21 Golden Corral Buffet Items, Ranked

Is there any buffet more well-known in the United States than Golden Corral? With hundreds of locations scattered across the country, there's a decent chance you've at least heard of the chain, and you've likely been there at least once or twice. Even if you don't know everything about the chain, you probably know of Golden Corral for its expansive breakfast, lunch, and dinner buffets — all of which give hungry customers an impressive array of foods to choose from for under $20 at most locations.

However, with such an expansive menu comes the obvious question: Does everything taste good? Making a wide variety of foods daily is no easy feat, and I'd be surprised if every item was out-of-this-world great, especially considering what the buffet costs. Any buffet is bound to have its ups and downs, and Golden Corral is no exception. I headed to my local branch to do a taste test and ranking of every item available on the buffet, taking into consideration taste, texture, and whether the item seemed fresh. My biggest takeaway? Some dishes that looked delicious were less than stellar, while others that I was dubious of trying ended up surprising me. 

While I'm not sure it would be justified to call Golden Corral's mashed potatoes the worst mashed potatoes I've ever had, they're sitting at the bottom of this list for a few reasons. The biggest reason? They taste like poorly seasoned instant mashed potatoes. The potatoes themselves were dry, salty, and just not very palatable. I added gravy (which is available separately but was right next to the potatoes) on top of the potatoes in the hopes of making them better, but it did the opposite. The gravy was incredibly salty and had a strange, almost gelatinous texture. For being such a simple dish that's hard to get wrong, Golden Corral didn't do justice to this one.

I was oscillating between last and second to last place for Golden Corral's steamed vegetable assortment, and the only reason they ranked above the mashed potatoes was because they didn't suffer from being too salty. In fact, these veggies had the opposite problem — I'd place a hefty bet on there not being any seasoning on these at all. The only positive thing I have to say about the vegetables is that they retained some texture and weren't completely mushy. I'm not sure why the buffet chooses to steam them rather than roast them — maybe that's what its demographic prefers? Regardless, it feels like anything could have been done to make these taste better.

I actually thought I wouldn't mind these scrambled eggs. They aren't as wet as eggs I've had at some restaurants, and as I tend to cook my scrambled eggs to be pretty dry, that was a positive sign for me. Alas, a small bite of these scrambled eggs left me not wanting to take any more. First off, they were cold (actually, most of the food I ate was just lukewarm) and they had an almost slimy quality that made for an off-putting texture. As with the last few items I talked about, I don't think these scrambled eggs were seasoned at all — they didn't even taste like salt had been added. On the whole, they were pretty unappealing, and I'd skip this Golden Corral dish if I were you. 

Next, I opted for some chips and spooned what I assumed was a spinach and artichoke dip on top. It was right next to the chips, there was no sign up, and it makes sense that that's what the dish would be — unfortunately, it was anything but. The spinach dip (which I'm assuming is some kind of creamed spinach dish) was unpleasant. I'm not a huge fan of cooked spinach in general, but this tasted like it came from a can and was cold, wet, and bitter. If creamed spinach is your thing, maybe you'll appreciate this dish more than I did. As far as the chips, they tasted like your standard from-a-bag tortilla chips. 

Can you guess what I'm going to say about this one? You can probably infer my criticism from the previous items on this ranking, if not from the above picture. My biggest issue with Golden Corral's sauteed onions and peppers is that they were devoid of any seasoning whatsoever. On the plus side, they retained some bite, and fortunately for the chain, peppers and onions have enough of their own flavor for the lack of seasoning to be slightly more excusable. That's the only reason this dish ranked above some of the others. It was incredibly lackluster; at this point in my tasting, I was pretty displeased that the chain didn't have more appealing vegetable options.

I'm not sure what Golden Corral considers the best way to cook bacon, but it certainly isn't whatever has been done with these strips. And no, I didn't just pick the worst slice — all of them looked like this. The bacon pile was a floppy mess in the buffet line, and though I'm normally a huge bacon fanatic, I really didn't want to try these. They were exactly as oily and limp as I imagined them to be. The saddest thing is that the bacon could have been saved had it simply seen more cook time; the only reason this scored as high as it did is because, well, it's bacon.

