Buffets - Know of any good ones?

My mother is an extremely picky eater. In order for her to eat out, the place has to be a buffet where she is able to pick and choose her food with no limitations.

I've had some difficulty finding some really good buffet restaurants that are beyond the generic Old Country Buffet (OCB) fare or the standard sunday brunch buffet menus. There is of course the very common China Buffet restaurants, but there's gotta be something more.

The only ones I do like and know of with the exception of the obvious OCB and china buffets include:
- Todai ~ a japanese buffet complete with sushi (Schaumburg)
- Fogo De Chao ~ A brazilian churrascaria steakhouse (Chicago)
- India House ~ an indian buffet, great for those who are new to indian cuisine (Buffalo Grove)

Any ideas of other buffet places?? Thanks in advance!

Reza's has some pretty decent buffets. A mix of traditional breakfast foods and persian stuff. They've also got a lunch buffet on weekdays.

http://www.rezasrestaurant.com/
432 W Ontario St
Chicago, IL
60610-4014

How about Stanley's on Lincoln at Armitage? They have a build your own bloody mary bar, and a buffet that includes fried chicken, biscuits & gravy, fruit, desserts and more. Mmm, I love brunch buffets!

How about the Polish restaurants like the Red Apple and other similar places?

RJ Grunts in Lincoln Park has a really good cold buffet (salad bar), which is even better on Sundays. Nowadays, I think you can add a protein option (grilled chicken or steak) to the salad bar.

BJs on the south side (several locations) has good southern-style buffet.

Apparently, Trattoria No. 10 in the Loop offers a bar buffet for $12. I haven't had it, but I do like Trattoria No. 10.

Oh, and please please please don't miss the Red Apple for stick to your ribs Polish buffet. It's Old Country Buffet but (mostly) homemade and with that inimitable Polish feel. Great cold salads (beet, cabbage) and usually potato pancakes, boiled potatoes, rice, sausage, several kinds of chicken, fish, pork chops, and stroganoff type gravy dishes. Plus homemade cakes and cookies for desert and always fresh fruit. Yummy.

Last but not least is an inoffensive and inexpensive buffet chain called Sweet Tomatoes. It has a large cold buffet, plus about 6 hot soups, potato bar, breads, and a pasta bar. Be prepared for carbo-loading! It has only three locations in the Chicago area; the one near me is in Glenview, but also look in St. Charles and Schaumburg. Go to www.sweettomatoes.com for info and menus.

RJ Grunts
2056 North Lincoln Park West
Chicago, IL
773-929-5363

BJ's Market/Bakery (plus other locations)
(773) 445-3400
9645 S Western Ave
Chicago, IL 60643

Trattoria No. 10
10 N Dearborn
Chicago
312.984.1718

Red Apple
(2 locations)
6474 N Milwaukee Ave
Chicago, 60631
(773) 763-3407

3123 N Milwaukee Ave
Chicago, 60618
(773) 588-5781

Sweet Tomatoes
2351 Willow Rd.
Glenview IL
847-657-8141

I'm fond of Trattoria 10 as a restaurant, but the last time I tried their bar buffet it was limited to about 6-10 dishes -- more like a serving of antipasti than a buffet, so I wouldn't consider that an option with a picky eater. Another very large buffet however can be found near Midway at:

Boback's Sausage Company and Buffet 5275 S. Archer Avenue

There's also one in Naperville.

I think most of the Brazilian steakhouses have extensive buffets - I'm guessing the concept is to fill you up on the cheaper stuff before you get to the all-you-can-eat meat. One that I like (local for me, and cheaper than the downtown places) is:

Asado Grill
1012 Church St., Evanston
847-475-4175

jbw wrote:I'm fond of Trattoria 10 as a restaurant, but the last time I tried their bar buffet it was limited to about 6-10 dishes -- more like a serving of antipasti than a buffet, so I wouldn't consider that an option with a picky eater. Another very large buffet however can be found near Midway at:

Boback's Sausage Company and Buffet 5275 S. Archer Avenue

There's also one in Naperville.

There's also one in Burr Ridge on County Line Road

Flip

Korean Garden Buffet. I wouldn't miss it for the world. (Except that I have to as I will be in North Carolina.)



You're Invited!

I have to agree with Sweet Tomatoes but stay away from the pasta. That is the one thing that brings them down.

FoodGirl Robyn wrote:How about Stanley's on Lincoln at Armitage? They have a build your own bloody mary bar, and a buffet that includes fried chicken, biscuits & gravy, fruit, desserts and more. Mmm, I love brunch buffets!

