Joy Luck Buffet

By far the best Chinese place, yet alone buffet in STL! We just moved here and eat there about twice a month. It’s awesome and not that expensive. So happy we found this gem!

If you are vegetarian don’t bother with the buffet there is basically nothing for you and nothing is labeled well. There is some lettuce, some green beans, and some noodles. Oh and few sushi rolls that kinda look vegetarian but nothing is labeled and it was hard for me to find someone to ask. I got a stir fry that you make and they cook for you. They cook at the same time as others so the cooking utensils that cooked mine cooked raw meat at the same time. Nope. The staff was nice and the place was clean but the food was not good.

I like this place. You can get everything in one place for a cheap price. Hot pot and the buffet for just 20 $. That’s a great deal! Buffet is pretty typical but the hot pot has great flavors and unlimited meat and veggies. Good find!

While visiting in St. Louis and found this restaurant via google maps. I’m a fan of Chinese buffets and this one did not disappoint. If being surrounded by 4 tables of Chinese speaking patrons is any indication, then this place should certainly merit the four stars I’ve rated. The food was fresh and tasty. Their stir-​fry was cooked to perfections and was delicious. I’d come for that alone. The cook was a Mexican man, which is no surprise to me since virtually every Chinese restaurant I’ve been to from California to New York has a Mexican chef in the kitchen. It’s a very clean establishment with an adequate variety and good tasting food. You can’t go wrong. Like I always say though, if you’re looking for a sit-​down gourmet quality place, go to restaurants that charge at least three times as much. This place is a bargain at the prices they charge.

Before you go beating me up as to why I gave a buffet a four star rating, hear me out…
As buffets in the city go you don’t have many outside of the casinos, Golden Corral, Homestyle buffet, Ryan’s Steakhouse, and a few Indian lunch buffets. Based on that we’re not really left with much to choose from, and the aforementioned have their shortcomings (clientele).
Honestly I have yet to find a Chinese buffet that really offers authentic Asian cuisine en masse, so with that in mind I found that Joy Luck is one of the best buffets. The servers are friendly and quick, the restaurant is clean, so are the bathrooms, and they offer plenty enough food for your hearts desire. I’m not going to be long winded but they offer everything in line with most buffets, and even decent sushi graded above grocery stores and on par with most middle tier restaurants.
They have a «secret menu» which offers authentic cuisine that have neither the gumption not time to enjoy; but I understand it’s quite good and relatively true to its roots.
To sum it up, I’ve been going here for years and the quality has not deviated, solid buffet and inexpensive; you can’t go wrong.

I was thrilled to find this lunch buffet right down the street from our companies new office. Im sure it will quickly become a staple, with a wide variety of dishes that are all above the normal american-​chinese average.
My only complaint, and I brought this on myself, is the Sushi. The Sushi buffet is great in concept, but quality is really lacking. I didnt like the taste of most of the rolls, but hey, for under $ 10/​person, its really difficult to complain.

Amazing lunch buffet for only $ 6.99. Literally the best deal On this quality of food. Great options of veggies and meats for hibachi and lots of all-​you-​can-​eat sushi options as well. I haven’t been here since I was little and they’ve made significant changes/​improvements on the atmosphere. I will definitely be becoming a regular to this establishment! Seriously just so awesome.

Pretty darn good! Great food-​nice selection-​VERY clean restaurant! For $ 7 at lunch, you really can’t beat it. The hibachi is a nice touch. Great American Chinese food for a great price.

Very affordable buffet. Under $ 10/​person during dinner, even less before 3pm. Soda was under $ 2. As soon as we walked in, we were offered a table or a booth. If you plan on doing the «hot pot» from the «secret menu,» make sure you request a table with a burner. The hot pots are about $ 20/​person and include unlimited refills and access to the buffet (as if you needed more food). Once directed to a table, they take your drink order and allow you to access the buffet. It is NOW that you should ask for a menu, since you will not be given one unless you ask.
The buffet consists mostly of fried chicken entrées. The green beans were cold, but everything else seemed to be hot. There is a small selection of sushi to the right of the main buffet– mostly vegetable rolls or cooked fish. The rice is located at the end of one of the rows in a large black pot (I missed this on my first pass). My favorites were the shumai, crab rangoon, and pot stickers.
You pay at the front when you are done. Your «receipt» is given to you when your drinks are delivered, so no need to flag down a busser. There are fortune cookies at the register to grab before you leave.

2 types of customers here: Asians ordering off the traditional Chinese menu and non-​Asians eating from the buffet. If American Chinese food is your thing, I hear the buffet is decent and cheap. But the real gold is in the menu: best place to get authentic Chinese dishes in St Louis. They even have hot pot with all you can eat meat/​veggies. I personally love the spicy boiled fish soup w/​mala spices. So perfect with rice!

For a solid Chinese buffet with options ranging from steamers (clams) to classic Szechuan dishes, sushi, soups, frog legs, crawfish, salmon and much more, this is a good stop for lunch or dinner! $ 10 for the unlimited weekend buffet and very good service! Clean, relaxing space.

