There was a living bug wriggling inside a cake. Cutting it open, we thought it was the syrup stretching but turns out six legs were flying out the cake. The manager only gave a discount though my buds next to me couldn't continue eating after seeing this. The manager didn't even apologize and kept repeating its not their fault. Honestly this is so disturbing cause shouldn't it be the restaurant's job to check their food for sanitary. I cannot ever go here ever again. I feel sick. Honestly i might sue them read more

To my brother and I , this is the best buffet ever!!!. We went on a Saturday for lunch and everything was delicious excellent, well prepared and delicious! I can't wait to go back read more

Food was very bland and the sushi made me sick Vicky is me sick they keep deleting my Google review

This was by far the worst I have ever ate. The crab Rangoon was spoiled the chicken was horrible. We asked for silverware and the server was rude. They didn't fill out drinks 1 time so I got up and done it myself. They also didn't even pick up our plates. The price was ridiculous also for the service we got read more

Joy Luck is a home away from home for anyone who loves good greasy Chinese food! This buffet has it all! But if you do not want the buffet they have a full menu as well! Joy Luck and its sister restaurant Corner 17 are great and cheap! The owners take good care of the customers and you get great food for not a ton of money! First let's talk about the Joy Luck buffet! It has everything you could want! My favorites are the peppered chicken, Beijing Beef, egg drop soup, egg rolls, sugar doughnut balls, and so much more! The kitchen does a great job in stocking items and keeping fresh hot food ready all the time! On the buffet you can get sushi, salads, ice creme, hot food and cold food no matter what you are looking for! The price is on point too! For the menu I love the hot pot! The hot pot is cheap and includes the buffet! The tables have a hot pot heater built into them and the boiling water gets everything super hot. You put in fresh shrimp, meats, and other items and it cooks really fast! Best hot pot in STL in my opinion! The other items on the menu are great too and all come with seaweed salad included in the price! I highly recommend this place!!! read more

This was my first time visiting and unfortunately will most likely be my last, I only gave 2 stars because of our server. She was quick efficient and very friendly. I ordered an iced tea that had a horrible taste to it, like the urns hadn't been cleaned in a long time. The food was ok but lacked in variety of what you'd expect from a Chinese buffet, there were only two pieces of sushi from the time we walked in until the time we left almost an hour later. An employee would come out to check the buffet and would grab food from the buffet table and eat it as he continued to walk along the tables to see if any other food was needed to be brought out. The crab rangoon had hardly any filling, it was mostly just fried wontons. read more

Delicious, clean buffet for an affordable price! $13.99 for all you can eat dinner. Lots of seafood and sushi available. Helpful staff and they brought out new dishes regularly. I was impressed! read more

Joy Luck Buffet is hopping on a Friday night. I think this speaks volume to the food served as well as the prices. I was told that adults pay $10.50 for the buffet, which is unheard of in Chicago (where we live). I'd definitely like to return here and try their buffet. Our toddler daughter got to sample their buffet and she seemed pleased with her rice and chicken. We ordered off the Sichuan menu which I was very impressed by their large selection of items. Everything we got was good which included the pig ears, salt and pepper squid (exactly like calamari but better), green beans and cumin beef. Very tasty. read more

I don't know what took me so long to come here but it is definitely in my rotation of places to eat now. They have a good variety of items and it seems to change a little bit from day to day. The prices are so cheap for the quality of food! read more

I have been to Joy Luck countless times as a teenager for the buffet, but it was only a few years ago that I learned there was an actual menu beyond just the buffet. I have always wanted to get the Szechuan menu, which we finally accomplished. NOTE: Under 2 eat from the buffet for free. We ordered the green beans, pig ear, cumin beef and salt and pepper squid. The green beans we massive and nicely cookes. The pig's ear was good, but I have had better. The salt and pepper squid will go down as the best calamari I have ever had. I was surprised to see that the buffet has now expanded to included Mongolian grilled bowls as well as Sushi. At the same time, I was shocked to find out that the dinner buffet price was only $11. This place is awesome. Bring families. Bring everyone. If there was something I would complain about, it would be that the bill had three buffets down when all we ordered was a la carte, but once pointed out, the staff was happy to amend the bill. read more

