City Buffet in Roy: Six Fast Facts
Visiting City Buffet in Roy reminded me of some of the Vegas mega-buffets, where you get a bit of a workout just walking back and forth from the food displays to your table. (But don’t worry, the calories come back with a helping of fries or mashed potatoes!).
Because it’s so big (450 seats), City Buffet magnifies both the pros and cons of buffets. Pros: You’re free to try a little of an unfamiliar dish that you wouldn’t order from a menu. Also, buffets are a major econo-meal for folks with big appetites who can eat to their stomach’s content. And if you’re taking a picky eater, there’s enough variety (over 200 items) that they can probably find SOMETHING they will eat.
Some of the cons: You don’t get the artistic presentation of a dish that’s thoughtfully plated, garnished and brought to your table. And there’s a tendency to overeat or waste food. A few years ago, a food and beverage manager told me that about half of the food at his buffet went to waste, and recent studies have borne this out.
Another con: the feeling of being elbow-to-elbow with strangers in a chow line. Especially during a pandemic. When I visited in March for my Standard-Examiner story, a staffer in the lobby was handing out masks, gloves and hand sanitizer as a nod to Covid safety. Still, social distancing is questionable when you’re all gathered around food displays and sharing serving spoons.
Love buffets or hate ’em, here are some fast facts about City Buffet.
1.Opened in January, the massive all-you-can-eat restaurant offers Chinese, American and seafood specialties, a salad bar, sushi bar, and a Mongolian grill, all under one roof. There are 450 seats (with more to be added when Covid restrictions ease), and more than 200 items.
2. Besides its massive size, what sets City Buffet apart is its variety of seafood, from fried flounder to salmon, shrimp, clams, octopus, crab, mussels. sushi … and probably more, since some items aren’t labeled, or labeled with a mysterious name such as Seafood Delight. So some dishes can be a bit of a guessing game.
3. It’s located in the former Rite-Aid building along 1900 West, next to Ocean Mart. The restaurant’s owner, GuangSheng Ye, called it City Buffet because it was an name easy to remember, according to manager Allen XiangQuing Ye. He says it’s the biggest buffet in the Salt Lake City area.
4. There are four “hot food” stations, each holding 16 tubs of different items, such as General Tso’s Chicken, Broccoli Chicken, Sweet & Sour Chicken, Thai Chicken, baked and fried fish, BBQ ribs, fried rice, bright green beans, clams, wontons, egg rolls, French fries, fried zucchini, pizza, noodles, and lots more.
The salad bar includes lots of fresh-cut fruit, mussels, and an adventurous octopus salad. A variety of sushi is displayed nearby.
5. The Mongolian Grill gives you a chance to choose your own meats, veggies, noodles, and sauces from a buffet of ingredients. Then a cook who stir-fries it to sizzling perfection on a giant round, flat-top grill. It’s popular because it’s fresh-cooked, and customized to your liking.
Although buffets can often derail a diet, it seems that a person could get a healthy meal by choosing lots of veggies, lean meats and seafood at the Mongolian Grill, and finishing it off with lots of fresh-cut fruit from the salad bar. Of course, you’d have to avoid all those deep-fried mystery items at the hot bars.
6. Prices are $9.95 for lunch, Monday-Friday ($5.55 for children). Dinner on Monday-Friday and all day Saturday, Sunday or holidays is $13.95 for adults and $8.55 for children. Allen Ye said that at dinner (after 3:30 p.m.), more shrimp and steak items are set out on the buffet; hence the higher price. Soft drinks are $2.25. Alcohol is not served. Takeout is charged by the pound. People can choose from the buffet and fill up their take-out box. The to-go meals run from $4.75 to $10.95 per pound, depending on whether it includes seafood, hibachi items, or sushi.