Old Country Buffet

This Old Country Buffet location along with other 74 under performing locations across the country operated by Hometown Buffets Corporation are now permanently closed. It’s a shame. My family and I have been eating at this Old Country Buffet location for decades since the 1980’s when I was a boy. However, the quality of food and service went downhill since then.

The people were very friendly. The salad bar was good. The deserts were very good. Some of the chicken breasts were dry (so go for the darker meet (drum sticks and thighs).
Keep in mind you are paying about $ 12 for all you can eat, so don’t compare it to a $ 40 Vegas Buffet!

The food here sucks. It is better to go home and prepare your own meal. I am not even exaggerating. I remember going here a few years ago and I will not go here ever again. I don’t recommend people to go here either. Simply a waste of money. This place deserves a negative stars not one.

I was on the north-​side of Chicago last weekend, and decided to give it a try. For the price, the food was o.k. Great variety. My server, Elena, was great with a nice smile and very helpful. I felt pretty satisfied that I got my money’s worth.

This is an update about my pet peeve concerning this Old Country Buffet location: the lack of attention to correct signage to tell people what they are eating. You were waiting for an update, right? :)
They still are not doing a great job. Either management doesn’t see it as important or staff is just careless about it or both.
I came in for dinner at 4:30 or so and I’d say 80% of the entrees or side dishes seemed to be wrongly labeled. It was almost comedic how thoroughly incorrect so many things were labeled. Imagine chicken with the sign above it saying spare ribs, or rice saying corn, or carrots saying potatoes. You get the idea.
Now, I understand that lunch becomes dinner at some point at all buffet places, and the menu changes somewhat and new dishes are brought out. So signs have to change. Dinner is supposed to begin at 3:30 at this chain, so I presume the dinner dishes come out at that point. But it was already 4:30 and everything was mislabeled as far as the eye could see.
I pointed this out to an employee, who laughed and said I shouldn’t read the signs by the food because «it’ll drive you crazy.» To his credit, he did go around changing some of the signs at that point along with another worker to try to sort things out a little better.
I got especially irked because I went over to the salad bar and the seafood salad was labeled potato salad and vice versa. The labels were swapped. Not a huge deal to most people, probably, but as I’ve pointed out in previous reviews, I have extremely bad allergies to fish and seafood. If I start chowing down on seafood salad for whatever reason, I’ll be off in an ambulance to Swedish Covenant to breathe steroids through a tube for a few hours (if I am lucky).
I mentioned the error to the hospitality manager but he was not so hospitable. He changed the signs around but seemed annoyed and unhappy that I was bringing it up. Instead of thanking me for giving a damn, he said, «Are you OK?» Like I was a freak for mentioning it.
I like this restaurant. The food is good enough, in general. The price is affordable for the value you get. The bus staff is attentive and I’m sure overworked for what they get paid. So why can’t the managers get this one thing right? Patrons deserve to know what each and every dish is, every time they come here. Not just because it’s professional, and because it is what restaurants are expected to do, but because it’s the safe thing to do; customers have all sorts of allergies and special diets to contend with.
I know management does care about this because they actually reached out to me in the past to discuss it and apologize when I complained online… but problems persist. All restaurants need improvement, so I hope this one realizes that consistent and attentive food signage would be an easy but significant improvement they can make. We shall see. The proof is in the pudding. (Beans? Cole slaw? Cantaloupe? Or will the pudding sign say… pudding?)

This was our first time here and everyone was so nice to us. The place was clean and very roomy BUT the food was not so good
We went at 5pm for dinner and the selection was not good at all. Most of the food looked like it was sitting out for a very long time. The meat on the ribs and chicken was not cooked well and it bread was hard. I don’t think the price we paid for dinner was worth it but the ladies that took our plates and cleaned tables were so nice and sweet, I told them it was my sons birthday and they brought him a small cake that said happy birthday and they sang to him which made his night so it was worth it. The Picture I posted should show that. Nice friendly staff but unfortunately the food not good.

omg… call the health department!!! this place is disgusting and filthy. the ‘food’ or lack of it is inedible!!! mold-​dirt-​bugs-​filth-​uncaring help, etc. save your money… go elsewhere! too bad you can’t give this place negative stars.