After seeing some of the reviews I was looking forward to a hot pot lunch. First off what got to me immediately was how dark the restaurant was. Annoyingly so. Ok so it's 7.99 pp for the buffet, plus 1.79 for soda or 20.99 pp for the hot pot including the buffet, plus drink. I looked at the buffet and we decided to just go with that because we were a party of three and thought 69.00 was too much and we weren't that hungry. Not much fresh choices really. One seafood casserole was so dry and burnt you couldn't scoop it out if the pan. Over cooked seemed like the common link here. I did ask if they were gonna come out with more fried fish. He actually said no I don't think so ??? Really? Everything there was with either over cooked, or under the lights too long but at one point I asked the others if we should leave. After sitting at the table wig a salad the wait staff came over with a few pieces of fried fish. Maybe he noticed my clear dismay. That's why they got the 2 stars. That all I had. That was enough for me. I thought to myself maybe that's why the dark lights ??? read more

This place was amazing! I'm not typically one for Chinese food but I will eat here again any day

Enjoyed the selection and service was good. Everything fresh and the chef will cook your food on the hibachi. The food was served hot on the buffet. My son reported that the men's bathroom was messy with no toilet tissue and it smelled horrible. The women's bathroom was adequate and clean. Tea was good and hot. I will visit again. read more

Don't listen to the people who have rated this restaurant anything under 4 stars. It is either: 1. They eat the buffet here (which really sucks, but cheap) 2.They don't really enjoy AUTHENTIC Chinese food and order off the Americanized menu The REAL gem for this restaurant is indeed it's menu that is in all Chinese. not one English letter is on it. If you still don't know yet, but Joy Luck specializes in Sichuan Food (or as you white people like to call it, Szechuan). This type of Chinese food is extremely spicy and will likely leave your tongue numb for at least an hour after your meal if you order off the Chinese menu. Perhaps their best dish is their Chengdu Fried Chicken w/ Pepper (I don't know the English name, just describing what's in it) It is very spicy and if you enjoy eating spicy foods then this is a must try. Their beef w/ pepper (once again the English name is unknown to me since I order it in Mandarin) and Kung Pao chicken are to die for. The Kung Pao Chicken is possibly the most authentic Kung Pao chicken you can get in the Midwest and possibly this side of the Mississippi. IT IS THAT GOOD!!! I highly recommend going with someone who can read and speak Mandarin when going to this restaurant because if you order off the "white" menu then you will get very mediocre Chinese food. read more

My favorite for a well priced buffet and the menu items when wanting authentic. Recently remodeled Oct 2014. Now with hot pot burners at each table though it does eat up leg room in the booths. Taller/ bigger people should ask for a table. 2015. Finally ordered off the Sichuan menu and it was incredible. Loving heat in food (I love ghost pepper sauce) I ordered the Crispy chicken which is similar to what's on the buffet but in appearance only. The to order dish is much spicier with more red peppers than I have ever seen in a dish; the peppercorns left my tongue tingling which was a first time unique experience. The portion was more than enough to take half home to eat later, and believe me I can eat a LOT. read more