The sign above this dish specifically read "Seasoned Wedge Fries," so you can probably guess my complaint about this dish — where's the seasoning? These fries were just as bland as they looked, and they didn't even have a decent enough texture to save them from incredible mediocrity. The inside was fairly mealy and the outside was more tough than crunchy. Unless you're a kid who's a picky eater, these flavorless french fries are really only palatable with a dipping sauce.

Now, onto the dishes that I'd call "fine" — they're nothing special, but they were decent enough for me to take a few bites. Golden Corral's Bourbon Street chicken looked pretty appealing, and I was anticipating a tender chicken in a sweet, smoky sauce. This dish almost got there, but it fell short on too many marks to rank any higher on this list. First, it didn't have a great texture. The chicken was chewy and seemed overcooked. The biggest flaw here was the sauce — though it had a decent flavor, it was way too salty to eat more than a couple bites of. On the plus side, it was a pretty flavorful dish.

Ah, an American dietary staple — pizza. Pepperoni just so happens to be my favorite pizza topping, so I figured this slice had a solid chance of being pretty good. To be honest, I'm still not sure about this pizza, which is probably why it got a middling spot on this list. The pizza was insanely thick and cheesy, which doesn't sound like a bad thing on the surface (especially for cheese fans such as myself), but it felt like the cheese was there to overcompensate for the rest of the pizza's mediocrity. Beyond that, it was undercooked, with a doughy and flavorless crust. It wasn't the worst pizza I've ever had, but it certainly wasn't great.

Golden Corral's roasted dark meat chicken looked pretty good, if pretty plain. I took a bite of the chicken leg to find that it actually wasn't bad; it was decently cooked, and the meat was tender and juicy. This could have earned the chicken a higher spot on this list if only it had more flavor. There was a slightly sweet flavor to the chicken but not much other seasoning of note. While this would be another palatable dish for picky kids, I don't think many adult consumers would rave over it. 

Alas, the slice of ham I happened upon in the buffet line was cold. Had it not been, it may have ranked slightly higher on this list (though not too much higher — it still wasn't stellar). The only thing I have to say about this ham is that it just tasted like ham. It was fine without being anything noteworthy or horrible. The ham was decently tender, and whatever it was "glazed" with wasn't prominent at all. I was underwhelmed — though a fine slice of ham, there was nothing about it to encourage me to go back for seconds.

Another middling spot on my list goes to Golden Corral's pot roast, a dish that's so easy to make flavorful and one with which Golden Corral fell short again. Seasoning a pot roast is easy, so I'm not sure why this one tasted as bland as it did. Beyond its subpar flavors, the beef was chewy, and the potato chunks were ginormous compared to the rest of the ingredients. On the plus side, the potatoes were soft and melted in your mouth — however, they were hardly seasoned and incredibly thick, so they just tasted like boiled potatoes. I'd rank this on the lower end of pot roasts I've tried, but at least it had more flavor than some other dishes on this list.

Fortunately, sausage patties are pretty hard to mess up, and Golden Corral did a decent job with these (though they're far from being the best sausage patties I've ever had). I'll start with the pros: The seasoning on these sausage patties was great, and it gave a slight spicy kick that leveled these up a bit. However, I prefer my sausage patties to be juicy and hold some moisture, and these were unforgivably dry, leaving me to believe they were likely overcooked. Had the sausage patties had a better texture, I would have easily ranked them a few spots higher; as it stands, I couldn't justify ranking them above spot number nine.

And now, onto a brief selection of dishes that I would try again but weren't overjoyed by. Kicking off this portion of the list is Golden Corral's macaroni and cheese, an ooey-gooey mess of a dish that I found myself finishing nonetheless. I only had a couple of qualms with this dish — the noodles were softer than I'd like, and it was too wet for my personal preference. Other than that, I liked the flavors; the restaurant used a decent cheese blend and it was seasoned well. But if you're after a widely palatable, pretty satisfying macaroni and cheese, this will fit the bill.

Golden Corral's yellow rice tasted like it was from a box, but I didn't mind with this dish. It tasted like your standard Spanish rice with a well-balanced seasoning blend, and unlike some other dishes on this list, it had just the right amount of salt. It was a little more oily than I'd have liked, but that didn't count against it too much. The rice was well-textured and held some bite, and though it would have been nice to see some diced veggies added to this rice dish, I didn't hold that against the dish either. It was a perfectly palatable rice that I wouldn't be racing to get again, but if I ever found myself at a Golden Corral, it would probably end up on my plate.

