4 stars: Kick ass fresh hot food 1 star: $9.99 per adult for dinner, including drinks and coffee Seriously people, run, don't walk here. I am probably jinxing myself for giving a place 5 stars without a 2nd encounter, but it is WORTH IT! We've driven by this place I don't know how many times thinking we should stop in. First off, the name is deceiving...while the name implies country fare; chicken fried steak and eggs, sawmill gravy over sausages and such...that is not the case. Home Country is an awesome all-you-can- eat Chinese buffet with some of the best Chinese food I've had in San Diego, hands down. Of notable mention is the deep fried blub crab - succulent, flavorful and overall off da chain! The lobster rolls were a pleasant suprise treat that we both killed. The usual suspects were there too - orange chicken, kung pao chicken, etc. We will be going back! read more

Lived in the neighborhood forever, yet this is the first time we ate here. When I drove by during the day, the place looks vacant with a giant now leasing sign on the corner! We were pleasantly surprised to find it open, very clean, and the staff friendly. The place was very clean, they were constantly attending to the buffet, which is a good size, with lots of options, I sampled a little of a lot, and ate too much to get to the blue crab. Everything was good or better. For $13? Really? I will be back... read more

Food is very delicious, a lot of variety, sushi, shrimp, chicken wings, New York steak, fruits and dessert. It's the best in town. Must come even if you're towards the coast of San Diego. read more

I don't even know where to begin... My husband and I were in the area and searched for a Chinese Buffet. New Century was less than a half mile so we decided to check it out. What a mistake!! Upon entering, there was an off smell. We were seated in a half booth with a chair right next the server station. There was no curtain or anything blocking view from the station ( it was just a collapsible table up against a window with a bunch of dirty dishes and silverware ) Now the food... I honestly wanted to walk out as soon as I got a look at the buffet. My husband had ordered a soda so I felt bad to do so. It was horrible there were flies buzzing around. Specifically all over the fruit. I brought myself to get a few things. The hot items were lukewarm. I tried some of the fish and they were way, way too salty!! The empty plates were removed promptly, but we were never appointed a server. No one checked on us or refilled our drinks. I will not be back!!!! read more

So last night at the the bar, the boyfriend says... hey Babe you hungry? (that's what he calls me "Babe") Then he starts telling me about this chinese buffet. Well of course his drunk munchies set in after the restaurant was closed. Thankfully he remembered today and we bounced on down. This great little spot is located off of Fletcher Parkway, in the same strip mall as Michael's and Cocos. The place was hopping on a Sunday at 4pm. The reason it was hopping is the food was fantastic. It's a chinese buffet but wow! the selections are all over the board. Mushroom chicken Coconut Shrimp Corn on the Cob Crawfish Lobster Rolls Steamed fish Wontons Salad and Fresh Fruit Bar Fried Chicken Wings 4 Different Soups Fried and steamed Rice Sushi...5 different varieties Beef with Broccoli Orange Chicken Spring Rolls Pot Stickers Cocktail Shrimp Crab Cakes Soft Serve Ice Cream And so much more.... I was surprised at all the seafood options they had and everything, yes everything, was good!!!! The place is a buffet but they have servers to bring you drinks and clear your plates as you mow through your selections. They were also fantastic, right on the spot with refills and making more space for you on your table. The seating is "Hometown buffetish" but there were plenty of tables and they turned fairly fast. The DB and I staggered out feeling way too overstuffed but definitely very happy!!!! All this for 20 bucks for the 2 of us. Definitely a new regular spot for us. read more

All of the food in this place is slathered with a layer of grease so thick it could double for a kevlar jacket. And why are half of the designated selections carpet bombed with neon orange cheese? Even the oyster shells were dressed up with a dollop of radioactive Cheddar. I do admit they have all of the obligatory dishes that an asian cuisine typically cooperates - except for the plastic cheese pizza. I haven't tried any of their sushi, as I'm petrified that it may come from Vons, so I cant give an adequate opinion there. The servers are the best sterling part of New Century. I'm pretty sure they burst out from the ceiling anytime your drink is empty. I don't know if there are cameras lodged in our table, but the promptness is impressive. If you are in the mood to overeat, slurp down puddles of grease, and have great service to distract you from the tepid food - this is perfect! Otherwise, I would venture elsewhere. read more

Just don't. Floors wet and slippery. Dirty dishes and carts piled over. Water coming from a random spout where the buffet is. Spent most the time avoiding eating foods than trying them. I'm confirming a previous review that said they food prep in the upper room...... ......... Dirty, run down, and over priced for what it is. Oh, and I had a tummy ache after. read more

