I have been going to this buffet for years with my family. The quality over time has really gone downhill. It's been a sort of guilty pleasure for us. While there are some good items, namely the green beans and mushrooms, most of the stuff is mediocre at best. At $25 a person for dinner, I would be much better off spending that and getting a hearty meal somewhere else. The bathrooms are not well kept. The carpet is dirty. Also, not the restaurants fault, but this seems to be the only restaurant where parents just let their kids run around and grab various food items with their bare hands without any supervision. Some patrons just play music out loud on their phones. Not the place for a nice relaxing meal with your family. I've been to plenty of other restaurants that get large volumes of people but they seem to handle it way better than this establishment. read more

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We went in 10 mins after they opened and all the food with exception to the sushi was cold and tasted old like it was from the night before! Just disgusting! Got my money back and won't be back! For 19$ you expect to at least be hot! read more

They removed their crab legs seems like there replacing good dishes with cheaper dishes

My wife has been wanting to go here for a long long time finally had the opportunity last Thursday. We live in Santa Cruz but had to run down to King City to pick up my mom for a doctor's appointment in Salinas and headed over there about 5:00 p.m. The place was pretty much packed but there was room for us to get in right away. The price for dinner is $20.99 which is worth it since there are seafood selections. The drink is included and you can refill as many times as you want. There's just a great selection of all kinds of food and even stuff for kids. The dessert area looked like it had been depleted already and there is even custard flan. It's definitely worth going back every once in a while and maybe just do the lunch since that's less expensive and I could do without the seafood. read more

Sakura Seafood Buffet - Salinas - Seafood - Buffets Near Me - Salinas, California

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Happen to be driving by when I saw OPEN banners and sure enough they started dine in AYCE. That's where the happy turned to sad... Worse news #1-they have raised the prices and as of this write up $14.99 Lunch & $18.99 Dinner. So you say we'll that's understandable coming from over a year running bare bones takeout to keep the doors open, right...NOT! Read on... Worse news #2-Food quality is really down. The buffet selection is a little over 50% of what it used to be. NO COLD SALAD bar, NO KBBQ grill, and NO DESSERT bar. The later being a small selection of old fermented fruits, some red and orange jello. Heavy on the grease, most hot dishes were at best luke warm to borderline cold. There is also a VERY LIMITED SUSHI selection of what used to be passable is now avoidable meaning you've been warned unless you like dried out, old fishy tasting sushi. They apparently did away with fountain beverages and you get ONE CAN of soda. You apparently pay for any extra cans. And strangely, ICE WATER is NO LONGER an option. They appear to be limited staffed, I only saw 2 bussers cleaning up dirty plates and the kitchen normally buzzing with noise and lots of people running food out was strangely quiet. Finally Worse news #3-the constant barrage of unattended KIDS still STICKING their FILTHY DIRTY FINGERS in various trays, taste testing everything is back in full force. I never understood why this place doesn't put signs up stating children must be accompanied by adult at the buffet tables. New policy: PAY BEFORE YOU DINE! Hoping within the upcoming months the kinks of the re-start up is worked out with the full return of buffet choices? read more

If you want to get food poisoning this dirty restaurant is for you. Sakura is a buffet restaurant located in the Alvin Square center. The restaurant is in extreme dire need of deep cleaning and improvements with their sanitary conditions. This restaurant is probably the filthiest business I have been to here in Monterey County. The food is really nasty absolutely disgusting. This restaurant caused several members of my family and friends to end up with severe food poisoning. Several people ended up getting medical help from the hospital. This cesspool is not fit for feeding farm animals let alone people. Definitely not recommended and certainly would never return. FILTHY, UNSANITARY AND GROSS read more

Food is ok for a buffet. Service is meh. It be nice not to have a pair of eyes watching over you like your going to steal food. For some reason last time I was here I got up to get food came back and our table was taken. How did this happen I don't know but management should definitely work out a better seating system. Environment is really loud there is usually a kid or 2 running around. read more

Terrible new policy. You can no longer sit with a party and chat if you aren't eating. Will not be returning with the family again.