Nope. Just don’t do it. I’ve never questioned what I was eating so much. Were they mashed potatoes or cloudy dishwater? Hard to tell. It was filthy. Employees standing around while carts with stacks and stacks of dirty dishes sat in the cleanup cart area. Trash on the floor and no one working on cleaning it up. I couldn’t find one thing on the buffet that looked appetizing. Tried a plate of things that looked ok-​ish and it was all awful. Not even worth the cheap price. Did not finish eating and we left.

This is categorically the worst place I’ve ever eaten. Baked chicken thigh was simultaneously chalk dry on one side and under cooked tasting on the other. I though Brussels sprouts would have been a safe choice but they were incredible salty and disgusting.
Even freaking waffle fries tasted like they were made of foam.
Don’t go in save your $ 11 (warning clue#1)!!!
If you know anyone frequenting OCB then you need to run to their aid because this is a terrible form of self-​hate.
I will be writing the health dept. — I’m sure the dishwater tasting mashed potatoes are classified as a form of terrorism.
1 Star assumes a review of a restaurant…
Clearly this is a patient zero hangout.

Never came to a OCB in my life and all i can say is…
Depressing, low selections, no good vibes coming from this place at all!
I came in on a Sunday hoping to have me belly full of good eats for my birthday dinner instead, i had a mini ass sort of foods thrown in front of me. I walked around the food in disgust by the food.
Dry tasting food. My stomach actually made itself full just to tell me to stop eatting this slope.
Gotta pay a beverage fee as well? I thought this was a buffet. All you can eat!
First and Last time im coming to this disgusting forsaken place.

Went to Old Country Buffet on 6560 W Fullerton Ave, today and was so disappointed. We came for dinner around 4pm, there was so many food missing that needed to be refilled, I ate what was available but just disappointed that they didn’t refill the meatloaf, taco shells and other food. It was dinner time and they should have enough food available. What got me sick was going for the dessert and finding bitten cheesecake with the rest of the dessert, also the forks, spoons were dirty like someone put mashed potato on the utensils. I used to love Old Country Buffet but since today I will never go back and won’t recommend it to anyone.

If you want to eat at a filthy shithole, THIS IS THE PLACE! Garbage is all over the floor, and the carpet is filthy and smelly. But your kids love serving themselves, so you throw down you cash, and hope for the best. But seriously… NO MILK?!? It’s FAMILY NIGHT, for Pete’s sake! No white milk, no chocolate milk, not even creamers for the coffee! And no, it’s not because the dairy delivery didn’t come! So I asked the bus lady. I asked the hostess. I asked the manager. Here we are, an hour later, and STILL NO MILK!!! Do you know why? Turns out NOT ONE SINGLE EMPLOYEE HERE KNOWS HOW TO CHANGE THE MILK!!! Never ever ever again!

It’s old country buffet. For the price point it’s fabulous. Don’t come here and expect 5 star cuisine because this isn’t that. I don’t generally like buffets, but I meet on the first Sunday of every month with a great bunch of people.
You can’t beat the price. I recommend going right around when breakfast is ending and lunch starts so you get the best of both worlds. I really like that the manager brings around fresh baked cookies! That’s an awesome touch.
That’s all folks…

I had lunch here today and I really thought it was a joke. The clam chowder soup was so thick I thought I was eating oat meal. They had the usual salad bar and the entrees were basically baked and fried chicken. They only beef the had there was meat for the taco in the taco bar area and mini hamburgers that was served only once while I was there. I requested them to bring out some more and I waited 20 minutes and had to leave and still no mini hamburgers. Oh they have this new thing where they give you a steel cup full of vegetables and gravy and if your lucky two pieces of meat the size of a 50 cent coin.
I guess OCB is cutting back on their lunch menu in order to keep the prices at a price to be lower then the Chinese buffets nearby. However I think those will be my choices now because they offer more variety and offer more entrees that have meat.
I doubt I would ever go to an OCB again.