As far as I know, this is the only place around St. Louis where one can find authentic-ish sichuan food (from the in-restaurant menu, not from the buffet or the takeout menu), and it's good but not great. What I've tried (I may be a little off on some names of dishes because I'm going off memory): Water-boiled beef: name is innocuous, dish is not. Slices of beef in a spicy broth with hot peppers and sichuan peppercorns. Tasty. I believe they have a fish dish that basically just substitutes fish pieces in the same broth. Twice-cooked pork: really good flavors in this dish (it's a sichuan standard - pork belly boiled then sliced and stir fried with leeks or some similar vegetable in chili bean paste). The amount of fat involved with pork belly (both in the pieces and what accumulates in the sauce from stir-frying) might be off-putting for some. I wish the pieces of pork belly were a little crispier. Lamb with cumin: very very tasty, with more central asian flavors than typical chinese. Here the lamb is in little hunks, whereas generally this dish is made with really thin slices (which I prefer). Dry-fried chicken: another sichuan standard - little pieces of chicken on the bone that are stir fried until crispy, with sichuan peppercorns. Somehow they achieve this without drying out the chicken - not real sure how that works. In any case it's highly recommended; some may have problems with the little bones though. This restaurant seems to have a habit of throwing hunks of bell peppers into dishes where it's really not necessary, and they do that here. Shredded pork with garlic: usually this dish is translated as fish-flavor pork or strange flavor pork; this is REALLY good version of that dish. Little slices of pork and various vegetables stir-fried with a very unique spicy-sour sauce that they get just right. Country-style tofu: hunks of deep-fried tofu in a pretty flavorful broth. Ok, but not particularly memorable. Various dishes involving greens stir fried with garlic: good, and an excellent companion to other spicy, meat-heavy dishes. read more

The buffet has everything you want, friendly staff, always picks up your plates and never lets them sit on the table to pile up. The lomein is my favorite read more

Jason and I came here for lunch today. After seeing some reviews and passing it so many times, I thought it was time to give it a shot. We got there around 1pm and it was fairly busy. Immediately we gave our server our drink order and headed straight for the buffet. I opted for the hibachi and sushi bar. Jason got some sushi as well. All was fresh and very good tasting. The hibachi meal I got was extremely tasty too. I feel the teriyaki sauce he had used to cook with my food was a bit bland, but this wasn't something that couldn't be resolved without adding some low sodium soy sauce or duck sauce to it. Service was really nice and kept up with our drinks and plate removal. My only complaint there is he gave us our bill before we even got our first plate of food to the table. I guess you could look at this as a positive point of view though-- you don't have to worry about waiting on them bringing the bill to you last minute if you are in a rush. I'd say this the prices are very affordable for lunch. We paid $6.49 each plus $1.50 for bottomless soda. I'll definitely be back! read more

Went here for dinner with friends - honestly I did not have high expectations. I have been to many buffets before in my day with family, and you are always asking questions "how long has this been here?", "is that chicken or pork?" Well not here!! The food was great! Good selection and A+ quality in ingredients. But what will make me come back is the SUSHI BUFFET! That's right - for $8.99 all you can eat Sushi and Chinese buffet! Now the sushi is not the best in Saint Louis, but I mean all you can eat for 8.99 - why not try it!!! They are constantly putting out new rolls and new styles. Note: They have no beer or alcohol - felt odd asking and finding out they have none. So I am saving you the embarrassment ;) read more