We decided to give this place a try since we were in the area. And to our special the place was really good. We really enjoyed the snow crab legs and soft shell crab. Love the real ice cream vanilla, mint chocolate chip, Oreo cookie,etc. The prices are so amazing dinner was $13.99 soda was $1.99. Senior discount .99 cents. The price increased by $1 from our first visit. Still a good deal. You can also purchase food to go for $5.20 per pound and crab legs are $9.99 per pound. Small soup $2 or Large soup $4. read more

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It's been about 5 years since our last meal at Sakura Buffet, and I can say it didn't disappoint. I love this buffet because of the many seafood options. My husband not so much because he prefers meat. And the meat they did have available was not good at all. It lacked flavor, and it was very tough to bite into. So I will say this, for a person that loves seafood, it's a good place, but for a person who loves Beef/Meat not so great. read more

bad food and service not clean Do not go there. if you care about your health stay away from this place read more

Saw the reviews and decided to say f it and go anyway. Listen, people are trippin. This place is not bad at all. Typical buffet type food and environment. It gets busy so food is always coming out hot. Lots of seafood options for fellow pescatarians. Just like any buffet, some food is not good but buffets are typically quantity over quality. Definitely deserves more than two stars. Don't forget the ice cream, it's kinda hidden. read more

I've been going to Sakura Buffet for several years. The food is consistently good but selections have been pretty much the same. I normally go for lunch. Dinner options not very interesting for the extra expense. read more

Really went downhill, everything's so nasty. It's way too crowded and people make a mess. And the food is just not as good as it used to be. If anyone knows of any other nearby buffets please let me know lol. read more

Honeslty this place is trash! I had a few different dishes and they didn't meet expectations most of the food was bland and unsalted, the only good thing was probably the fruits. Almost all food was barely even warm not hot as it should be. read more

Only went here because a friend wanted to meet up here. It's risky. It's crowded tonight. Kids are unattended, no gloves given to guests to handle food, & Almost Everyone's not wearing masks around food area(not just food area!it's just like pre-Covid). Hand sanitizer at entrance only. No plastic dividers. Workers not wearing gloves, but are wearing masks. Empty food containers were refilled fast. Friend says there's Hawaiian bbq, I went to check it out , but it's only a sign, that reads: Hawaiian BBQ..maybe an old sign that no one bothered to remove (?). Food on that side is actually Mongolian food, where u grab a plate and fill it with noodles, veggies n sauce and have it cooked(but not on a giant Mongolian pan). The only protein I can add (&looked safe to hold the handle) was raw shrimp. At the end of the selections were only raw chicken pieces(already thawed), handles looked "unsafe" to touch. I suppose there were pork and beef too, but no where to be found. I didn't even bother to add any sauce to it or minced garlic (the serving spoon in the garlic was too short to dig out of the container)..there were hot sauce spilled into it. Fruits looked fresh, I had a couple of sliced mangoes, it tasted good. Fried crab was good. The highlight: the free ice cream! Love the twin cherry popsicles. I meant to share but no one wanted the other half, so I ended up eating the whole popsicle! Tip: make sure you bring your hand sanitizer wipes, your disposable gloves. Mask with attached holder(so u don't put it on the table and get sauce on it or crab shells)..& don't forget a small Lysol spray or febreze to spray yourself after. read more

They raised the prices and changed the food that my family used to like. Quality of this place went down.

Everything is good except kids serving their own ice cream with their bear hands they should have parents serve their kids instead but overall food there is bomb read more

I stopped in last week when I was told they were open again for sit down service. What a mistake! The price went up a few more dollars and the available foods were cut by more than half! Also there are no more unlimited drinks. Instead you are allowed 1 can of soda and you must purchase additional drinks beyond the 1. The entire dessert island was taken away as well as the ice cream and the salad bar. $20.73 for 1 person and half the food as before? No thank you! I immediately asked for my money back and left. No wonder the place was empty. read more

We haven't been here for a while because we don't like having to fight crowds for food. It's always busy here. Their prices have gone up since the last time we were here. They haven't changed anything on their sushi hand rolls. They're the same basic rolls. No imagination and real boring. They have a lot of seafood here and should utilize it in their sushi. This would make it worth the increase in price here. All the other food offerings are the same as well. I wish they'd change it up during the week sometimes. No real variety here They have a really hard time keeping up with the lunch rush. Most of the food was empty by 1pm. We had to wait about 20 minutes for them to refill some things. read more