I went there one evening with my boys and the food was cold and there wasn’t much to choose from. It wasn’t crowded that evening, so I don’t think it was right for the workers not to be able to keep up with the food. Anyway when I went to have my dessert, I almost threw up! THERE WAS A FLY IN MY FOOD, AND IT WAS STILL ALIVE! Thinking about it still makes me sick!

Old Country Buffet has been removing popular items such as catfish, spaghetti & meat sauce, butterfly shrimp, pot roast, and cottage cheese from their menu. In addition there seems to be a crowd that arrives just before the 3:30 p.m. dinner time to take advantage of the lunch prices and wipes out the salad bar and other popular items.
I would prefer that they raise prices, control the 3:15 «rush» to eliminate the rif-​raf. The place is still a good deal but could be better if they raise the price $ 2 and improve the menu.

You cannot get a better food deal. The selection of salad items was excellent, they have individual servings of pulled pork, shredded beef and others. The waitresses are very diligent about keeping the plates cleared and continuously straighten out chairs and sweep the floors when necessary. The Saturday and Sunday breakfasts are excellent. I eat here three times a week.

It had been a long time I’d stepped foot at a OCB and when I did — it was at the one on Narragansett. I remember enjoying the food and my specially favorite– the breakfast. buffet
fast track to twenty years later.(yes my last OCB recollection was when I was around 10) I came to the Lincolnwood Location and though I am not generally a fan of buffets in general, was dismayed to see how dirty this location looked. Some of the pans were not even restocked with the food that had been wiped out. The man doing the omelets although nice was just not moving quick enough, I do cut him some slack however since he was using an electric stove so maybe that was the reason behind the delay. The ingredients we could add left a lot to be desired — they just looked– cheap. The coffee was a bit bland and although I am not a coffee snob, had never heard of the coffee brand they brew and not because it is an elite brand but rather because it’s probably some low-​end coffee brand. Definitely not impressed. Also not a lot of healthy options — granted one doesn’t really go to a buffet to eat healthy, but would’ve appreciated some healthier alternatives.
Also — when paying you are asked if you would like drinks. kind of a redundant question, I have never been to a restaurant where people opt not to have anything to drink– you say yes then you are charged $ 2 more…
Overpriced and mediocre.
No thanks OLB.

I love this place because I am usually so fickle about what I want and it takes me forever to order off of a menu (soooo many choices) unless I go in knowing what I want. But how do you know what you want if you’ve never been there in the first place? (catch-​22)
This place has the friendliest servers and everything is gasp– clean! Their «ice-​cream» machine is actually behind the counter which makes it super sanitary! (I asked and it’s because the City of Chicago has specific sanitary codes that the suburbs apparently do not have).
Speaking of desserts, they actually improved a lot on the aesthetics of their desserts and I felt like I was at a Casino buffet (with all of the cute choices in small serving cups).
Drink wise– they had everything from ICEEs to chocolate milk to juices to different pops (not soda).
Food wise– they had the most amazing fish fillet bites and really yummy mac-​n-​cheese.
The food is hearty and tasty and for the price (11.00/AYCE) — I am game!
PS. OCB also upped their game and have a «spice station» full of different condiments to satiate your palette!
I WILL BE BACK!

Recently I’ve been receiving these surveys from OCB. I complete very truthfully. This survey asked if I would use a 2/​$ 15.99 coupon. SURE, but not at that location. And I’m not going on the other side of town (Brickyard Mall) to use it so that kills that thought. Not when I refuse to visit the 6125 N Lincoln location because it’s DIRTY. Oh, and it generated a coupon after I completed the survey. Again… NOT.
Revamp, or clean, you location. And even if you do, how would I know since I won’t go back because it’s dirty. Ah well.