Country Buffet

We were invited to go try the new and improved Country Buffet this week. Pro tip: Don't go on Thursday! Apparently kids eat for $0.99 which means everyone in town goes out for dinner to save a few dollars. The line took about an hour.

After waiting longer than we have ever waited to get into any restaurant, we finally made it to the counter and were seated. I was impressed with all the food options! They also had a lady making balloon animals and another making cotton candy! How fun?! I especially loved the extensive drink buffet that includes an Icee machine, milk, chocolate milk and two of the new computerized soda machines that allow for endless possibilities. 

They have a taco bar with all your typical toppings. There are jalapenos, cheese, salsa, corn chips, tortillas and what my husband described as "home made tasting ground beef". Since Country Buffet's new thing is "it's not like it's home made, it is home made" we were impressed it seemed to be true with Gary's taco. 

Like any buffet there is a salad bar with more salad toppings and dressings than you could ever want! They have a bread bar with two kinds of rolls and two buckets (yes buckets) of honey butter.  

The two areas with the most food options both offer typical buffet foods. They have fried popcorn shrimp, country fried steak, cross cut fries, corn dogs, macaroni and cheese, riblets, fried chicken, gravy, corn, green beans, carrots, stuffing, soups, pot pies and more. 

I tried a bite of most food items to help write a more thorough review. I didn't like most of it. The corn dog I was feeding my toddler was under cooked with oozing dough seeping out. The rib was only gristle and bone so I just set that aside. The macaroni and cheese and corn were both colder than room temperature. She ended up just eating off my husband's plate because she was in love with the country fried steak and gravy!

I post about pizza more often than any other food, I think. It's my favorite! I didn't even want to eat the pizza that was offered here. It was flavorless and it wasn't even warm. The only options were cheese pizza and pepperoni, which was unavailable until we were walking out. That might have been fine if they didn't have a whole buffet table just for pizza!

The grill was a really neat idea! I love that there is a cook behind the counter ready to cut you off whatever meat you'd like. You are getting fresh, hot meat, how neat!  Gary loves his steak medium and even medium rare will work if that's what he is offered. Unfortunately, the steak he was given was rare. It was cold, red and un-safe to eat. The huge ham they had cooking looked good.

My experience at Country Buffet made me seriously concerned for my whole family's health. I expected us all to have stomach issues the next day. The cold food, under cooked side dishes and uncooked meat really had me concerned.

I really wish I could have given Country Buffet a good review. Everyone loves a good buffet, home style cooking and the balloon and cotton candy making were awesome! I love the effort put into making the experience fun for kids. 

I will say their pumpkin pie was really tasty. I meant to only eat a bite but I ended up eating half the slice. The snicker doodle cookie I had really did look home made and it was delicious! Gary loved the country fried steak. The Icee machine miraculously pumped out perfect Icees all night long. The salad bar was fine. My biggest suggestion is this: Don't go on a Thursday! My hope is that our disaster of an experience was due to the fact that it was insanely busy that night!