Chili fanatics probably won't be blown away by Golden Corral's Timberline chili, but I highly doubt anyone could try it and call it bad. The flavors were good — the chili had a nice, toned-down spiciness that won't be too overwhelming if you're spice-averse, and it had a subtle sweetness that rounded out the dish. The only knocks against this dish are that the beans were a little overcooked, and the chili was somewhat oily and thinner than I'd have liked. This can easily be solved by not breaking up the meat so much as you're cooking it.

I'd be remiss not to mention my deep, lasting affinity for biscuits. With that affinity comes a high standard, and I was more than surprised to find that Golden Corral's biscuit lived up to what I wanted it to be. Its textures were perfect (in fact, if this were a ranking solely based on textures, the biscuit might be at the top). The outside of the biscuit was incredibly crispy while retaining a soft, flaky interior, and it had enough of a naturally buttery flavor that I didn't want to add anything to it. This biscuit is definitely one of the better restaurant biscuits I've had, and my only complaint is that there was something slightly artificial about the flavor — I'm guessing the chain may use margarine or another cooking fat rather than butter.

Golden Corral's pork and gravy dish is the biggest example on this list of how looks can be deceiving. I was loath to try this dish — the gravy had a jiggle to it, and the meat was unidentifiable (there was no sign, so I ended up asking a server to identify it for me). One bite had me changing my tune completely. This dish is way better than it looks, with moist, tender pork and flavorful, umami-packed gravy. The pork was cut into balanced, bite-sized pieces, and they were thick enough not to dry out during the cooking process. As I suspected, the gravy was a little gelatinous, but it was flavorful enough to make me look the other way. While not being mind-blowing, I was definitely surprised by this one.

The final three dishes on this list are what you'd find on my plate if you ever saw me at Golden Corral. I unashamedly enjoyed these and would be perfectly satisfied with a meal that just consisted of these three things. First, the chain's pulled pork with BBQ sauce seems like a no-brainer favorite — after all, how wrong can you go with pulled pork barbecue? The pork was tender, moist, and easily chewable, and while I'm pretty sure the BBQ sauce was just a bottled sauce (it tasted like Sweet Baby Ray's), it was yummy nonetheless. In fact, you could probably use this sauce on a lot of Golden Corral's dishes if you wanted to make them more palatable.

The last two picks on this list are fried, but you can't blame me — fried food is simply delicious, and these dishes are no exception. I would have happily taken a bucket of Golden Corral's fried shrimp home with me, and probably would have finished them all in the car. Even sans dipping sauce they were delicious. The shrimp itself was wonderfully tender (I was expecting them to be chewy) and the outside was thick and crispy. I wouldn't call this the most flavorful batter in the world, but I hardly minded — it at least had salt and pepper, and the textures were out of this world. Plus, they're the perfect snacking size, which made it very difficult not to go up for seconds. 

Golden Corral knows how to play the fried foods game, and my number one pick is one I doubt you'd disagree with if you ever go to the buffet. One bite of this fried chicken had me knowing it would rank about at the top of my list — it was fantastic. The inside was incredibly juicy and tender while the batter fried up into a crispy, thick outer coating. Beyond that, the breading was peppery and full of flavor. Had I not had to try multiple dishes on this trip to Golden Corral, I'd have been hard-pressed to keep myself from having quite a few pieces of its fried chicken. 

Ranking these dishes was an easier feat than some other rankings I've taken on in the past. Unsurprisingly, the quality of items at Golden Corral was pretty varied, and it's clear the establishment spends more time on some dishes than it does on others. As I tasted different items, it became apparent that I'd be ranking these dishes first and foremost based on their flavor — or, in many cases, their lack thereof. Dishes that were minimally seasoned or too salty ranked toward the bottom of the list, while dishes that had any notable seasoning at all ranked higher.

Secondary to flavor was texture, and a food's freshness definitely impacted my ranking, at least subconsciously. For example, I suspect the carved, glazed ham would have ranked higher had it been served hot, and I didn't have as much of a problem with the bacon's flavor as I did with its limp, soggy texture. This made it easy to rank the chain's fried chicken as my top choice — it was hot, crispy, juicy, and packed with flavor, a no-brainer favorite for the restaurant.