We walked out when we saw the lack of food choices. Upon walking in, there was no one working at the cash register--which, if you think about it; is a weak internal control at this location. So, while waiting for someone to come--we walked around the buffet to view the food options. Needless to say, the food appeared to look uncooked and to us it seemed like the chefs were in a rush. Last time, I was here in 2023, and there was a higher variety of food options and we could easily find an employee. read more

The food was amazing hands down. Nothing to complain about besides that the fact my noodles had a little hint of coldness attached to them. The service was absolutely fantastic. My waiter was always there when we needed him and my goodness that guy needs a raise! There's so many options for the food and hands down solid first experience here at the gurnee location. read more

Golden Corral Buffet & Grill - American Near Me - Gurnee, Illinois

A heat wave hit Chicagoland during late June 2025, so our group decided to have the Traditional Hail Mary outside earlier in the day before it really began to steam. This meant that afterwards, we would arrive at Golden Corral for breakfast, which I haven't done for a very long time. It ended up being a lot better than expected, and we even had a chance to bleed into lunch a bit because of the good company. Breakfast pricing is different in that it is the same price $14.19 (before 11am) 7 days a week (on Sunday, after 11 am, it is premium dinner pricing). It wasn't crowded at all, but even then the one person omelet station had a long wait, so ended up sampling other dishes. The french toast was very good, with it being prepared right in front of you using a large flat-top grill. I did end up sampling an all veggie omelet from someone else's plate, and it was quite good (though I wish there were salsa available). There was a salad bar, with seafood salad which I always enjoy. Fried chicken was a hit in our table, getting it right after it had been fried. And around 11, they started to put out some of the premium items including pot roast, pork bbq ribs, and freshly fire grilled sirloin steaks (all of which I would vouch for). Service was good, with the waiter keeping up to clear all the plates our party was accumulating and keeping our water filled. And because it wasn't so crowded in the beginning, we were able to easily navigate the buffet area (it got a lot more crowded once it went past 10:30). read more

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Unfortunately I when to brunch here today.My server did a great job and was very friendly. The food was decent but the establishment was filthy. My table has many visible stains as well as the floors. The worst part was the ice cream machine dad over a dozen flies on it and no out of service note. There was melting ice cream and a child could have attempted to use that,maggots will also form where there are many flies. Corporate needs to take a look at this location and the Health Department. read more

Golden Corral Buffet & Grill - American Near Me - Gurnee, Illinois

This location is disgusting, no food, everything empty at dinner time no anything service is trash no one came and introduced themselves as our server, and when I say the options were none and the food that was out was old! Didn't see a manager at all in site. It's just not "Golden Corral behavior" please please yall don't waste your money, $40 plus and nothing!! We need a refund!! As far as ambiance barely clean and no one to take care of people or tables just trash yall!! Like for don't waste your time and money go to Kenosha location. read more

Ok so we all know what we're expecting here so I can't fault them any less. The quality does seem to have gone down continuously. Worst part is that it was waaay too cold inside. Maybe 50 degrees. My kids had to keep warming their hands and couldn't take off their coats which is inexcusable. read more

Golden Corral Buffet & Grill - So so - American Near Me - Gurnee, Illinois

The place is mid and it just messy asf, the food is everywhere, whenever the staff clean the table the wet rag and it water splash everywhere, like wtf???? They let pet in but if it a service dog could ig idk anyways overall they barely have any options mostly if u like seafood it not a good place, barely any veggies and fruits... read more

Four star experience every time we come here on a Saturday or Sunday. They have made to order tacos below the huge "fiesta" sign. Really good, juicy meat tacos with a whole variety of ingredients to put with it. Today we got some carnitas and another diff kind of pork (there was also an option of beef, chorizo, and chicken). They grill the tortillas with cheese, add on the juicy meat, and I've topped mine with cilantro, onions, tomatoes, and some grilled peppers. For the tacos itself, I'd have to probably give it five stars. Tortilla and melted cheese are crispy, meat is soft and super juicy. I'd have to admit these tacos were better than a good amount of taco places I've been to. Together with the restaurant as a whole, I'll have to average it out to four stars total. I haven't found other food here I'm dying to eat again. Quality of the tacos are way higher than the rest of the food here. Id definitely recommend coming on a weekend. (We came at night, not sure if they have these for lunch). One huge plus is that all my kids end up finding something they want to eat here and it's a plus that they get to get dessert here too. read more

Golden Corral Buffet & Grill - Tacos made to order (juicy pork tacos with cheese) - American Near Me - Gurnee, Illinois

Omg absolutely repulsive. Bathrooms were beyond disgusting and dining room floor was sticky everywhere you walked. Only one poor server working on a busy Saturday. Do yourself a favor and skip this place!! read more

Restaurant food prep and patron seating need desperately a deep clean. Food was no were near GC standard. Had to get own silverware no refills available. No manager in sight. Please get someone who can cook a steak. read more

we were here for 10 minutes and immediately wanted to leave after we tasted the food first of all my onion rings were cold and the meatloaf tasted burnt my fish felt raw I had high hopes for this place to cus no genuinely how is some of the food cold? that just dont make sense the service I have no feedback on that and the ambiance yeah naw read more

Really I should just go straight to the health department with this review. The restaurant appeared clean on arrival, but the bathroom was filthy, and smelled like cigarette smoke, as did two of the women working there. My husband steered us away from the salad section only to tell me later there was a cockroach. 3 of us were horribly sick about an hour after eating there. None of us can recall seeing hand sanitizer and at the dessert station, someone's kid was just full on sticking their fingers into the dessert. I can't recommend this place at all. read more

Great overall experience. I like that people can go back and forth and eat as much as they can handle.