I have been ordering from Joy Luck Buffet for about 7 or 8 years now. The kicker is: I have never been to the buffet. I always order via delivery (I live in the Clayton/U City area). The delivery is free, and they offer pretty awesome coupons (e.g. free order of crab rangoon or egg roll with an order of $15 or more).. AWESOME! The portions are generous, the price is CHEAP, and the quality of the food is undoubtedly one of the tastiest in the STL area as far as Chinese goes - I am not joking. I couldn't believe it the first time I tried their food. I have heard from others that the buffet is not as good compared to what you get straight off the menu... I am of Asian decent (not Chinese though), so I have the "Asian Taste Buds" - and tend to get picky with some items at a Chinese place (even though I am not a picky eater in general). I even asked a Chinese co-worker of mine recently that if he had to pick some Chinese restaurants in STL that were his faves, what would they be... He named 3 (based on taste alone). He said: 1. Joy Luck Buffet (again the "straight off the menu" items, not the buffet) 2. LuLu Seafood Restaurant 3. Wei Hong (Grand) Amazing, eh? I was both shocked (and not so shocked) when he picked my beloved Joy Luck as his first choice... Here is an example of stuff I have delivered to my house from Joy Luck (I'll take an example of my order from JUST TONIGHT for me and a friend) *Hot and Sour Soup for 1 (VERY spicy and huge portion) *Egg drop soup for 1 (again, huge) ----soups come with a big bag of crunchy noodles---- *vegetable lo mein (comes in 1 size - but it's a lot in there) (By the way, Joy Luck's Lo Mein is the best I have had in the STL area. I cant speak for what is served in the buffet, but get it delivered! You won't regret it...) OK, back to the order... In addition to above, *large shrimp fried rice (wow, VERY delicious) *steamed pot stickers (the sauce with this is soooo good. i actually pour a little bit over my noodle and rice) Pot stickers also come fried, but I recommend the steamed. Because this order was over $15, I asked for the free crab rangoon (it's a coupon they have on the front of their take out menu). 6 crab rangoons come in an order... Again, the delivery is free. The grand total of the order (with tax) was *drum roll please* $18.75. That's right. $18.75 There are LOTS of leftovers, and the leftovers continue to taste good! If you saw how much food this was, you would think it was an error. It never is. It is ALWAYS this cheap.... and ALWAYS good.... Please try this place. It's a hidden treasure to mid-county residents as far as delivery goes... You CANNOT beat it....... read more

Decided to give this a try after a long cold day at work. Typical Chinese food. Same old same old buffet items. But the food was warm and tasted fine. Egg rolls were really good. But no refills on my soda. I've been slurping so loud for 10 min. Still nothing. Oh well, 2 stars it is. read more

My wife and I have been looking for a *REAL* hot pot restaurant since she came back from China two years ago. This was the place!!! The buffet was what you would expect from a typical Chinese place. It was only slightly above average. That was just fine with me, I still had a full place of buffet wonderfulness. The highlight is the hot pot portion of the meal. Think of it like Chinese fondue without cheese. It's an oil/broth based liquid over a butane cooking top. We ordered half spicy/half non-spicy broth. It comes with four plates of raw meat and veggies to dip and cook in the perfectly seasoned boiling broth. They even have tripe...for those of you who can stomach eating an animals stomach lining. Haha! The staff was friendly and quick. My drink was never empty for over a minute. I was impressed by the whole ordeal. I will be back again. I am glad I only work a mile from here. read more

I grew up eating hot pots and when someone asked me for a hot pot meal, I was totally up for it! Decor: Ample seating around the restaurant. It's pretty big. In the center, towards the back a bit is the buffet area with nice large pans of steaming food. Service: We spoke Mandarin to the waiters and we didn't have a problem. It did take them a while when we ordered tea or something, but it was fine. Don't expect A+ service. Food: While the Chinese buffet is nothing to rave bout (it's not my thing, but I know some people looovee it), I do have to say they have quite a selection. Meats, vegetables, fried wontons, etc. They have a killer ice cream selection though- an entire cart full where you can choose and pick what you want. Okay, the cream of the crop is the hot pot. While it was not the best one I've had (in terms of size and freshness and quality of ingredients), it was decent. For about $20 for AYCE, I think it's quite a deal. We stuffed our heads silly at this meal, so my stomach definitely felt the aftereffects. Hah, I didn't get hungry for like the rest of the day! Overall: As the selection for hot pot is slim in STL, I think this place is alright to do it at. read more

Honestly, I don't like this place for buffet. It's not great and icky and bleh. It shouldn't do buffet at all, in my opinion. Then again, there are people who like the all you can eat, standard, americanized Chinese option... so if that's what you want, have fun! You'll enjoy it. However, this place is one of the best places to go for REAL SOLID SICHUAN STYLE Chinese food. They use a great blend of sichuan peppercorn and oily chili peppers that make my mouth completely numb but happy. Ideally, you would go with some chinese people to this place. I highly recommend the fu qi fei pian (spicy cow tripe? not sure what it's called in english). It's my favorite. One of my best friends really likes the pickled veggie and fish soup. We also get some sort of spicy beef or fish that "boiled" but it's really cooled in really spicy liquid (shui zhu niu or shui zhu yu ). There's some chendu style meat that's really good and something with cumin in it too. I can't remember which one is lamb and which one is ribs... but they're both AMAZING. so... yeah... if you like REALLY REALLY REALLY SPICY AND DELICIOUS food, you can't go wrong ordering from this place. :) read more

