Old Country Buffet

When we have visiting family or friends, this is a great go-​to place. We visit strictly for the food variety and price. The location is also convenient when we are in VA. If you expect stellar service, this isn’t the place to come. The fruit and salad items are quality and varied. They usually have 2 – 3 soups. There are many meat & veggie items. The desserts aren’t enticing but there is always jello and yogurt… my go-to’s at a buffet. Avoid the bathrooms!

I haven’t been to Old Country Buffet in years and this was the worst experience ever. We went for breakfast and my daughter and I loaded up our plates with a few items that were edible. My daughter bit into her waffle and it was OOZING batter. I told the manager, Brian Anderson and he acted like it wasn’t a big deal, said they used POWERED batter and that there was no egg in it and he would get her another one. He said that the RAW batter wouldn’t hurt her. Seriously? You don’t see the bigger picture here buddy? After he brought back another waffle he said that he had to pull two other ones because they were raw too. I told him as calmly as I could that ANYTHING undercooked can cause illness and that I wouldn’t be back. He acted like he didn’t care and went about his business. 15 mins later he came back with two comp cards for us to come back. As if I ever would. Save your money and don’t go to this place.

I’m not sure why there are SO many bad reviews for this place. Maybe I just caught them on a GOOD day! I went around 11:05am (I remember this because we were trying to catch brunch but had JUST missed it!). The cashier was friendly and personable. Food was fresh. Dining room was neat. Waitress brought dessert pastries to our table as we ate. I don’t do buffets often but if I’m in the area, I’d go back again. I gave 4 stars because I was pleasantly surprised.

Immediately I became violently ill for 72 hours after eating a rancid salad. NEVER will I be coming back. It’s as if Satan himself dragged me in here by the throat and tried to kill me. Thanks Lucifer, ahem– I mean mother-​in-​law. Now I know for sure that you and your iron stomach want me in the ground.
A dirty, dingy, grimey, filthy, splotchy place with the menu to match. The «food» was extremely offensive. I had to recollect myself after seeing the Mac & cheese concoction. They might as well have scooped vomit off of the floor and added food coloring. If they haven’t already done so.
It was as if the «food» was reheated in a filthy piss soaked microwave 400 times over after sitting out in the open being played with and sneezed on for months on end. Everything was stunningly nasty. Even the salad bar was questionable. I had to walk around with my crusty plate for what seemed like hours trying to decide what wouldn’t kill me. I didn’t dare mess with the filthy soda fountain, practically dripping with E. coli and fecal matter.
Would rather undergo 40 lashes out in the parking lot for everyone to see then eat here again willingly. (through hell and back.)

I honestly don’t know why all these reviews are so bad. The food trays were always full and the selection really wasn’t bad at all!

I wish I read these reviews before I wasted over a $ 100 here. It’s was a complete mess there was little to no food a bus full of kids arrived about the same time as U.S. But they have no value in the rating.
So let’s start with salad bar it was frozen not sure how you eat frozen salad.
Moving on went to taco bar no nothing to make a taco went back several times never restocked so never got one
The so called carving station had no one at it and the meat was little to none no steak no ham no nothing.
I really feel like I wasted $ 100 dollars for my kids to eat mac n cheese, chicken and pizza.
I just thought this would be a nice place to celebrate Father’s Day boy was I wrong I will not bring my family back here.

Well, we went there for dinner for our Washington trip and I expected better. The food tasted like someone cooked it on the bathroom floor. Plus, it was all food I could of made in the microwave at home for a cheaper price. Going along with the bathroom, the bathroom looks like nobody cleaned it in 20 years. I would give it –2 stars, but I can’t, so I loosely give it 1 star.

Our meal was ok for this type of establishment. It always seems like we arrive just after a bus load of seniors, or group of high school students on a field trip. The dessert area looked like a trailer park the day after a F 5 tornado! The staff spent 30 minutes trying to recover the buffet items. Thea kids ate more food than a cheat day at a Jenny Craig convention. Luckily, the fried chicken was available or we may have come unglued.

The food is typical of what you pay for~ Therefore, I really shouldn’t write anything bad here. Hmm… Ambience was bright and no complaints about the servers. We were there on a week day. There were senior citizens, families with small children, and a very large group of out of town teenagers on a field trip. The students added to the chaos with their noise and making of mess. The restaurant quickly refilled the food. The «noise» actually made the place seem cheerful. My kids were oblivious to the puddle of ice cream on the floor. All in all, I give it 4 stars for AYCE.

This is defiantly the worst place have NEVER been in my 32 years of life. Everything about this place makes you puke. I was so stupid going in with my mother. I hesitated at first from its looks from the outside but somehow the devil pushed me in.
The first attack was with their ridicules price, $ 15 per person. Then the limited menu items makes you feel like someone is cheating you out of your money. There was literally nothing. Huge salad bar with rotten vegetables. Meat was scares in this place. All you see is corn, carrots, mash potatoes, all seems to be right out of a can. you walk around with your empty plate for something to eat but you see absolutely nothing that worth eating.
Finally, I went to the meat carving table but the disappointment continues. There is a huge dude behind the table. He suppose to be one cutting you some meat but this guy is not interested in cutting you anything. He is just protecting what is left of the damn roast beef. Hey meat price is at its all time high but come on. That is when I got the hint. This place is in a dire situation financially and they are doing anything they can to save money.
I saved the best for last — me and my mother got sick immediately after eating at this place. There seems to be some kind of contamination. My mother was so sick that she did not leave the house for four days. If anyone who ate at this place around March 10 and got sick, please contact the Alexandria Heath Department. I have seen a bus full of high school kids going in and I feel bad for them.