Sakura Seafood Buffet - Salinas - Buffets Near Me - Salinas, California

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I have been here a couple of times while visiting my grandfather who absolutely loves this place and I can say this last past Saturday has actually been one of the best times! They do have a large variety of a selection with their food as in sushi, seafood, Mongolian bbq section! My favorite was the teriyaki chicken on the stick! There desert bar had a lot of different kinda of cakes I didn't go near that section but I did enjoy a hand scooped ice cream cone! Would I recommend this place probably if your looking for a buffet read more

I'm totally gonna go out on a limb here and give Sakura five stars. I know, I know... Five stars for a Chinese buffet? I can hear you (Balki Bartokomous) tell me (cousin Larry), "Don't be ridiculous!" Alright, perfect stranger, let me tell you why I'm not being ridiculous. For a measly $10.69, you get for dinner: + AYCE steamed crab + AYCE fried crab sprinkled with addicting seasoning. + AYCE La Michoacana popsicles! I've eaten up to four of these in one sitting. Ay yay yay! Es la verdad! Me gusta las paletas fresas! Everything else served here is superfluous and just an afterthought once I've had my fill of crab: soup, salad, dim sum, sushi, typical Chinese buffet food, build-your-own Mongolian BBQ, seafood, fresh fruit, and soft-serve ice cream. Oh, and they have a gazillion bottles of Tapatio and Sriracha. (What? Don't tell me this isn't important info!) Just keep it simple and you'll be content with your $10.69 investment. My routine is crab, crab, crab, then whatever, then popsicles, popsicles, popsicles. If you stray from my Sakura buffet diet, I can't guarantee that you'll have the same satisfied results. read more

Sakura Seafood Buffet - Salinas - Front of their flier. - Buffets Near Me - Salinas, California

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Visited here on 09/12/2014 Basic Chinese food in a buffet. Lacks flavor in all the dishes some just saturated with salt. I'm going to start off at -5 stars and work in the positives. +1 star price was very good for a lunch buffet. +1 star for the Scoop your own ice cream was very good. Everything else is just blah meh! It seems like all the locals of Salinas eats here. We were the only Chinese family eating here and was getting stares and comments by the locals. I heard them say Chino and other bad words in Spanish. Was just passing by after visiting Gilroy, anyways I'm never coming back to the this racist shit hole called Salinas. read more

so i was enjoying the food with my brother and gf, we were just finishing up and eating desert. The waitress comes over and gives me the tab and says "pay now!" i said "no ill finish eating when I'm done" you think that would had ended it but no. then she says "oh but you can pay then eat" i said "no i will pay when I'm done and i find it disrespectful that you are doing this while I'm eating" she apologizes and leaves. and it was still not over! 2min later i see the boss look over and gives me a evil glare like i did something wrong. They kept giving us dirty looks and pressuring us to leave, they were no where near closing time it was 5 pm. even when i paid and a staff member was ringing me up, the waitress comes over and just tries to annoy me. WORST EXPERIENCE EVER! I DID NOTHING TO MAKE THEM THINK I WASN'T GOING TO PAY. never going back again. read more

Our funeral party met up for lunch here TWICE! Two days of Chinese buffet and at the same place! Whoa Nelly! Where else are you gonna get a cheaper buffet than $7 for lunch? If you think about it, $7 don't get you much nowadays so this place has a really good value. In addition to all the smorgasborg of cheap chinese food, they also give you snow crab legs, oysters on the shell, prawns, clams, and sushi for that price. Ok so the oysters had a nice sandy crunch to it, what's the big deal? Just chew slowly and dont get the dirty one. I picked up some crab legs and one of them had a very pungent aroma of strong NH3 which probably tells me the creepy crawler must have died before it was cooked because fresh crab doesn't smell like Windex. Again, you can't compare this place to a regular restaurant because it can't compete, but for the price of fast food it's a bargain! read more

