Buffet City
8801 University Ave, Clive, IA, 50325
Buffet City Menu
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Visit below restaurant in Clive for healthy meals suggestion.
Visit below restaurant in Clive for healthy meals suggestion.
Visit below restaurant in Clive for healthy meals suggestion.
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Address :
8801 University Ave
Clive, IA, 50325 - Phone (515) 222-0888
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Opening Hours
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Specialities
- Takes Reservations : No
Delivery : No
Take-out : Yes
Accepts Credit Cards : Yes
Good For : Dinner
Parking : Private Lot
Good for Kids : Yes
Good for Groups : Yes
Attire : Casual
Ambience : Casual
Noise Level : Average
Alcohol : No
Outdoor Seating : No
Wi-Fi : No
Has TV : No
Waiter Service : Yes
Caters : No
WE SERVE THE FOLLOWING STATES
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Deana T.
It is a rare thing anymore around here to find crab legs on a buffet on a week night. Most buffets have gone to only having them only on weekends. They were even replenished often! There was quite a variety of other foods. More Mongolian grill, sushi, salad bar and desserts. The buffet had and large variety of different seafoods cooked in many different ways. Frog legs, octopus, and craw fish.
(4)Jill M.
Husband and I went there Wed evening around 5:00. We've been there before several times and we've always liked it. This time around it was horrible!! Old, cold food that wasn't replenished from lunch I'm pretty sure! The sushi wasn't fresh either. We will never go back!! Hibachi Grill & Supreme Buffet must have really taken a toll on this place..
(1)Andre O.
I had to dig deep to push the rating for this place up to 3 stars. I've been here a few times over the years since moving to Des Moines. Either my tastes have been changing over the years or the quality at Buffet City has been declining. I'm going to say it's the quality in this case. The only words that I hear from the staff for the entire stay was: "how many?", "drinks?", "refill?", and the total for my bill. While I'm not expecting to have a conversation about world events while going to a buffet I thought the staff could have been a bit warmer. The food seemed fairly fresh and was warm. There was nothing that stood out or couldn't be found at any other Chinese restaurant in the area. There is a wide variety to choose from and there are American dishes there as well, if you have kids that don't want to experiment with Chinese dishes. And while none of the food was horrible. It did seem to be a bit off. For example: Ribs were a bit dry and hard. Chicken was a bit dry. Rice was on the dry side. And so on. The quality wasn't to the point of asking to talk to a manager. But more along the lines of remembering back to a time when you forgot to take something off the stove at the right time. Still edible, but you know you could have done better if you were paying attention. Because of the food it feels like this is more of a $6 buffet then the almost $11 that they charge. The bottom line: This is good for the wide variety of food that you can experience. But if your looking for good tasting well prepared food you will need to go someplace else.
(3)Hugh J.
I'd like to take this opportunity to respond to "Tessa N."'s review below. Her review is written in a very condescending "better than thou" nature. It's a Chinese buffet place - what extravagant expectations did you have? Further, Tessa N. chose "buffet sushi" as her highlight - any person would know that should not be the highlight and if it is, then the said person knows very little about the culinary world. This buffet is a mainstay in Des Moines. The food is fresh, authentic, and tasty. For the price, you cannot go wrong. Buffet City has some items that you won't find at other places. For example, tripe. Tessa N. seems very ignorant to the fact that the majority of the people who inhabit this planet do enjoy offal dishes. Just because you are an American living in the Midwest does not mean you have the right to talk down in such a childish, bigoted manner. Please perform a google search on tripe and you will find the answer to your question. Also, I highly doubt high school students dissect tripe as you have mentioned. Dissection in itself is inhumane, an outdated education vehicle, and serves very little purpose. In spite of that, I am sure that a high school biology teacher would not have students dissect the tripe of an animal, as opposed to a more active organ. I would inform people to give this place a shot and please do not take one uninformed woman (with very confined and unworldly views) to have an effect on your decision. Great food, prices, and service.
(5)Adam V.
Low end chinese food at a decent price. Went at 2pm on a Monday. Food seemed a little old, but was still warm and tasty. Not too impressed so probably won't go back.
(3)Priscilla D.
Love this place, I actually find myself craving it. The thin noodles are my favorite, and the price is not bad at all! I would recommend this place for sure. Can't wait to go back soon.
(4)Mark O.
On a positive note, the servers were very quick to remove empty plates and refill my drinks. I saw them refilling empty trays on a fairly consistent basis. There's also a sign on the germ guards that states "Uneaten food will be removed at 2:30 and 6:30 on a daily basis", perhaps mitigating some of the complaints people had about stale food during off-hours. None of the dishes were outstanding, but none of them were terrible either. It was refreshing to see an assortment of seafood items available--something that isn't always available on a lunch buffet.