I went with my mother for a quick bite before going back to work. I hadn’t been in years and now I know why. The food is horrible. The chicken was cold and the rest of the food was blah. I wasn’t expecting great due to it being a buffet but not horrible. What it does have going for it is that it is very clean… nothing else!

Went here on Christmas. They frequently replace food items. The food is good. Good customer service.

Very ordinary, over priced for buffet cost. Workers were very friendly. Wouldn“t recommend unless an emergency.

Ghetto, terrible food, terrible service, dirty, dingy and old. Go the extra mile to Great American for buffet style meals.

I did not expect much, but I was still disappointed. Was a little expensive. If I actually wanted to eat the food I saw, the price would of have been okay. Desserts were all pretty gross. All I really ate was salad. I will not go back.

My mail’s always late
But that day it was fate
Opened the box up
Only to find a coupon to cut
«$ 4.99 Breakfast» it said
«Old Country Buffet» it read
Forget those golden arches I thought
This is endless breakfast and it’s hot!
Made the 8am trek to be the first
Ate, and ate some more — about to burst
It was cheap so don’t judge me
Buffets are my weakness I’m sure you’ll agree
The moral is check your mail soon
Eat lots, eat cheap, and bring a spoon

I will not say; don’t go back for families with children but no for couples or lovers. Lol children will love the environment over there. I Suggest to the owner to turn it only for kids.
Not that much options, the place is dirty and smell:-(, Definitely will never recommend it to nobody !

It’s been a minute since I’ve been in so I thought I’d stop in for a carry-​out order. It’s been a little over a year. The prices have changed! I saw that the price for a lunch meal had gone up to the dinner price but more that the price for carry-​out was now more than the price of staying there and eating.
But it gets better, the size of the carry out containers got noticeably smaller. So where bang for your buck is concerned avoid the carry out.
The food does sit out much longer than any other buffet that I’ve experienced but all in all it is not bad.
New surprise also!!! You have to now pay for your drink! Drinks were always included here! Imagine my surprise when the greeter asked me if I’d like a drink. I said «Of, course» and the price went up by another $ 1.50, that’s with tax.
I guess new management means new pricing and portion size…
For the same price if not cheaper I’d rather go to other places in the same price range.
If you’re going for a sit-​down meal and you can avoid the bus rush, it should not be a bad experience but not one that I’d go out of my way to recommend.
My true concern is with charging more for giving less…

Now, before I dive into my review, I want to explain a few things.
Old Country Buffet is an all you can eat place that seats more than 100 people.
This means they have to produce tons of food rather quickly, clean dishes and the occasional spills (I saw about 4 plates of food dropped and stepped over by the offending parties who just knew the staff would clean up), and manage to seat your local church, baseball team, field trip all under 30 minutes. It’s a lot to ask, but they manage to pull it off.
–1 Star for the food:
I have never had mashed potatoes that were already so packed full of butter that I felt my blood pressure rising instantly. Since most of the patrons (that section is next) are focused on finding something palatable, they tend to be a bit hasty. That means they are co-​mingling food items. I found ranch dressing in the french dressing. I found a piece of ham in the mixed greens. I found ice cream dropped on the chicken. Since you eat with your eyes first, my pupils wanted to vomit.
–1 for the Patrons:
They have a promotion that kids eat for .99 cents on Thursdays. That means that this place generates regulars. You want to know how to identify the regulars? I would have to say that they are the ones who care the least about the place. I haven’t seen this many unhealthy people since going to a Biggest Loser Casting call. It’s SAD. Standard American Diet. And they are feeding this high salt, high sugar, high fat. high caloric, dense, substance that is devoid of nutrients to the kids. Yes, you can eat as much ice cream as you want, but make sure you eat your fried chicken, waffle fries, mac and cheese, glazed carrots and drink down that sprite. Mac and Cheese is not a vegetable. Apple Cobbler is not a fruit. Yes, it has fruit in it, but it’s covered in a sugary glaze. One kid was so covered in cobbler gook that I though Ripley just pulled him down from a wall «Kill…Me…Pleeeeeease» Stop feeding our kids this way.
–1 for the staff:
Very friendly. Polite to a point. But they are tired of cleaning up after the Patrons who honestly are slobs. This means that they wont care much if some kid sneezes over the green beans. They’ve lost hope. I don’t blame them, but they still have to do better at making this a dining experience instead of trying to scare me with horror stories.
–1 for myself.
I should have known better. I should have asked myself a few questions.
Do I want to eat all I can?
Do I want to compete with a bunch of people over who gets the only decent looking lettuce leaf?
Do I want to be saddened by seniors who are on a fixed income try to stomach the rice pudding. «Oh…that’s not rice pudding? I cry inside for you my elder»
Do I want to eat something that has had hundred of people passing by it, perhaps manipulating it in some way?
Do I care if the cook washes his hands… because all those other people may not have.
So I give you 1 star OCB. Not because you aren’t what you say you are. You are a trough for humans pigs. I shall try my hardest not to oink.
edit– After menatally revisiting and thinking about the business, I wont say avoid this place like the plague. I’ll give it three stars. If you have large groups who have different food favorites, or if you want to experience kids night… check it out. You’ll eventually have to decide for yourself.

The menu here is basically the same as other Old Country Buffets but the cleanliness was poor, or should I say that it was just plain nasty. The person sweeping the floor also sliced the meat and served it without washing, yikes. The ice cream area hadn’t been cleaned and was overflowing. I better stop here or my rating is gonna drop…