Food is decent.Service is amazing. But the cleanliness?Roaches near the steak,Fruit flies near some of the food.Just disgusting.

People will think I'm kidding when I say this, but they have some of the best tacos on the weekends for the made-to-order pork or carnitas tacos. The meat is very juicy and has a great texture without being overly salty. Apart from that, it's what you would suspect at any other Golden Corral - standard to so-so American buffet food but wide selection. This location also isn't the cleanest, but it's a pretty high volume location being nearby to six flags great America. I'd come back exclusively for the tacos, just sayin read more

Horrible it was seven of us overly salted half done food rude staff filthy washrooms the guy cleaning our plates was nice but the language barrier for some of the staff was difficult never again my family was disappointed read more

The server that took my order was very well informed and patient and friendly. I am a veteran of the Marine Corps so I definitely appreciated the decor. read more

Place is dead, understaffed and empty. Asked about my favorite item three times and was told it's on its way, never arrived sadly waited 20 minutes and left after such a disappointing visit. The food quality has dropped. The staff is trying though. read more

I frequently order delivery of several family sized mashed potatoes and gravy. Depending who is in the kitchen I get a side dish with gravy or someone decides to just drop a tea spoon of gravy on top of the large container. Totally insufficient. read more

Golden Corral Buffet & Grill - American Near Me - Gurnee, Illinois

Need Friendlier customer service. Food was less then average and desserts tasted like they were sitting out all day. Very overpriced. Do yourself a favor and go to a regular restaurant with fresh good tasting food with same price read more

I wanted a day off from cooking and my husband was always a big fan of Golden Corral so I suggested we go. It's been probably a decade since we've been. I didn't like going because I couldn't justify the price based on what I would eat even though my husband would pile on. After I made the suggestion the lightbulb went on, CHECK YELP REVIEWS! Yikes... not very positive but most very old, so I checked Google reviews and read newer reviews and felt better. We arrived around 4p. My husband and I do this, not just because we're old but we also beat the dinner rush. Boy did we!! $75 for a family of four seemed expensive to start. The food available is a lot different from what I remember. The presentation of the food was very nice. Nothing looked like it had been left sitting out for long. All of us made three trips to the buffet for main course items. I had bourbon chicken, pulled pork, and a fresh (nice!) dinner roll. For dessert I had chocolate cake, chocolate / yellow cake, and a red velvet cupcake. My husband got tacos and pot roast and so much more. A lot of desserts! My granddaughter had nachos, cheesy broccoli, fried rice, fried chicken... that's all I remember. Then ALOT of desserts as well. First thing when we sat down my grandson spilled his drink. I found our server Carly and she was AMAZING! I'm happy I tipped her ahead of time, when we got up to leave the place was packed and she was nowhere in sight. Golden Corral is back in my restaurant rotation. The pictures I'm posting are while we were eating. I always forget to take pictures. ENJOY! read more

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I went and it was very gross! There were a lot of people and the food was touched quite a lot. It was enjoyable because they had a lot of food but none was very good. The scenery was not very great because it was loud and uncomfortable. On the way home I felt very sick and peckish. Overall I don't recommend read more

Golden Corral Buffet & Grill - This is what you get to choose from. - American Near Me - Gurnee, Illinois

We ate at 3:30pm today, their offerings were 3 crunchy chicken breast,taco meat that needed heavy stirring to get the crust down. Meatloaf had a 1/2" of Ketchup on it. Fish,and pot roast along with salads. The dessert area looked as though there was a food fight totally disarranged. I'm talking cake smeared all over the stands. The final assault to the senses,used men's restroom and I thought I walked into the backside of a toilet,it smelled so bad from sewer gas. HEALTH DEPARTMENT IF YOU ARE READING !! read more

Theres barely any good food, there chicken honestly makes me feel nauseous. They don't give good service at all, in general this place is very packed so ambiance is not good, there chairs are very poorly. The dishes are dirty too and take long to add new ones, they also smell bad and make your head hurt. Overall do not go to this place. read more

Golden Corral Buffet & Grill - Fried Chicken - American Near Me - Gurnee, Illinois

Pretty good some food so dry and some so salty some cold so slow clean up and take them to refill drink clean up table read more