If there was a negative star rating I could give, I would. Came here with my family and met up with my sister & brother in law plus nephew for dinner. Wow... Wow wow wow it's HORRIBLE.... Okay so my favorite seafood item is crawfish. My brother in law said it was good there but it tasted like they broke a 5 gal bucket of salt into it. I ended up coughing non stop because it was so salty and I drank way more soda than I usually do at a AYCE buffet. Argh!!!! He even said it usually isn't that salty. Ugh. I tried the crab salad baked onto the clamshell and it was def not tasty at all. Sushi was so-so, not much for variety and the wasabi was weak. That's a big no no lol. I've had way better buffet experiences than this and I have had better "bad" experiences as well. I'm glad that my SIL had $9.99 coupons because I wouldn't have wanted to pay any more than that. There isn't a huge variety of entrees either. Strawberries were great tho lol read more

I had a good experience here. I went on a weekend and was surprised at how good everything looked after reading some people on here act like they were being poisoned. It's a Chinese food buffet. That is where you start your level of expectation. At that level of expectation, it was great! Almost all of the food was good, which is better than most of my experiences at buffets like this. The steak was tender, they had cream cheese wontons (my fave). Scallops with some sort of seafood mix. Their crispy chicken was good, their fried squid was surprisingly good. They had some beef ribs that I believe had Chinese 5 spice on them... sooo unique, tender, and flavorful! The only big fail was their crab since it was so over cooked the dried meat broke instead of coming out of the shell. Service was fine. They were fast about clearing used plates off the table and our cups were never empty. I will absolutely be back the next time I'm having cravings. read more

To be honest I am not really a buffet person. Coming here helped me realize this fully. It reminds me a lot of herding cattle into a feeding pen. I'm just not about that life. To me there is really nothing at all appetizing about food sitting on top of food warmers and under heating lamps for long periods of time while god knows how many people go around sneezing a coughing (No joke I really saw a kid doing this) all over the food, and children are grabbing things with there nasty kidlet fingers. No. Just no. There are a lot of people packed into this place and all I could focus on was the painfully loud sound of small babies crying. Lots and lots of crying. I did give two stars because they had really yummy lobster rolls. That was about it. For almost $11.00 I think I will stick to Panda Express. read more

Hot damn! This has been the best local Chinese buffet from me! $8.00 for lunch with a drink. Thanks Yelp! Don't be like me though and go when you aren't that hungry. I was hungry had maybe had one plate LOL in which case I should have just gone to Panda Express. Skip 2 meals before you go here! read more

I came here because this place had a better ranking than Super China Buffet on La Mesa Blvd. However I disagree with the rating that this place was given. The seafood here was overcooked, and consisted entirely of either frozen shrimp or imitation crab. The fried items were all sitting in metal pan and the oil seeped out creating large pool of undrained oil. The meat dishes were very dry and tough. The fried crab was subpar; they were obviously drenched in baking soda before frying and gave it a rubbery texture. Unlike most buffet places there was no chow-mein teppan nor a sushi maker constantly making sushi. Most of the items were either 1) fried & undrained 2) covered in sweet & sour sauce 3) coaxed in baking soda or corn starch 4) left to sit until it dried out. I found myself returning to 5 items after the first plate because everything began to taste the same. If you want to go to a Chinese AYCE Buffet, consider China Super Buffet, Sunrise Buffet, or spend some extra money and go to Onami. read more

Once again, my fellow yelpers did not let me down. It is in a little strip mall in El Cajon and has tons of parking. When I went it, it was really packed, nearly all the tables were filled. Got a table for two without waiting and seated. Here are the highlights of the place: -$10 per person on sunday (includes soda w/ free refills!) -Coconut shrimp(sooo good) -VERY fresh -Nice staff, always make sure you have enough drinks/take your plates - Lots of options of food -Sushi(very basic rolls but still good) -Good seafood options(lobster rolls, shrimp, blue crab) - Not too salty like most places Definitely a better buffet than most places I've been and well priced. Fresh food and great service makes it excellent. read more

