Golden Corral Buffet & Grill in Lakeland - Phone Number, Reservations, Reviews

Once upon a time I heard that this place is "the Wal-Mart of buffets" and I will always agree. I've never had any bad food experiences and I've visited many for many years. What I constantly object to is that virtually all of the tables are wiped WITH THE SAME CLOTH, taken from the waitress' pocket!!! When you go to select your food choices be sure to take a napkin to hold the food handles or suffer not only the possible germ transference but to keep from ending up with food on your hands left by a former sloppy patron. UPDATE -- 03/29/2022 AS USUAL Sanitation is questionable!! Signs that are posted DO NOT make a place clean! I've been there twice this past month and the issue of sanitation is the same! As far as food - the "quality" is the same BUT if you're sensitive to MSG, well MY OPINION, is that ANY steak there is LOADED with it!!! When they have Chicken Livers you may want to have a golf club nearby to practice Chip shots and that's EVERY time I try to enjoy them! At least the Carrot Cake is worth enjoying and I'm amazed at the fantastic flavor of the chocolate on the items that were dipped in. Always tip your Waitresses!! UPDATE --- 8/20/2022. NEVER go to this place when Breakfast ends or Lunch ends OR Dinner begins unless you want leftovers, usually HIDDEN with a gravy or sauce covering it or well mixed in some other version -- think chicken!! ALSO, the same warning exists as the evening wears on where AGAIN OVERCOOKED FARE WILL BE COVERED WITH FRESH SAUCE -- think pork ribs, etc. At least the Dessert and Salad Bar are reasonably fresh!! 8/22/24 - THIS PLACE SUCKS!!! Visited about 6:30 PM and the BBRibs were already DRY. The top long grain was so tough I could use it for roof shingles!!! The Sausage offering was DRY in a tray of Sausage and green peppers and onions. The large shrimp was overcooked so much you could use them for Slingshot ammunition. I didn't try the Fried Chicken because I didn't have a hammer and chisel. The fish filets and catfish were --- you guessed it --- DRY. At least the Cole Slaw and fresh baked Pizza slice were tasty. This place has gone D O W N H I L L TOO MUCH to continue to visit any more!!!

Way too expensive for for lunch

Food is good not great. Lots of choices fo choose from. The prices have gone up a lot. But my children are teens now and still enjoy going due to the variety of food options. There were holes in the walls near where we sat. We went to the 98north locations. The walls and booths desperately need updating. And so do the bathrooms. Over I would visit again.

Types of American food with mild flavors

I haven’t been to a Golden Corral in years but decided to go to this one for lunch because it’s close to where I live. Well the service is good, but then again you serve yourself. But the waitress or whatever they are called there was very attentive.The food as I remember doesn’t taste the same. Not as good as before. I know companies cut corners to save or increase profits but I will pay more for good food. I had gotten my grandson hyped up about the chocolate fountain but there isn’t one at this location, Maybe one of the other things they cut out to save money.

Service was lacking, food was overcooked (chicken!) and the spaghetti was like mush.

Food was alright expected for a buffet

The food was poorly cooked. Some were cold like fried chicken. The macaroni and cheese. The attention was terrible. The meat cook treated us poorly. The waitress forgot the drinks

The Food and Staff is Excellent. Even though I use take out. They treat and greet Me as if I am Family.

Please do not eat at this Golden corral I am a senior citizen I went in I told the lady I've seen your citizen she did not give me my senior citizen discount she charged me a regular price I went to get my food The food was very cold I didn't even eat the first plate I had I tossed it away I went to get a second one and I seen their at least five or six flies flying over the foods The only good thing at this Golden corral is the waiters but then that the food and everything else was bad please do not eat at this place especially if you're senior citizen.

Extremely dirty restaurant. Not kept clean at all which tells you about the food. 0/10 I don’t recommend this place at all.

Been to a lot of different golden corrals but this one was pretty nice. We usually got before 4 to get the lunch price and everything was still hot and fresh. They had some stuff that I haven't seen at other GCs like pulled pork, cheeseburgers, grilled cheese etc. Would I pay dinner price? Only if I KNEW I could put away like 10 plates worth. Docked a star for the service. Never got a drink refill the whole time

The food for takeout actually was costing more than dining in which I think is absurd.

clean store wonderful friendly staff everything was fresh

Our waitress Hope is very professional. She really cares about her customers. She went so far as to take the time to take a picture with us

Food was great, service staff was excellent and the Managers were very active and visible during my dining experience!

