with a reasonable price. It’s $ 7 per person for lunch and $ 10 for dinner. However, I didn’t catch that it’s $ 10 for lunch on Sundays(or maybe the weekend in general), so we ended up paying $ 40 for four people. I like that the restaurant is very open and spacious. You don’t really realize how big the place is until walking inside. I think it combined two stores and broke the dividing wall down in the middle. The buffet selection has your typical food: fried rice, lo mein, orange chicken, coconut shrimp, vegetables, sushi, etc. My absolute favorite was the cream cheese wontons. They tasted soooo good! One other thing I like about going here is that the food isn’t salty. I’ve been to other buffets where the food is way too salty. It’s disgusting. Unfortunately, I didn’t try the sushi nor do I want to because I just don’t trust sushi from buffets after watching a documentary on them. They need to be kept at a very cool temperature and I feel, based on my experience, that some sushi aren’t fresh and instead have been lounging around in hot air. What’s great about this place is that they have boxes you can take to go. You just fill up your box from the food in the buffet area and pay. I don’t know how much it is per box though. The waiter serving us was very nice. He noticed that the ice in our water melted, hence we weren’t drinking it and also cause we weren’t thirsty yet, and he offered to grab us a cup of ice. That was very nice of him. One other thing I remember walking in was that I couldn’t find the card that rates the cleanliness of the restaurant. It should’ve been near the door. Either I’m super blind, or it wasn’t there. I actually look at those!
Mark L.
Tu valoración: 4 San Diego, CA
I think for what we don’t have in the area when it comes to buffet’s, this spot is alright considering there aren’t any other buffets in the area and the price is pretty cheap. I don’t know what the people below are trippin’ on since the price is so affordable that they should realize that for the amount that you pay it’s not too bad. Plus, you can also take stuff to go on your way out. It’s got the typical chinese dishes that you are looking for: honey walnut shrimp, beef and brocolli, the easy sushi dishes, etc. All with the wonderful MSG that you find in Chinese food to boot. Seriously, so affordable… lunch is only 7 $ and dinner is 10 $, in this down economy its still a win! I dont get why some people call this area a ghetto… suppossedly this place changed its style for the ghetto. Didn’t even realize that this area was a ghetto, more importantly, some of the best meals are found in what are called«the ghetto». Fine dining is good, but most times your just paying for the bourgeois stuff anyway.
Kerra A.
Tu valoración: 3 San Diego, CA
The only reason we came here cause it was like a block away from El Toyon rec center and the kids were starving from their victorious football game win. Our friend spotted it first. I remember years ago this place was called something else… but I can’t remember. But the Mario’s Family Clothing store is there haha I remember buying my Dickies and Ben Davis threads there haha.anyways. The place is kinda small for a buffet, but tha food isn’t that bad. I didn’t get to try a whole lot PROS: Cream Cheese Crab Rangoon Wonton Soup Fried Chicken(i thought it was salt & pepper chicken. but it was good) Imitation Crab Meat w/Cheese Beef & Broccoli(the broccoli was actually crispy and not soggy) Ice Cream Crème Puffs(oddly they’re located at the Sushi Bar) Fresh cut fruit at the dessert bar Server’s constantly check your cup has something in it Cheap.less than $ 7 for lunch Friendly service CONS: The sushi isn’t all that great The fried rice didn’t look fried… the whole pan looked like it had 3 small pieces of cubed carrots and corn and tiny specks of fried egg. and a splash of soy sauce. It looked more like Lightly Flavored White Rice Chow Mein noodles had too much sauce on it Pancit Noodles were bland