The previous review still holds. Auxiliary to my previous review, a bonus star for the authentic Sichuan food on the menu.
The menu essentially focuses on (spicy) Sichuanese cooking and takes about 12 mild non-​spicy dishes such as the steamed Luffa. Red is present in most dishes — if not as a slick of potent Chili oil, then in lashings of sliced or whole chili peppers, or both, with other spices such as cumin, garlic, peppercorn and ginger.
In Sichuan boiled beef and Chengdu Spicy beef, the soup/​sauces are topped with unfathomably deep layers of tongue-​numbing red Chili oil. Chengdu spicy beef features one additional generous layer of dried chili. Other plates such as Sizzling Plate Lamb and crispy Fried Duck are mined with green and red Sichuan pepper and coated with sliced dried chili, and usually levitated by other spices.

Went on a Saturday afternoon around 1:30. The place was pretty much packed… that’s always a good sign when it’s your first time trying someplace… especially a buffet.
Very large selection… everything was well-​stocked and steaming hot. My personal favorites were the chicken on a stick, crab rangoon and the sushi (yes! I ate sushi at a buffet and lived to tell about it!)
But seriously… the sushi was well wrapped, fresh and cold.
$ 6.99 for the lunch buffet… lots of choices… friendly service. We’ll be back!

Solid buffet. Wanted something fast for kids, and this exceeded expectations. Hibachi grill decent, although no sauce-​options like a Mongolian BBQ, but it’s not supposed to to have that. Sushi rolls were good, lots of veggies, avocado, and a little fish but great compared to most grocery store options (which was our 2 option for the evening). I did like that the manager was closely monitoring the buffet and as favorites got low, he had staff on top of it.
Things I always get and rate on Asian Buffets: Green Beans, Chicken Wings, Roasted/​Smoked Chicken, General Tso’s Chicken, Crab Rangoons, Sweet ‘n Sour soup (just needed a bit more pepper, found on our table). All hit mark except Crab Rangoons which I like with more filling and a bit browner.
What will have me go back is their Hot Pot ~$ 21 pp. Kinda tough to enjoy with our 4 kids under 10 yrs old and their needs of multiple trips to buffet and bathroom. But noticing others around us looked delicious with lots of condiments and really authentically tasty in appearance. They don’t serve alcohol, so go to eat & enjoy a friendly conversation.

I came with my parents an opted for the buffet. The food was just OK… I guess it was a good value thought… I paid for all three of us and the bill was ~$ 21.
There were others eating nearby that ordered off the menu… I think that is the way to go when you are here.

Seriously good food here folks. Off the menu that is. Buffet was meh. Menu item however. Yowzah. Watch your knees however as they have these little hot plate thingies in the middle of some tables for cooking right there at the table. Cool idea but it does inhibit the available space for your kneecaps. Good stuff though!

The «secret menu» is delicious! But you MUST LOVE spicy food. The lamb is melting in your mouth. The pork hock is five spice flavored, very tender and moist.
Did not try the buffet. Looked plentiful and interesting i.e. frog legs, crawfish, etc. There is sushi also.
The place has an outdated décor but it was packed on a Friday night. It smelled heavenly and the staff is very helpful explaining the more authentic dishes.

Ok. Please. If you have ever heard of Chinese Hot Pot and never tried it, this is definitely the place to go in St Louis to try it.
I’ve been here twice now, in the past 2 weeks since discovering it, because I just haven’t had Hot Pot in so long; it brought back a past craving. Hot pot is basically hot tasty soup constantly boiling where you cook meats, seafood, veggies, whatever you want in here.
They have 3 meats, Beef, Lamb, Pork, a variety of seafood (squid, shrimp), vegatables, tofu etc. You can ask them for whatever and they will give it to you; we asked for egg and chicken as well. The Hot Pot itself has multiple flavors, but I definitely recommend the dual chicken soup, one side spicy, one side not spicy.
It is all you can eat, you also get the buffet in the middle of the restaurant, as well as unlimited refills on any meat or seafood or whatever you want to cook.
The service was good, all the waitresses were fun and friendly. We came as a group of 12 and ate for 2 hours and devoured the food, while making consistently asking for refills and making jokes with the servers. It was excellent. The meats and seafood were as fresh as you can get here in St Louis. So Definitely, I would recommend the hot pot buffet of Joy Luck.
The normal buffet is very average, not very good food.
Prices are 20 dollars per person for the Hot Pot, minimum 2 people. Make sure you ask for the hot pot buffet when you come here if that’s what you want.
It doesn’t have the real crazy authentic Chinese stuff like Pork Blood but it definitely is worth the try.

Wow! I came here several times when I first moved to this area and the food was good then. It’s been a while since I’ve been here but I’m so glad I stopped by! The interior has been beautifully renovated. The food is even better than before and the price is still great! I will be eating here again!
Update: watch your knees when getting into the new booths. Those hotplate tables hurt!

I’ve been to Joy Luck several times because I have a group of friends that love ordering off their «secret menu.» The «secret menu» is all authentic Chinese food, but they are best known for their hot pots. It’s all really good, but everyone tends to order really spicy dishes and I don’t have the best spicy food tolerance.
They also have your tradition American Chinese food buffet. It’s decent and about $ 10/​person.
Joy Luck recently reopened after a much needed remodel. The interior of the restaurant is now very nice but still has a slight 80’s feel. Several of the tables have built-​in heat pads that are nice if you order a hot pot!