So this was not a bad experience. The employees were kind and respectful. I visited this buffet New Year's Day with my fiancé. Now I am not a huge fan of buffets in general. The restaurant in general is in need of updates cosmetically. The lighting needs be adjusted, as it is too low. They have a sushi bar, that has a small variety. For as the Chinese food, it was okay. There not too much variety in options. The restaurant appeared to be busy, but the food wasn't coming out hot. I heard they have a menu and I wish I would have order off of the menu. I gave the restaurant a fair rating because the buffet was price well. Also, in case you are wondering they do not have crab legs. read more

Egg foo young on a buffet was the bomb. Everything on the buffett was very fresh. They kept it filled. Iwas very good. One of these days I will try the genuine Chinese menu, but not next time because I am having the hot pot! A table next to me ordered it and it looked delicious. read more

Officially the new "go-to" spot for Chinese - especially since they are open on Sundays - the ultimate lazy, I just bought groceries but don't want to cook, last day of the weekend, best day for Chinese food day. They are cheap, quick, and have some of the better Americanized "Chinese" food I've had in a while. Maybe on another Sunday I'll check out the buffet and the other menu - provided of course, I'm not still in my PJs and have brushed my hair. read more

This is the worst Chinese buffet I've ever been to, the food was cold the service was horrible, the men's bathroom smelled like piss. Disgusting I will never ever go to this restaurant again again it was horrible the food was horrible I would give it a -10 if I could read more

I came with my parents an opted for the buffet. The food was just OK... I guess it was a good value thought... I paid for all three of us and the bill was ~$21. There were others eating nearby that ordered off the menu... I think that is the way to go when you are here. read more

Food was not good. I would say the taste was the main issue. The servers and staffs were friendly by the way.

We went there Tuesday night granted it was 830 they closed at 9 but right away they were not refilling things at 9 they pulled everything and started turning lights off and mopping. I was not a happy camper. I would have rather them to tell me they were closing then to make our dining experience so bad! read more

The four stars are NOT for their buffet!!!! Sorry but I wouldn't touch that buffet line with a ten foot pole knowing their chefs are capable of soooo much more. We came with friends who were familiar with their "other" menu, the one that is written in only chinese!! We ordered some really authentic Sichuan cuisine, this stuff is better than what we had in San Francisco. For starters we had a a spicy appetizer made of thin slices of tripe?? (not sure what it was, but it was good) and marinated beef coated with a super hot chili oil and garlic sauce. Then we had a sour fish soup which as funny as it sounds has a good balance of flavors and because of the sour veggies there was no fishyness at all to the soup. Next we had a spicy beef dish, which had a nice sauce but the beef was a little over marinated and some of the beef flavor was missing. The veggies dish was average and boring, I will spare you the details. The spicy popcorn chicken (not its real name, my interpretation only) was awesome. Nicely marinated chicken pieces fried to perfection with a spicy coating and served along side a bunch of hot red chili peppers for an extra special presentation. read more

This place was decent. Like the other reviews say, they have a ton of chicken dishes, but not any pork options and only a couple beef options. Having said that, the sesame chicken was very good. The pan fried shrimp and vegetable lo mein were also very good. The crab rangoon and egg rolls were sub par, but the fried wantons were delicious. The service was pretty good even on a busy night. The buffet is pretty inexpensive (~$9.50 for dinner). Basically, the conclusion is that for the price, it's pretty good. Pros: cheap, pretty good variety, good sesame chicken Cons: nothing spectacular, food is a little hit and miss read more