(3)Tessa N.
Ok, so I would like to state first that this is a place that I wouldn't usually even considering trying. Iowa strip mall chinese buffet......scary. If it wasn't for my grandma's consistent comments on the freshness of this establishment, I'm not sure I would have ever tried it. As it turns out, I should have listened to my instincts. My friend and I went there at about 6:30, and it looked like the food had been sitting out for quite a while. The only exception was the sushi which I watched being made and was actually pretty good. There were a lot of very different dishes that I wasn't brave enough to try. If anyone could explain to me what the hell beef tripe is that would be great, because it looked like they were serving something that I dissected once in cell biology. I have heard that lunch is apparently the time to go, so if any of you other yelpers are brave enough to give it a try, I guess that would be the time I would reccommend. All in all, not so great food or atmosphere, but a cheap place if your hungry for a lot of sushi.
(1)Miles B.
Best Chinese buffet in Des Moines! Buffet City has been my go to restaurant when I crave amazing food for a great price. They offer a great selection and variety of food, from soups and salads, traditional chicken and beef dishes, amazing crab rangoons, and awesome sushi. Service is always very friendly without being overly attentive. I have never had a reason to complain about this place, always satisfies.
(5)Bill L.
This is one of the better Chinese buffets in the area and one of my favorites. They have a large selection of food and that includes crab legs. They are busy , but I have never had to wait for a seat or have the crowd affect my eating experience. The staff is friendly here, but they mainly keep to themselves. Food quality is very good, I always enjoy every dish they have out. Parking is a hassle here during peak hours due to the parking lot shared by many stores. This is one of my main go to Chinese restaurants in the area and will continue to be!
(5)Cindy J.
Amazed to find good sushi! Really good sushi. The buffet was well done and had a huge variety. Crab cakes, General Tso chicken, and Kung Pao chicken were flavorful with a great balance on the spice. My hot tea was tepid. I would highly recommend this place and will come again. P.S. My favorite sushi was the spicy crab role. Yummo
(5)Ash H.
It's just a ok buffet place, not bad but not great. They use a lot of rice for the sushi rolls, I had about 10 pieces of them and I was already half full. The Chinese food were decent ,again not great just decent. I didn't care for their crab rangoon,spring roll nor the stir fried rice noodles though They don't taste so good :/ then again it's a buffet place you can't really expect them too much , at least not this place. I don't know if I will be coming back ,maybe only if I was really starving and just trying to fill up my stomach with food. Um I think I'd rather spend $11.95 somewhere else and get a better taste and quality of food.
(3)Sarah W.
Fantastic value! Paid $6.29 for lunch, doesn't include drink. Lots of quality seafood dishes, all dishes made fresh in small portions and replaced quickly when gone. You've got to try the Seafood Bowls, Coconut Shrimp and Peanut Chicken! Unbeatable! The waitresses were very attentive in clearing used plates but unobtrusive. Decor was classic chinese but more tastefully done without being cheap and restaurant was very clean and well maintained. I've been to a lot of Chinese buffets and this is one of the better ones ever.
(5)Alan W.
Don't waste your money unless you want cool shrimp, fish and ribs. In fact lots of the supposed to be hot food was not hot. Taste would probably be good if the temperature was turned up. Disappointing but it was not busy which is why we stopped! Wow! Now I know why.
(1)Thao P.
Decent Chinese Buffet in Des Moines area This is my family's favorite Chinese buffet in Des Moines that we frequent the most. One of the reasons I like this place is that it always racks up a lot of business, which means their food is consistently hot and refilled. At many other buffets, food may be lukewarm or left out too long. Buffet City has a good amount of food. My favorites are the hot and sour soup, thin white noodles, salt and pepper shrimp, salmon, mussels, crawfish, crab, mushroom, and some of the sushi choices. The crawfish is really what I like about this place. I average about three plates of hot food and then a plate of fruit + ice cream.
(3)Megan W.
Looked nicer than some buffets we've been to. The food was good. There was a wide variety on the buffet and it was larger than most. The waitstaff was friendly.
(4)Hanna X.
