I'll start this review by saying that we fully expected to be disappointed by this restaurant. It's located in a shopping center that just lost its anchor store Winn-Dixie, and the whole plaza has been in what seemed like a downward spiral for a few years.
We arrived around 11:30, and were some of the first customers of the day. I will admit my surprise at just how clean the place was. Everything in the restaurant seemed to gleam and the decor reminded us of a vintage type of diner.
As we walked in the manager/owner (I forgot to get his name) welcomed us very warmly. He told us to take a look around, and that if we liked what we saw to have a seat and dig in. He let us know the prices which were amazingly reasonable, the full lunch price was $7.99 per person or you could get just a soup & salad buffet for $6.29.
We took him up on his suggestion and checked out what they had to offer. Just on a quick walk through we noticed they had several stations set up. These included a cold food section that served salad, bread, and cold pasta. A hot food section that had 4 different kinds of soups, tacos/chips & salsa station and a hot food and carving section. They also have a cakes/desert section for a small additional fee.
After looking around we liked what we saw and decided to stay. The wife and the little guy started out with some salad. She said that the tomatoes tasted fresh off the vine, and they had what looked and tasted like "in-house made croutons". She only had one minor complaint, and it wasn't on the food itself but on the layout of the salad bar. Which was, with her pregnant belly, a little hard to reach the iceberg lettuce. The iceberg was placed near the back and they had a romain lettuce and bean sprouts in the front.
All of the food served appeared and tasted "home made". I've got to add that buffet's are a guilty pleasure of ours and usually at most buffets the emphasis is on quantity not quality. The food at the Carving Station was great, I was especially happy with the mac & cheese. It wasn't just an average dish, it had a lightly baked crust on top and several additional seasonings. Everything else was also very good -- from the mashed potatoes and 2 types of gravy, to the 3 or 4 types of chicken and everything in between.
Our server wasn't the most smiley person in the world at first, but she kept our drinks filled and our tables clear in a quick and efficient manner and she warmed up as the meal went on.
Overall we were highly impressed with this place. If you're a fan of buffets or a fan of good "old fashioned" American style cooking, then you should definitely give this place a shot.
Grades
Food: A
Service: A
Portion Size: N/A (its a buffet)
Anything there besides salad I could eat.. sounds interesting!
ReplyDeleteThey have several types of carved meat options along with reglar meat dishes like chicken and fish. Also they offer cooked vegetables, rice, and potatos for side dishes.
ReplyDeleteNo customers for an hour after opening. No one staffing the positions for the omelet station or cash register. Food not ready to get for 15 minutes after opening of the restaurant. Food lukewarm and dried out like it came from the day before business. Greasy vats and congealing on the food. Coffee not ready. NEVER AGAIN. . .and if fate has it they won't be open long enough for a second visit.
ReplyDeleteWe've actually heard several not great things through the grapevine about this place especially right after they open in the morning. That being said, we've also have only heard positives about their dinner time offerings.
ReplyDeleteWith any restaurant, or any establishment, you have to have consistancy. If you're not consistant you cant stay in business. Hopefully they'll read this and make what ever changes need to be made.
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