OK, I'm upgrading from 1 to 2 stars since they re-vamped their buffet. Atmosphere - 4 stars (the place was re-modeled, better lighting, looks nice, buffet and furniture look newer) Food - 2 stars (they make a point of stirring the food and bring out fresh refills of their dishes, but it still doesn't taste better than what I've had at other Chinese restaurants - buffet or not) Service - 3 stars (everyone was very nice there and seemed pretty hard at work) Value - 2 stars (charges the same as what other buffets do and while they are clean and keep things fresher, the taste of the food still doesn't earn this price) read more

I'm giving it three stars because they only offered us (my parents and I) the buffet. I was a bit insulted as I like to think of myself as an egg (white on the outside, yellow in the inside) married to a twinkie (vice versa). Alas, my husband wasn't with me to give me street cred. The place was packed on a Friday with Chinese families...not eating the buffet, but eating off the menu. I was lured to this place with the draw of hot pot, which is $20.99 for more than two people or $24.99 if you want to pork-out solo. As a plant eater, it wasn't worth it, so the $10.49 a person buffet it is. I will just take my parents to hot pot the next time they visit California. The menu, that I snatched off the counter and wasn't offered, was packed full of Sichaun food. It looked good and authentic, so if you are with a party if 4 or 5 or more and everyone can handle spicy food, I would suggest on ordering off the menu. This is what most of the Chinese parties appeared to be doing. The buffet had a Mongolian grill and a decent looking sushi bar. read more

At my work every day is a different take out day, and today's was Joy Luck. I ordered the curry chiken since I have been in a curry kick for the past few weeks. Good price, great portions and tasty. No idea what the Chinese relationship is to curry but the dish was simple and worth ordering. I say try it out. My cube smelled great all week, despite what my co-workers said. read more

Absolutely awful. I have unfortunately been here at least 7-8 times (client/business lunches) and each time was unpleasant. The food has always been cold-lukewarm at best and on one occasion there was a black hair in a sushi roll. I pointed this out to the manager, as he was standing nearby, and he shrugged it off and mumbled something under his breath. Do not go!! Save your money and go anywhere but here! read more

Horrible service, authentic dishes, but bad quality First of all, don't tell me that I don't enjoy Authentic Chinese food, I'm from China and my girlfriend is from Chengdu(Sichuan province) and she shares the same opinions as me. Personally, I believe that she even cooks better, might as well go for the buffet. The food is just not fresh, especially the meat. Don't get fooled by the heavy spices and sauce, the sensitive taste buds will know that the meat is over marinated, only to cover the "unfreshness" of the meat. The dishes taste like they used those pre-mixed sauce bags that you can get from pretty much any Chinese Supermarket, nothing special. The service was awful, one waitress doesn't even know the differences between some of the dishes on the Chinese menu. They might as well put some English discriptions up there, because that's probably more helpful than the people who work there. I was just asking about what a dish is like and she just stares at me and said if I was new....wow really...i was just going to ask the same. When the she gave me the bill, it didn't even include a customer copy. She just stood there, and even asked if I was finished with signing it and writing the tips...... Never going back again. read more

Absolutely NOT authentic Sichuan food. I was born in Sichuan Province, China. I can assure you their food are not authentic, NOT even close! They have no idea how to make Sichuan cuisines, do not get fooled cause you would misunderstand the real Sichuan food! 作为一个土生土长的四川成都人，我负责任地告诉大家这叫餐馆的"川菜"完全乱整。他们对四川料理一无所知，这样的水平也好意思说自己卖川菜？误导消费者 read more

I really enjoyed my visit on Chinese New Year. The service was prompt, the quality of the food was excellent. Ill be back soon! I got the schezuan chicken which was flavorful and crispy, the green beans had great flavor, not too salty and just the right amount of crunchy, the wonton dumplings were a great appetizer as well. read more

Joy Luck Buffet - The best - Chinese Near Me - Saint Louis, Missouri