What a HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT. Even with a bill of just $22 for two with drinks and tax, I don't think we will be back. The good: The food was okay There was a ton of parking and no wait to be seated The price per person is only $9.99 and that includes a drink, even on a Saturday night The details (and the bad): The food was edible, but really, that's about the best thing I can say about this place. There was ZERO customer service (literally, they were collecting our condiments and extra napkins from the table before 9pm and they close at 10pm -- so we had no soy sauce, pepper, etc.) and the waitress did not speak a word of English, so every time we asked for a drink refill she looked all kinds of perplexed. With more than an hour before closing time, many of the buffet trays were empty and not being refilled. Some of the food looked picked-over, dried out from the heat lamps and the "steamed vegetables" were sitting in a soup of salty water that made them inedible. There was a good selection of food, but so much of it looked questionable (like the "sushi" and the entire seafood offering) that we just stuck with salad (iceberg lettuce from a bag and vegetables that looked like they had all been thawed from frozen and soggy), fried and steamed rice and simple chicken and beef entrees. Even the old faithfuls like orange and crispy chicken were just kind of "meh" but really, the food wasn't BAD, it just doesn't deserve all of these raving reviews. For me, the service is key and it just wasn't there tonight. We had to get up to retrieve soy sauce for our table, had to ask for drink refills several times and had to ask for our bill. So: If you want Rice King quality food with crappy service and a cheap tab, this is your place. If you want to scratch your Chinese food itch with good food and great service, go somewhere else. read more

Just went here with my husband and 7month old daughter. We all loved it. Great food and great customer service. Clean restaurant as well! Husband loved the ribs and so did my daughter! Good job guys! We will see you next tuesday ! read more

I reluctantly tried this place, because I had never been there. As far as cheap Chinese buffets go, the food was just eh and not even up to average. On a positive note, there was a huge selection and variety of foods. The areas around the food was a mess, with food on the counters. Especially by the ice cream machine, sprinkles everywhere and no bowls or spoons near the ice cream machine. The seafood was not up to par at all, and my husband used the bathroom and said the bathrooms were filthy. Not a place we will be going back to. read more

We have eaten here many times and the food is generally very good with a large selection of food to choose from for both lunch and diner. The service is good,however, are only concern at times is that the place does not appear to overly clean and we have heard many comments passed regarding this issue. Everyone is very busy in the place but being clean should be a very top priority for the owners. When you have great food keeping the place immuculate and eye appealing for clealiness is an absolute must. Warning effective May 2014 this place in an underhanded way starting charging $1.99 for beverages that has always been included in the buffet price and is not worth the grossly inflated pric with beverage ad on.Shop around much better buffet prices around town for at or below what they are charging people now. read more

This is one of the best Chinese Buffer I've ever been in El Cajon City. I work at a nearby establishment so I normally walk to get to here. I mostly do take outs since I have no time to eat inside but you can see me here almost everyday (3-4 days to be exact). Cheap but delicious food. The workers knows me well enough and sometimes give me free tea when I ask. The workers here are very polite and courteous. I've never had any problem with any one of them. Their sushi is pretty good. Not bad for a buffet place and I love sushi. It's not the best but it doesn't have a nasty taste into it like some other buffet places I've been to. For a box of to go plate, I spent at most $7, this includes their coconut shrimp, salt and pepper shrimp, fried rice, tons of green beans, fried octupus, their ginger (oddly, I know), and the most amazing of all, fried banana. Their fried banana always bring back memories when my mom would make it. It's that delicious!!! Note: My mom owned restaurants until she retired. Yes, I'm going to keep going back even on my days off and have to drive almost 25 minutes when I'm craving for delicious and cheap Chinese food to go. Come to think of it ... it's dinner time ... Time to get me my usual food to go! read more

I've been to A TON of buffets. This one is actually pretty good. They had a good amount of options. I will definitely come back.

This place sucks for customer service and they shove your money in your hand like nothing

My friends really wanted to come back and see if this place got any better. So I said sure why not. Wow! What a difference. One, the gross smell when you walk in has disappeared. Two, the food was surprisingly delicious today. Three, it was clean! The hot and sour soup now has an amazing flavor too it that I couldn't get enough of. And they have new sushi that is actually tasty and edible. The highlight of it all, our waitress was amazing. She was friendly, spoke and understood English and kept plates off our table and plates full. We ended up leaving her a $20 tip. She deserved it. I've always gotten rude service but she was great. Told our cashier how good she was at the end and she told us they haven't hired her yet, please please hire her! Thank you Emily for such great service. read more

New Century Buffet - Wings! - Chinese Near Me - El Cajon, California

Not bad, Chinese buffet spot, not bad. Points for being clean and having a variety of foods to choose from. My faves: the fried bananas, fried rice (better than some sit-down spots I've been to), string beans (oh so flavorful!), and the fish. My bf enjoyed the bright red crawdaddies and my boy liked the stuffed seafood crab. If you have pickier, perhaps less adventurous, eaters -- there's still pizza and fried chicken as well as a salad bar to peruse. The sushi selection is minimal -- who goes to these places for the sushi anyway? There are a few desserts to choose from to finish off: soft serve, cakes, palm cookies, and jello to name a few. *pouting* Downer: I noticed that they didn't have my sugary chinese donuts and lotus buns, usual buffet staples. The service was swift -- watch out, if you don't make it clear, they will swoop your plate away to clear your table. "But I was eating th..." So far, my favorite buffet spot within close proximity. If I get a hankering for chinese food, I'll definitely show up here again. read more