Very good food and a lot of variety of everything

Some many different dishes to choose from. Good value

This is a Golden Corral, where quantity looms over quality. So my questio is, if you get your own food, and all the server gets is the drinks and cleans the table, do you tip more than 20%?

The restroom is disgusting 🤢 the place is very old the water test a source very bad we have nausea with this 🤢 and a lot flies

If I could give zero stars I would 1. Terrible service, was told by the lady in the front with black hair skinny “we close at 9, is that enough time for you to eat”? Not even a good evening just straight up rude. 2. Bathrooms are disgusting, is like they don’t clean throughout the day, toilet paper everywhere on the floor. 3. Food is not that good, literally wanted to vomit as soon as I was done eating. 4. In my opinion you shouldn’t be vacuuming while people are eating, and basically making people move because you are vacuuming over there. 5. We were told for the third time that they are closing when a friend was still eating, basically telling us to hurry up and get out, which it is straight up rude. We did not pay 65 dollars for you to pressure us to eat faster. If the sign says you close at 9 then you close at 9 and whoever is still eating can finish eating. Basically terrible service, terrible food, and a lot of hazards.

We were on a family outing and we stopped for dinner, my husband already knew about the restaurant chain but the children and I didn't, so he told us to try it and we definitely loved it, since when you have variety, you get to see something that You like it, it's safer, for the cost per person we thought it was excellent, we were two adults, two children and we spent just enough. We were satisfied!! The rich and varied food. There is something for everyone 👍🏻Thank you to Miss Ashely for her attention and kindness, always available to clean the table and refill the drink glass. I recommend visiting this food chain👌. I don't give it 5 stars because they need to improve the aesthetics of the bathrooms a little and the nearby hallway is a humble suggestion.

Thanks to Kristi for a good service.

I enjoyed my trip to this golden corral. Split 4 ways it seemed pretty affordable per person. The food was good and our server was very attentive and on top of her game. Could use a bit more selections (like a plain green salad) cause i didn't see it as well more clearer labels of the food being offered as some selections left me guessing what they were.

The Golden Coral we went to was on North 98 in Lakeland. It had been a while since we had been there. The food was hot and tasted real good. I ate a lot of the fried Okra as I love that stuff. I ate a lot of the vegetables that were on the buffet. I would recommend this Golden Coral.

It was sooo good! Great variety of food. Everything was at the temp it should have been. You can't go here and not find something you like!

Haven't been to Golden Corral in years. It was delicious! Love a good salad bar! And the buffet was good too.

Love the variety of foods they have. If you go away hungry....it's on you...

It not the price need better variety only thing I did enjoy was the salad bar and fruits

Delicious food, great variety. Super friendly service.

Amazing prices, even better food. All of the food tasted freshly made and was very good

Was very disappointed with how much the price has increased. Weekday and almost $50 before tip for 2 people. There wasn’t anyone at the check in counter. We had to look for someone to help us after standing there for 5 minutes and that was with nobody else in line!

The inside of this place smells like old dirty soggy carpet. The service is horrible, The cooks are definitely who's bringing in the crowd the food is amazing but everything else sucks. It's time to remodel/update this establishment.

Amazing food here ! Everything was fresh and hot !!! Excellent management!!! Very clean ! Lots of attentiveness and staff !!! Amazing Golden Corral !

It's a nice place to eat. You pay a set price for an all you can eat buffet & the food selection was pretty good. I did not get to taste all the varieties because I get full pretty quickly, but the salads, the chicken and the mac n cheese were pretty good. The staff were polite at the entrance and register desk. One of our family members accidentally left their wallet behind, so I called their phone number and the lady who attended me was very courteous and helpful. She quickly went to search the seating area and found the wallet! She put the wallet in their office until someone arrived to pick it up. Thank you!

Very good as always, thank you I will be back again

OMGosh I have seen the ads on TV here in Washington state and I live in sequim area... I loved everything but the Mac and cheese. But I am picky about my Mac and cheese... the oranges were the sweetest I have ever been able to enjoy and the peaches and pears were my favorite part!!!!

You always find a variety of dishes, all very delicious

Everything here was great. Our server, who I unfortunately can't recall his name (I believe it was Dallas), was great as well. Management was walking around the whole time I was there, making sure everything was clean and fresh.