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What i like about golden corral is that the ice cream is tasty than before.I also like the way the service they give us and how they treat us is amazing! read more

Golden Corral Buffet & Grill - ice cream - American Near Me - Gurnee, Illinois

This place is horrific, parking lot is shady and this place has the most unengaged workers. The food is always very bland and disgusting. Everything there tasted like rubber. However the only thing I would try again is the rolls but every restaurant perfects that. The bathrooms were sticky and the carpets looked very dirty and discolored. Would never come back again. read more

Golden Corral Buffet & Grill - The broccoli was spoiled here - American Near Me - Gurnee, Illinois

The food at Golden Corral is super delicious. The dessert was amazing as well. The servers were very kind, making sure everything was perfect to my desires. Despite the smell in the building when I first entered and went away when I went to go get food, the experience was enjoyable and I would definitely recommend eating here. read more

I went here for a family event. The food was very bland. Dirty dishes were you get the clean ones and slow service. It took 20 minutes to get a cup of coffee. This is why I normally do not like all you can eat buffet places. read more

This place sucks. Went here since I heard they charged 12 dollars before 4, turns out there website lied, and that's only on weekdays, after already giving me the cups they then informed me of the price change while already holding my card hostage. The food was overall garbage, the only redeeming quality was my overall love for cottage cheese, so I ate 4 plates of cottage cheese. The ice cream machine was broken, I thought about calling the cops to complain, my friends advised me otherwise. There was a line to stick up the bathroom, which already properly stunk from many fatsos pooping there. The ice cream machine now started dispensing slurpy, but there was a rat in it. Eeeeeekkkkk read more

Golden Corral Buffet & Grill - The broken ice cream machine dispensing slurpy mush that was against health code - American Near Me - Gurnee, Illinois

I tried everything. The garlic bread as they call it. The garlic bread was very dry. The Blueberry Pie looks bad. The fried chicken is always good. Everything else was perfect read more

The food was horrible and cold and dried up nasry and and we got are own drinks the ice cream was watery slushy machine as well read more

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Thank you for treating our family really nice during this pandemic. Love that they have safety precautions, everyone has to wear a mask and also have to wear gloves to take the food. Great variety of different types of food, delicious. Me and my family appreciate it ,went on Sunday afternoon after church.....will come back soon. read more

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This place has really gone down in recent years, I remember the luxury of coming here as a kid and being so excited to see all the different kinds of food they had, but now it's just sad they got rid of a lot things, the register itself feels like a hollow version of itself, it's lost all of its charm being so close to Waukegan read more

Ikyfl! This place doesn't deserve the name of Golden Coral! This food had no taste what so ever I mean do you even have seasoning in the kitchen? I had Golden Coral in Hialeah Florida and it was awesome. I stand by what I said over and over nobody cooks like the south. I mean look at this runny ass Mac and cheese. I won't be back. I suggest you all fire all of your cooks and start over. You need to get some recipes from your sister store in Florida the only reason I gave it 2 stars is because the ice cream was good that's it. read more

Golden Corral Buffet & Grill - Macaroni & Cheese - American Near Me - Gurnee, Illinois

If I could give it zero stars, I would. Complete rip-off. Dirty. Terrible food. Even fresh food was coming out cold.

Food was terrible it was cold and unseasoned the desserts looked sad and the fruit looked and tasted soggy and unsweet.The ice cream machine was dirty and barley worked it made all types of noises. The spoons and plates were dirty not well washed. Service was good waitress was attentive to our table. Do not recommend coming over priced for 2 adults not worth the many save your money and go somewhere else. read more

Almost $50 for two adults. People are nice enough, the bust boys are great. Somehow everything lacks taste. Does have a liminal space kinda feel to it so that's a plus. Over all definitely not worth the money but was an experience everyone should have at least once I'm their lives. read more

What can I say? Gotta love Golden C! I realize not all are the same. For a buffet this location has been consistently good. The food was to temp. The staff friendly and they took pride in keeping it hoppin and clean. We had Rita as our go to gal. She is ine hard worker! She kept our table clear and was attentive. The crowd wasn't too bad and the stream of kids running around? Well they weren't too bad at all. Upon leaving we wanted to hand Rita her tip. We don't like to leave it on the table unattended. I asked the MGR. If Rita,was still on shift. He never even looked up at me and said * ppl usually leave the tip on the table* well no sh** Sherlock. But that wasn't what we wanted to do! So he did page her...thanks dude. I wasnt impressed with him at all and found him to be somewhat aloof. I hope he has better people skills and was just having one of those days. All in all would go back... read more

Golden Corral Buffet & Grill - American Near Me - Gurnee, Illinois

We went here while we're staying at great wolf thinking it would be a good option with the usual variety of food because of it being a "buffet". The options were minimal and fairly disappointing . The buns nearly chipped my tooth and most the entrees seemed like they were sitting there for hours. I'm giving it two starts only because the guy that charged us for the meal was nice and the kids ate the Mac and cheese and jello . (The only edible thing really there) read more