Midtown Buffet

Service is always okay, food is always good! Love the crab legs, calamari, and lo main! Great variety, and they don't bug you for tips. more

Especially when you eat on your own, and your pocket of your jacket that is hanging on the chair is open.\r \r I went there several times, thinking I lost my cash or wallet. After awhile it became clear to me that the waitress there pick pocket. The manager refuses to show video camera to help you find ""who stole your wallet"" and does everything je could to avoid you, such as going into the kitchen and walk away from you saying he does not understand English.\r (Yeah and he opens the restaurant at Midtown). more

Me and my boyfriend were looking for a place to eat, and thought we were very lucky to find a buffet right in the middle of Times Square. However, shortly after we were seated, we realized the magnitude of our misguided expectations. The colossal disaster that was about to unfold was far beyond any mortal's imagination. As we passed the buffet to our seats, it was clear that this meal may be our last. Before we could get up from our seats in a pathetic attempt to escape from the grasp of the Midtown Buffet, we were given utensils, plates and water which, on my opion, seemed to be at somebody's disposal prior it was served to us . As we are the shy type, not wanting to make a scene, and since $20 is not going to break our bank, our plan was just to get one serving of food and get out fast. Fortunately, this was also the strategy of the Midtown Buffet. Make no mistake, this is a buffet in name only. Although we were supposed to get several servings, the staff, nevertheless, did not seem to welcome these attempts because they were hovering over us like a bunch of abused grizzly bears. The food all tasted the same as though it was regurgitated and put back into the buffet, or as if the Midtown Buffet collected the left-overs around the city, heated them and put them back into the buffet sprinkling on them some golden fat to give them some healthy glow. Pros: They know the food is so bad they want you as fast as possible more

Having scanned the other ""reviews,"" I can state unequivocally I have never had a bad dining experience at Midtown Buffet. Nor have I ever been ripped off in any way by the manager or the wait staff. I've lived in St. Louis, Missouri, for the past 20 years, but I grew up and spent most of my life in New York City--so I'm not exactly an unsuspecting tourist. I visited New York 12 times in 2008, and during each trip, I made it a point to stop by this restaurant. The steam-table food is hot, fresh, and replenished frequently, which is a must for a decent buffet dining experience. Midtown Buffet includes all the usual Chinese food favorites (sauteed string beans, crispy shrimp, etc.), as well as lightly breaded squid and chicken with broccoli brimming with large slices of white-meat chicken. While Midtown Buffet by no means represents the high end of classic Chinese cuisine, it does offer a bargain. The lunch buffet, which lasts until 4 or 4:30 p.m., costs about $8 plus tip--and that includes a soda, which my server always offers to refill. Now that's a true rarity in New York restaurants! Pros: Price Cons: One feels rushed at busy times more

Before you go there be prepared for indirect robbery. We've been going there several times and now I know exactly how it works.\r This is the trick the waitresses and the owner do. After you finish eating or even before you finish, a waitress comes and she writes the amount of money you'll pay on a piece of napkin, a 3 dollars more than you supposed to pay and she insists that you pay her and not on the cash register ;and if you mention the word tip she will calculate tip percentage , and she orders you to pay an amount of tips as an obligatory item. Then if you say why 3 dollars more she insists it's the exact amount you must pay. If you pay her as she wanted, you have been robbed because she will keep that 3 dollars for her as a tip that you never intended plus the tip that you intended. and if you don't pay her and you insist to pay in the cash register, then they start speaking in chinese to the boss and to each other and they change that receipt faster and they make you a new one on REGULAR receipt paper with 3 dollars less (which means the normal amount). This is not a good place where you want to eat and relax with family or enjoy you dinner with friends , it 's a place where waitresses and the manager rob people, especially the new people who come everyday to visit Time Square area. The Midtown Buffet gives a bad reputation and bad souvenir to this place . The authorities should close this business or force them to work in a legal acceptable way. more