By the time you get to your table food is almost cold. They don't keep food that hot. Prices to eat very expensive $39 for 2 breakfasts

Don't go often but I typically I'm satisfied

Plenty of good food. Friendly staff, as much atmosphere as you expect from a buffet.

Great place to over indulge. Good food and all you can eat😁

The food has improved tremendously

It is always a great place to get a variety of foods. My grandparents love it here a d with so many closed. This one is definitely a gem.

I always enjoy Golden Corral. There is something for everyone there. It's decent fast food. Salad bar is actually very good and their specialty steak included with the buffet is pretty good as well. It's mass produced so it's not given individual attention by a chef, but over all it's a good meal and all you can eat. Tables are pretty close so be used to neighbors eating with you, but as long as you stay away from kids whose parents aren't attentive, you are ok. Overall, I enjoy going there every couple of months.

They let in a hungry traveler at 8:30 even though they close at 9. Although there was no steak at that time there were plenty of the seafood dinner items (shrimp varieties, seafood cake, and a couple of others). The staff was very nice. It's a family place. There was a large party of a youth sports team celebrating something. They are very close to exit 32 on I-4 if you are ever in that area.

This is my favorite place to eat search a variety of foods to choose from and it's all yummy

Everything was fresh and delicious. Restaurant was clean and team was friendly and efficient.

This is the last Golden Corral in Lakeland the South side location closed so all of Lakeland only has this one left I think it's time for it to be renovated or at least updated, the carpet is dingy and it smells, the air vents are just oozing and dark and not to mention the ladies restrooms it is so bad that they have to have the door always open because it smells so bad and it's just dirty. Please invest in making this restaurant a little more enjoyable to take family, I bet a lot of people don't go because of how it looks inside, but hopefully that can change soon. I like the food though my favorite is the mashed potatoes :D

Delicious soup and delicious fried lasagna I love it well cooked and hot I invite you to come

It's ok for a bite to eat. The food is good. Just don't expect anything that's going to wow you.

It has been a long time since I have been to the Coral. Ever since the Southside location closed. I do not travel to the North side that often. The service was very good. The food was good. I did not see any items low and need refilling. Tempatures of the food was good. Great choices and the desserts were plentiful.

Waitress never came to our table to check on us.

No soft serve ice cream. The waitress did not come to my table period. The lettuce was a little wet and floppy. This is all unusual because I used to eat there frequently and things are just different. Usually I eat there for breakfast. I will try the breakfast menu in the next few weeks and see what's changed. I realize covid change things but there are some things that should not have changed. People's attitude especially when they weren't that busy. I used to always bring my family into town and we would go and eat there but this year I don't think so. I sat to the east of the cash registers at the table. Table area was about 3/4 to a half full

Will never go back. The restrooms were filthy! When getting my meal, I spotted a roach on the buffet. Where there's one, there's more!

Food quality is slipping but still acceptable. Self-service ice cream is gone and they will only give you one scoop the size of a golf ball at a time. The crab salad is mostly filled with celery and for those if that don't like celery 🤮.

Very run down, paint chipping from walls, and dirty floors. Food was typical of Golden Corral.

LOVE this place. Food and service is great.

Very good food and very good server's

Attended while in Lakeland, FL. It was clean and also busy. The food was good and the waitress was excellent. I will definitely go back.

This Golden Corral is pretty good. It was decent in cleanliness. The food was delicious and hot. The only issue I have is there are too many tables and no path to get through.

The food is always on point, as a cook of 30 years I'm very picky about where I eat at and this is one restaurant that I don't mind telling people to eat at

Always a great experience, they just close too early. Half the time we go to Applebee's instead because they're open until 12 and we don't have to rush to be finished by 830 but I'd prefer to go to GC if we could.

The food was delicious, service was great.. The bathrooms were nasty.. And I do not like complaining but I feel that $18.00 per person was alittle high..

For me going to Golden Corral I anticipate their rolls but for the entirety of the time I was there, they didn’t have any out. Also kind of absurd that for $20+ a person that they only give you the smallest portion of steak. As well as all the other options definitely wasn’t $20 worthy. I don’t see this company lasting very much longer. 10 years ago it was half the price and way better quality food.

Bathrooms are very dirty and in need of good TLC.

The lady at the corner looked me dead in the eye and proceeded to take care of other customers. Like seriously?