Robyn,

I had Stanley's Bloody Mary bar and brunch buffet a few Saturday's ago. We were with a small group of LTHers, this was after a Culinary Historians talk, and MsWiv was in the mood for Bloody Mary's. Erik suggested Stanley's as having a nice Bloody Mary bar, so off we went.

ReneG and I were the only two who had the buffet, though admittedly, I did not try a wide selection of items. I was hooked on the buffet soon as I saw it contained both fried chicken and waffles. Stanley's fried chicken and waffles were good, not great, with the fried chicken being a better representation than the waffle, but, put fried chicken and waffles on the same plate, add a bit of syrup and hot sauce and magic happens.

Fresh fruit was tasty and the breakfast items looked good, though the ham on the bone appeared a bit shopworn. Bloody Mary bar really hit the spot.

Enjoy,
Gary

Stanley's
1970 N Lincoln Ave
Chicago, IL 60614
312-642-0007

Even tho Sweet Tomatoes/Soup Plantation is a national chain... it's still one of the better chains:
http://www.souplantation.com/
i love their 'chinese' chicken salad and the "AAA" discount. one's also in Schaumburg near Ikea.

now... of course... you can try all the different Chinese buffets in Downers Grove....

But did you try the biscuits and gravy? I love those...we don't have any Bob Evans in the area but I was in Ohio a few weeks ago and got my much loved biscuits with a huge bowl of gooey gravy. Mmm.
I've heard, though I haven't been yet, that Rockit Ranch Bar & Grill has a fantastic Sunday brunch as well, though not buffet. It's probably geared towards folks my age (20 & 30s) but the menu looks great...and yes they have bloody mary's!

where is this place?

Franabanana wrote:BJs on the south side (several locations) has good southern-style buffet.

A slight correction: the original BJ’s Market on Stony Island has cafeteria service 6 days a week but offers a buffet on Sunday only (and only after 11am). The BJ’s on Western and the newest one on 79th don’t have buffets. Even without the buffet BJ’s isn’t a bad choice for picky eaters because, like Hyde Park’s famous Valois, you can “See Your Food.”

All in all I like BJ’s, especially their mustard catfish. There is certainly better Southern style food to be had in Chicago but BJ’s offers a very easy introduction to soul food and the Sunday buffet is a great opportunity to try a wide variety of dishes.

BJ's Market
8734 S Stony Island Av
773-374-4700

9645 S Western Av
773-445-3400

1156 W 79th St
773-723-7000

jbw wrote:Boback's Sausage Company and Buffet 5275 S. Archer Avenue

Bobak’s is a good suggestion, with a huge well-maintained buffet. But in the same general area I much prefer Tatra Inn for Polish smorgasbord. Smaller selection but better food and there’s more of a Polish grandmother vibe than at Bobak’s mass-feeding assembly line.

Tatra Inn
6040 S Pulaski Rd
Chicago
773-582-8313

G Wiv wrote:ReneG and I were the only two who had the buffet [at Stanley’s], though admittedly, I did not try a wide selection of items.

I had a good time at Stanley’s (those quart-size Bloody Marys didn’t hurt) but I kept finding myself thinking, “You know, this would probably be really good if it was freshly made.” I thought too many things on the buffet were of the sort that really suffers when sitting out (e.g., fried chicken, waffles, biscuits). If I return I’ll try to get there when it’s more crowded and the buffet is replenished more often.

When did BJ's on Stony Island resume their Sunday buffet?

Do you know if Queen of the Sea on the other side of Stony Island still has a buffet?

When did BJ's on Stony Island resume their Sunday buffet?

I'm not sure. I, too, thought BJ’s had eliminated the Sunday buffet but gave them a call a couple days ago to check. The gentleman who answered seemed quite clear that the buffet is currently offered Sundays after 11am. If anyone plans to make a special trip for the buffet it probably wouldn’t hurt to call first.

Do you know if Queen of the Sea on the other side of Stony Island still has a buffet?

Queen of the Sea is no longer at 87th and Stony. It closed maybe a year back and reopened several months ago on Cottage Grove. I hope to post some more on Queen of the Sea soon.

I forgot to mention another buffet, up here in my north burb neighborhood...

Check out Allgauer's seafood buffet every Friday night - all you can eat LOBSTER. (Granted, they are split and fairly small, but it's lobster none the less.)