So this is the restaurant the made me make my first review. It was pretty awful, and I'm use to mediocre Chinese buffets. Food wasn't cooked well or it was horribly sauced. For example, the teriyaki chicken had no remote resemblance to actual teriyaki sauce. It was pink and gooey (though nothing like sweet and sour sauce either) and tasted just plain off. Further they're really stingy about their crab legs. And not normal Chinese buffet stingy - where they don't bring out anything unless all the crab's gone. So a few odd pieces are left over. No, the entire time we were there (7:00-8:30) it was refilled once. Even the odd looking pieces were completely gone. It just sat there 100% empty for 90% of the time. And they only brought out about 30 legs for the entire buffet! If they don't want to have crab, just don't have any. Make a weekend "crab leg" price and a cheaper weekday non crab leg price. Finally, and the worst, they started vacuuming the restaurant at around 8pm (in my opinion still in the middle of the dinner rush). Like actually vacuuming! I'd be alright with it if say it was 10pm or if someone threw up or something. But no, they just started just cleaning up. Not only was it disruptive, loud, and got in my way/ could have tripped me. It was also an old looking vacuum. I was afraid the dust from the vacuum would get into the air. All in all it was a bad experience. Food was bad and I had an upset stomach and spent some time on the toilet. But also the stinginess, the way things handled, and the way the public was treated brought the score down to a 1/5. If I could, I'd give a 0. (Also very odd hand written posts where everywhere. Bathroom was old and children should really be careful about washing their hands!)
(1)Julie R.
I rarely rate restaurants at less than 3 stars but the service I received today was the main thing that made me write and give this none a single star. I have been to this restaurant several times over the years without problems and today would have given a three star rating, but for the service I experienced on this visit. Three different staff said good bye to me on the two occasions I got up and got refills(3 potstickers on one visit and three potstickers and two small pieces of meat on the second). One of the female wait staff even cleared my table the first repeat trip to the buffet! I have never been treated so badly and "pushed" out of an establishment. Quality of service is VERY important when running a restaurant. And today there was less than zero...it was offensive. I've read previous reviews. I go to Asian places routinely and am part Asian, this had nothing to do with culture it had to do with plain old rudeness.
(1)Christine C.
It was an OK buffet. Nothing special.
(2)Chiang K.
I am writing this review based on other Chinese buffets in the midwest. This place definitely would get 2 or 3 stars in the DC area. I come to DSM quite often and eat at this place on each trip. I used to go to Shangri-La but that closed. This place is pretty good for the price they charge. No Chinese buffets serve crab legs back in Northern VA. The food was fresh on the Friday night. The salmon sushi roll was good too. The place has a mongolian grill. Overall, this is a good place to eat. Mind you, they charge for drinks and the ice cream is not that creamy but more of a fake milk icy consistency. Service was good as the gal kept coming back to clear the table.
(4)Janet E.
I'd like to first start off by saying that I used to be a big fan of buffets. But as I've gotten older, my stomach has shrunk and I'm not able to get my money's worth (at least not to what I would like), so I don't go to buffets as often. But I found myself here on a Saturday night and decided to try it out. After having some Chinese food in Des Moines, I kept my expectations low. I've found that a lot of Chinese food in Des Moines is catered to American tastes (salty and greasy), which is not what I enjoy. But Buffet City really surprised me because I really enjoyed the food. I got THREE plates worth of food!!! Thats how much I enjoyed it. There are A LOT of options here. I miss having home cooked Chinese food, so I gravitated more towards the vegetable and seafood dishes rather than the more Americanized dishes such as General Tao's chicken or battered fried shrimp. I did give the GT chicken a try though and it was good! But if you want more chinese dishes, I recommend the steamed fish and the clams. I also liked the seafood bowl (which is imitation crab stuffed in a fried bowl). The seafood bowl is NOTHING close to being a chinese dish, but I really liked it! Another chinese dish is the chinese donut. Love that stuff! I saw they had crawfish. Unfortunately I'm not a crawfish fan so I can't say if it was good or not. But a lot of people scooped it up so I'm guessing it was good?? They also had bbq pork ribs, beef and broccoli, fried rice, stir fry noodles, and cold dishes like fruits and salads, a mongolian stir fry section, a sushi section, a dessert section, and a soft serve machine. The food seemed very fresh to me and there was also someone refilling the pans with freshly made food. You are not allowed to take any food to go, and if you do, you'll be charged extra. Cost for dinner was about $10.95 which I thought was reasonable. The staff speaks limited English, so don't expect attentive service. I personally would rather eat good food in exchange for poor service, than have good service and crappy food. But thats just my preference. Since a buffet is SELF service anyway, I'm not going to complain about the service. We were seated immediately, and ordered our drinks immediately, which was also promptly served to us. No complaints from us! There was a good mix of people here, some of which were asian, which is a good sign that the food is good. I would definitely come back here to eat!
(4)