I’m writing this review and hopefully to get the manager’s attention regarding the front counter’s staff absolutely worst customer service ever. I’m taking my 9 year old daughter to try this new restaurant for her dance competition’s celebration.It’s her first time in this restaurant . We were very excited and hoping to bring all the family members and even thinking to bring all the team classmates to come here for the party. When we walked in and waiting in the line for the drink, the Asian lady who worked in the front counter, She saw me and daughter she immediately rolled her eyes and purposely skipped us . She didn’t ask or offer us any drink. There are 6 people behind us and she just asked them and gave them water. I told the lady I’m not with the people behind us. Here is what happened: she rolled her eyes and questioned me: “So you want something to drink ???” I was so shocked and my daughter got very scared and sad! I heard the cashier called her name”Ling or Ying”? I hope the manager could fire this woman. She needs to say sorry to me and my daughter.It happened on Saturday February17th around 6:00pm. Her rude and unprofessional behavior made us feel very disrespected. Normally things happened like this, I’ll just let it go and walk out the restaurant. (Of course we didn’t eat there after what just happened .) But When we searched Google and saw there’s not any Golden Corral left in the area, we actually want to support the restaurant and bring more customers to make them stay opened. One person could ruined the whole business. I hope the manager could take look at this matter. I don’t know if we just have small group of people or the lady just had a bad day. Its absolutely rude and discriminated! Because her terrible customer service, they just lost a large group of people I’m going to bring there. I hope this review won’t cost this Golden Corral location get shut down any day soon. But one thing I know for sure with that lady’s rude and unprofessional behavior to even hurt a 9 year old little girl’s feeling. Their food wont be any better. I hope the manager will understand customers sometimes not just writing bad reviews to hurt business, they're just letting you know what’s the real issue and help to save the business!

This is absolutely disgusting, the food is nasty, the cooks just throw stuff on top of other stuff. Kitchen hygiene is super poor.

The pot roast just melts in your mouth, the deserts aren't that very good, not homemade.

My brother in law wanted to visit and we went on a Saturday night, a little busy but have to say I was satisfied with not only the selection but it's freshness.

Esquiste American Cuisine, The most Diabolical pairings. 10/10. Fine art was a bonus.

Buffet had a great selection and was very clean.

This is an excellent Golden Corral and the service is very good.

Needs to be updated and made bigger

Great dinner experience. Their food and service are always above expectations.

Arrived at 11am on 1/15/24 and the food was hot fresh and friendly staff.

Great choice of different foods to rnjoy

Didn't care for the food the place look dirty went for Christmas dinner

Very good food i like this place I recommend

I got the full Thanksgiving meal. I would recommend it for people who can't or don't want to cook. My complaint is the stuffing and potatoes were kinda salty, and you only get 2 small cups of gravy. But I would still recommend it.

Definitely Delicious 😋 bring your appetite

Excellent service food choice an clean!! We shall be back!

Great food day & night! Faith is our best server, polite, courteous & helpful!

Our Golden corral in Lakeland FL has a wonderful staff. The food is prepared well. Stephanie is a top notch staff member. I seek her out every Sunday .

The food was fresh and the waitress was awesome. And we went on christmas!!

Awesome service with a great staff.

We always eat here on Christmas day. The staff are always pleasant and there's never a shortage of food.

Great location right off the 98!

Enjoyed the Christmas Buffet! Food was delicious! Large variety from meats to dessert and fruit and salad in between. Very reasonable.

Quick service, plenty of good tasting food

My steak tasted like liver! And it's a little over priced

Delicious Food and Friendly Family Atmosphere!!

It is good as buffet to eat all on can

I've been to better Golden Corrals

Restroms are nasty worse than road gas station restroms, Food is not big deal, firegrilled steak taste awful. The best thing fried shrimpand maybe ice cream.

Muy buena atención y excelente comida 😋

Food was fine for buffet food. They were out of several things and the ice cream and icee machines were out of almost every flavor. Waiters were terrible about refills and acted upset when we requested them. (Mind you, no one had asked for more than one refill the whole time, and almost everyone had water.)

I went there the day after Thanksgiving 2023 and took out two plates to Go! I was very disappointed with food quality, turkey with gravy, the stuffing, etc , & the price was too expensive, the food was too salty and kind of lame! Last year Thanksgiving 2022 was Great ! but the staff was friendly especially the cashiers and food staff