We went there for a togo box of white rice. The owner guy asked for $5. I didn't try to bargain since I didn't want to look for another place to buy white rice. So, I asked my husband to pay $5 and get the rice. Before my husband pulled his wallet out, I said to the owner:\r \r ""It's a little expensive for a box of white rice."" \r \r ""Do you know how much is a bag of raw rice?"" The owner said.\r \r ""Of course I do. I eat rice too."" (Actually, as I am writing this review, I am thinking, I should have asked him ""Do you know how many box of white rice a bag of raw rice will make?)\r \r ""if you like it, you buy it! If not, get out!""\r \r ""Well, if you talk to your customers like this, how can you keep your business up?"" I smiled, since I didn't want to start a fight, although I started to get mad.\r \r ""If you like if, you buy it! if not, get out!!!"" He pointed to my nose and then to the door.\r \r I was extremely madby that point!!!\r \r I walked out of the door. Unexpectedly, when I pushed the door open, the door was so loose that it touched the side wall just 2' away from the hinge of the door. Then I heard:\r \r ""Police, get her, she makes trouble...""\r \r Of course, the policemen who stand right outside of the buffet stopped me. Two minutes later, after I explained what had happened, and they saw on one was hurt and the door was still intact, they let me go. \r \r The owner was wearing a pair of dark sunglasses in that dark buffet. I bet, through those sunglasses, the owner guy can only see money, no human beings at all. \r \r If you need to find a place to loose your appetite, and in turn, loose your weight, this is the place I recommend! Pros: Loose appetite to loose weight Cons: Mean owner more

I do enjoy going out with a few friends and enjoying the varieties of food available in manhattan. Two of my friends and my boyfriend had decided to have dinner at Midtown Buffet. It seemed nice and orderly in there and we were promptly seated as it was not very busy at all. However, about half an hour to our meal, we're already given a make-shift check written with ink on a piece of napkin, indicating the total of what we owe them. \r \r Basically, I felt like we were already being rushed out when we just sat down and gotten our food. As I recall it is a buffet and I would think we're able to get more than one helping of food before you're expected to leave. Not even ten minutes later as we're just sitting back down after getting a little dessert, a waitress this time gives us an official check, again, stating how much we owe them. We decide to just leave quickly since we did not feel welcome. As we place the money onto the plate the waitress is already demanding we pay tip and telling us exactly how much tip we're suppose to pay. First of all, last I checked, a tip is optional and I feel you earn tip if you provided good service, which they did not. I go to speak with the cashier and asked for the manager. The man says he is the manager and I explained to him how uncomfortable I felt about what had just happened. He does not look me in the eyes, and just keeps saying ""okay, okay"", and continues to put money in the drawer, dismissing my presence. He does not even apologize or make any indication that he is even apologetic for his employees rude behavoir. Needless to say we will definitely not be returning there again nor recommending it. Pros: Fast seating, food seems fresh Cons: Rude waitresses/waiters, uncooperative managment team more

The food at Midtown Buffet is inexpensive but just okay. If you need a place to go to for a quick bite to eat and feel like having greasy food, this is the place to go. Don't expect any customer service and be prepared to be told by the staff how much you should tip for service they didn't provide to you. \r While one of the kitchen staff was replenishing the food, she dropped the bowl of food. Food splattered all over the floor as well as a few unlucky customers, such as my colleague, whose shoes and pants got drenched with sauce. No apologies ever came from the lady who dropped the food, and no apologies either from the manager or any of the other staff who were now making a big fuss over the clean-up. When we told one of the waitresses that my friend's shoes and pants were ruined, we got a curt response of ""Bathroom is in the back."" At the end of our meal, after we had settled our bill but were just getting ready to go, our waitress repeatedly said ""Bye"" to us - a subtle hint for us to leave? We were about to ignore that and let the issue of the food accident go, however, our waitress told us that each person in our party had to give $1 tip each. Tipping is discretionary, especially if you received bad service and got food spilled on you. I spoke with the manager, and as I was speaking with him, our waitress started talking to him simultaneously in their native language. The manager did not say ""Excuse me"", and instead just shrugged his shoulders and grudgingly said sorry while reaching his hand out to receive money from the next customer behind us. Pros: Fast food Cons: Rude Staff who tell you how much they should be tipped more