WORTH THE MONEY! I walk in and always leave full. For about $10 a person, all you can eat and foods delicious. I go at dinner time. I grab Orange Chicken, Coconut Shrimp, Terryaki Chicken, salad, a few bowls of Egg Drop Soup, BLUE CRAB my favorite (assuming the right chef is back their that night) the seasoning is like crack I get a plate of those alone. Their white rice and noodles are awesome, Hot Green Tea is bomb what else their sushi is ehhhhhh decent I guess for fake stuff. I don't like their wonton soup at all always tastes weird to me but I mean it's 10 bucks all you can eat just grab something else it's worth it. Oh also their sweet buns are bomb and they have pizza/Ice cream for kids. They also have those Cheese Ragoons and sweet sauce you get at Panda Express but it's unlimited here +plus more. Try everything! read more

The food is fresh. They have a huge variety of food to choose from. The restaurant is big and good for groups. The parking isn't the best but it's worth it! 2 thumbs up from 2 fluffy foodies read more

PARKING - Plenty of parking! CLEANLINESS - Not exactly the cleanest place. (If cleanliness is your thing, New Century Buffet may not be for you) SERVICE - Great service. FOOD - I thought the food was really good! There's something for everyone. PRICE - Lunch $8.59 / Dinner $11.99 (doesn't include a drink). Not too bad considering you can eat 'til you pop! read more

It's always hard to review a buffet since there is so much random food but overall... it was alright. The sushi was mediocre -- I usually love eating sushi at a buffet but I could do with out this one. And they had a selection of about 5 different types. The little mixed crabs in the little crab shell were probably my favorite. It was tasty and didn't overmix it with tons of mayo like some places. Beef and broccoli was okay. The broccoli was just a little overcooked, but the flavoring was good. The imitation crab with cheese wasn't too bad. The lobster rolls did not taste like lobster, but imitation crab. It wasn't that great... The hot and sour soup was not good. And it usually taste better with the white pepper on the table, but that didn't really help it. The chicken noodle soup was surprisingly good. But i felt like it shouldn't belong in an asian buffet. The best thing was probably the calamari. It had great flavor but just a TAD salty. Overall, not best asian buffet I've been too, selection not too big, but not a bad place to go to if you're craving a lot of different food for a really good price. read more

Here with the family gotta say this place is pretty good just like all the other Chinese buffets I've been to however staff is much nicer than most. On top of every guest they were very attentive to children which I liked. The food just as good as the others however here they have a fondu fountain more food variety than the others I've been to and they have crab legs and crawfish which was a bonus. Best part this place is super read more

Today was my first time trying this buffet and I would recommend it. Although the selection is not quite as large as other local buffets, I thought the food was decent tasting. Nothing was really "great", but nothing was bad either. All and all worth the money for the lunch buffet. Service was great. read more

Ate here for the first time last night and didn't care for the food. Bland flavors, a lot of the food tasted the same, quality was just okay. This is a Chinese place for people who are okay with typical options with ordinary flavors. Not for me. I prefer unusual options with a LOT of flavor. If you are like me, you will not like this place. read more

I don't really have anything bad to say except when you walk in the front desk it's kind of gross to see the host picking at his teeth. First impression it was clean. The tables aren't the cleanest because you could still see the soda marks on the table, but really what do you expect when you're only paying $15 per person for dinner. (Including two drinks) waiters periodically walk over and clear your plates. It would be nice if they smiled a little. Hence why I gave it four stars instead of five. What makes this buffet stand out? For one, they have crab legs, different soup, good sushi (for a buffet), nice selection of desserts and have ice cream. The item that tops the cake which makes this place my new go to restaurant when I want a buffet is the awesome chocolate fountain. My boyfriend and I have a frenzy using chocolate strawberries and marshmallows. Pros; -Great selections -chocolate fountain -decently priced Con: -cleanliness was what I expected. 3/5 to me. -service was okay. Immediately greeted but everyone looked like they hated being there. Not to mention the host picking at his teeth with a toothpick. Not the best first impression Either way , good overall. Price is great including the selection. They even had some good New York steak. I recommend this place if you can't decide what you want to eat. read more