Allgauer's At the Riverfront (inside Northbrook Hilton)
2855 N. Milwaukee Ave
Northbrook, IL
847-664-7999

Bumping this thread to say that I tried Korean Garden Buffet at the recommendation of LTHforum, and it was absolutely fantastic. The lunch buffet w/o barbecue is a steal at $6.95. It's a steal with the barbecue at $14.95, but my friend and I decided that we weren't quite hungry enough to justify the extra expense. Sometime in a couple weeks we'll fast for a day and then go raid the barbecue.

Thanks for the recommendation!

Oh, Reza's buffet is good too, very nice meat quality, but neither of their locations has good parking.

The Reza's location on Clark has private (free) parking; there have always been available spaces when I've gone there for lunch. It's behind the building across Clark where the gym is.

No kidding? Thanks for the tip!

I've always been a huge fan of P.S. Bangkok on Clark St. b/w Roscoe and Buckingham. The buffet offers an insane variety of excellent food (appetizers, salads, noodles and entrees) that are fresh and it offers many thai dishes that I would consider to be a little less ordinary. My only caveat is they used to offer a dozens of amazing and creative desserts and they have cut down the dessert portion of the buffet considerably. But I would definitely recommend a visit. I think that it's excellent.

House of Hunan
1233 E Golf Rd
Schaumburg, IL 60173-4877
(847) 605-1166
right next to Tower Records on Golf.

$10.95/pp during weekend lunch gets you:
* mediocre rendition of peking duck in wrap (ask for sliced scallions because they only give you white onions, which is.. o! so wrong!)
* deep fried salt & pepper crab legs

the s&p crab legs were so good fresh out of the frier. a bit salty, but the flesh was tender and pungent. really amazing value considering we each ate 2 whole crab worth of legs...

I would also add that I've had wonderful brunch at the Oakbrook Drake a couple times in the last couple years. The selection but not be as massive others, but everything was quality and the price is relatively reasonable. My newest find is the Indian Grill buffet, which they serve Saturday and Sunday for lunch. Not sure about weekdays. I've eaten Indian all around, and I was very impressed with this place on Clark near Webster

Anyone been? I've read about this buffet, but am a little afraid of it.

Juana's
2406 S. Western Ave.
Chicago, IL
773-523-4166

Bump? Last post was Dec 2005.

Ones I tend to frequent now:

Gaylord (Indian)

Himalayan (Indian)

Reza's (both on Clark & Oakbrook)

Haven't been to Todai in years, but am thinking of re-trying.

Haven't been to Sushi Para II in years, but am thinking of re-trying.

Haven't been to Thai Classic in years, probably won't re-visit.

Haven't been to Baisi Thai in years, trip involves a bus, a train and walking... ugh...

Visited Filipiniana once, definitely won't re-visit.

Want to try P.S. Bangkok.

So, any good buffet's worth mentioning that you've eaten at lately?

i've got to second Reza's, Sunday Brunch in paticular:

http://www.rezasrestaurant.com/

i've also got to second Himalayan Indian Lunch Buffet:

http://www.himalayanrestaurant.com/

Jay K wrote:Want to try P.S. Bangkok.

I wouldn't recommend going to P.S. Bangkok. It used to be really huge and pretty good for what it was but I was there over the summer and it was very disappointing. I used to enjoy the sheer quantity of dishes, especially everything that wasn't a main dish (which I never particularly liked there). But when I went last, after not having gone for several years, I saw that they had taken part of the space that the buffet had occupied to put in a bar IIRC diminishing the size of the buffet significantly. And, not only was the selection not so great, the food was pretty tired and old. A few fresh and well-prepared dishes at another board favorite would be far superior to the various greasy dumplings and dried up stir fries on offer there, though it wouldn't satisfy the buffet urge.

The Epicurean Hungarian Restaurant has an excellent buffet on Wednesday-Saturday, and a Sunday Brunch, from 11am-3pm.

Epicurean Hungarian Restaurant
4431 W Roosevelt Rd
Hillside, IL
708-449-1000

foodie1 wrote:Any ideas of other buffet places?? Thanks in advance!

Foodie,

While only the very occasional user of the Buffet I recently had a nice Sunday meal at Red Apple. Garden Buffet, mentioned upthread, is a good choice as well.

Enjoy,
Gary

Red Apple
6474 N Milwaukee Ave
Chicago, IL 60631
773-763-3407

Garden Buffet
5347 N. Lincoln Ave.
Chicago, IL
773-728-1249