Love going to this buffet. My fave is the Mongolian grill inside, pick what you want and they'll grill it for you. Spicy? No problem they'll just spice it up for you. Meanwhile there's a pretty decent selection for the rest of the family especially the kids. The staff have always been courteous and don't seem to mind the mess my 18 month old leaves behind! read more

I love the food in here and the plates always clean, the only thing is the restrooms are dirty at times but besides it I like it a lot

This place is so flithy, I wish I would have read the reviews before coming here. Flies everywhere, I don't even want to know what the kitchen looks like. Dirt and flith everywhere someone should shut this place down. Little food choices and what was there didn't have good flavor. I won't be back. read more

a lot of flying around cookie, all fruits are not sweet and not fresh. The reason I gave two stars is because the price is cheap. read more

New Century Buffet - Chinese Near Me - El Cajon, California

Used to be a really good place, but yesterday I took me and my friends there had the money for it and everything was looking really forward to it, and all the food was disgusting, the sushi was going bad it had a sweet taste to it in the fish, the lo mein tasted like someone poured maple syrup on it, and a lot of the food was stale I got a couple plates of food tried to eat it and threw up in their bathroom, my other two friends that came with me threw up in the parking lot I tried to get a refund from them and they refuse to give a full refund it only took off like $5, I didn't even really eat anything and I still had to pay $51, it was freaking ridiculous, and all the manager could say we've been open all day there's been lots of people in here no one else is complained, worst service in the world when the manager gives you an attitude, mind you I've eaten at this place in the past multiple times but it's under New Management and whatever they're doing this place now sucks I highly recommend against anyone going there, not to mention I'm having a friend of mine who works for the health department check them out I wasn't going to do that until they freaking decided not to give me a refund for rotten/stale food, but I don't want anyone else getting sick read more

I wish I could give like a 3 and a half stars because this place is really not bad at all. It's decent ~Chinese buffet~ food for $12 a person (dinner price) so if you're not a picky eater, you'd enjoy this place. Deducting one star for the mediocre food. I did have a few favorites (cream cheese wontons, coconut shrimp, mushroom chicken, etc.) The rest was okay. It wasn't bad but most of the food didn't knock my socks off or was good enough for me to willingly get seconds of. I do have to note that their sushi (specifically the nigiri) was surprisingly fresh for a buffet. Deducting a second star for the customer service. 1) We walked in and waited a bit for a host or someone of sort to seat us and eventually a guy did come BUT he proceeded to talk to another employee for awhile before actually seating us.. 2) It takes them forever to take away our finished dishes. And we came on a slow Monday night. 3) Went to get some more food and saw an employee loudly talking on her cell phone WHILE filling up the food trays. I get that it's slow but really? Come on Despite all that, I will come back again since I'm local read more

Another average East County Chinese Buffet. Quite similar to New East Buffet http://www.yelp.com/biz/new-east-buffet-el-cajon The place was clean, food was nicely prepared, fresh, and hot but nothing really jumped out at me as being great. The service started off good (quick refills on drinks and removal of plates) but felt like they wanted us to pay/leave even though it was 2PM and the place was almost empty. The bill arrived while we were still eating and I was asked three times if I would like to pay, and each time I said I will take it to the register when we are done. read more

Les wanted to know why his sushi was so salty. Well honey, its the sweat dripping off you into your food. This used to be a good buffet and they still have a large array of dishes, but now it seems they have no AC so you swelter whilst dining. Add to that the seeming tolerance for tons of screaming children running around unattended (literally screaming) and your dining experience is transformed into a torture exercise. Needless to say we walked out, food untouched. The New World buffet also has a good assortment of dishes but boasts AC and no screaming maniac children. read more

Really great service, and the food is better than most other AYCE places. My four year old loves being able to pick all of his favorites, like broccoli beef, and orange chicken. I like that their food is always hot from being fresh, as opposed to being hot from their burners. The fried rice was better than most places, and they have blue crab and steak on dinner nights. My son is already asking about going back. read more

Not horrible. Not really amazing either. There are about 4 or 5 regular items on this buffet that I enjoy. So I tend to go back for the same items. The lobster eggrolls are really yummy. As is the teri chicken, breaded shrimp, and seafood salad (The one not slathered is yucky melted neon cheese). During dinner time they have steak... It's cheap and kinda chewy... But, eh, it's still pretty tasty. The price is right and the service is very good with clearing plates and keeping up with refills. Yeah, they have a lot of greasy items, but there are quite a few good ones too. I enjoy it. read more