My first time going to eat here and I don't know why I waited so long to try this place. This place was off the hook. We went for an early dinner which I usually do at buffets. Everything was fresh and tasty. A few favorites....the crab legs were meaty and big, the salt pepper prawns were so good, sashimi was freshly cut and really delicious. The only thing that held me back from a 5 star rating was the salad bar was kinda weak. Large chunky lettuce and not much else but dressing. There were several other Chinese dishes like jalapeño chicken , special chicken, orange chicken, sautéed green beans (super good), and a lot of seafood like oysters, clams and muscles. They had a good selection of freshly made sushi. The grilled mushroom were super good. The service was good they came and took your plates as you finished and also refilled your drinks often. Also a self serve ice cream area...not to good cause kids make a mess in this area. read more

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My family and I came here for lunch where I found this place thanks to Yelp. One of the reasons we chose this place was because of their lunch price of $7.99 and the ratings it received which meant it was bound to be good :) Their drinks costs $1.35 and hot tea costs $0.50. Pretty good deal especially with free refills. One of the highlights of the buffet were the grilled to order bbq with a wide variety of meats and vegetables that a chef cooks together for you. I had a spicy shrimp and beef with onions, mushrooms and other vegetables with chow mien noodles in a spicy sauce that was pretty good. Other delicious food included the dim sum style wontons and fried shrimp. The not so delicious food were the cheese wontons (it was sweet), caesar salad (too flaccid) and cheese oysters (too cheesy but I ate them taking off the cheese). I think it's interesting how there are similar entrees and desserts in almost all Asian style buffets like there is a Asian buffet recipe book they all cook from but this place was a good bang for it's buck :) And when you check-in on Yelp, they do offer 10% off your check total. read more

The food was really good! Tons of choices and lots of snow crab and sushi (my two favorites). When we pulled up it looked packed but we did not have to wait more than a minute to be seated. Ana was helping us and she was very nice and kept our beverage glasses full and our table cleared of plates. It was a bit packed but I did not mind because that means they bring out fresh food more often. The seafood was really good and I was impressed they offered more than just California rolls. They actually had fresh tuna. They also had kid friendly food and lots of fruit which was perfect for my kiddos. We will definitely be going back soon. We tried this place despite some not so positive reviews and let me tell you I am glad we did. If you are looking for great food options, at a price you cannot beat, that is family friendly, then try this place! read more

Sakura Seafood Buffet - Salinas - I had my fill of Snow crab and it was yummy! - Buffets Near Me - Salinas, California

Taste: 5 Value:4.5 Cleanliness: 4 Atmosphere: 3 Wait time: 5 Overall:4.5 1 Being the worst and 5 Being the best To sum it up, and its true for almost everything. Walnut prawns were almost as good as an normal restaurant, but way better than mr chao's The sashimi is way better than todai, but not as good as a real place. the oysters... etc you get the point. The only other place I had higher quality Chinese food at a buffet was the RIO is vegas. The price was fair here. I never thought id find a all you can eat Chinese food place taste this good, especially in a city that the population of asians was 4, my party and I were the only asians in the place eating. read more

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Love to stop here when I'm in the area. It's usually busy, lunch time is the best in my opinion. Lunch time they have a great variety of foods and is cheaper than dinner. The difference between lunch and dinner id say is maybe the ham, crab legs and other items aren't available for lunch (cheaper) but they are for dinner. I personally prefer lunch time over dinner but that's just me. I love to order a custom sushi roll, always remember to tip for a nice roll ;) will definitely be back when in the area! read more

Sakura Seafood Buffet - Salinas - Sushi roll - Buffets Near Me - Salinas, California

It's been a while since out last visit since Covid-19. Super clean and great service, the food was great, fresh and hot.

My husband and I went to eat here and paid $38. We tried to take our leftovers in a couple of their to go boxes and were forced to pay for it. This is not right I paid already for dine in. We should be able to take all the food we didn't eat. The takeout ended up being an additional $70!!! That is too much. How do they expect us to pay more when I already paid $38. Change the policy and let me take the food when i already paid for dine in. All the leftovers will be thrown away anyways, they are dumb for not letting me take it for free. Now they get a 1star haha. Also $38 for 2 people is expensive! Need to be $10 a person because i can get 4 tacos for $10! Will not be coming back until they change the policy. read more

Came here regardless of reviews and to my surprise the food was good and the service was great. The place was packed with people and so the food was always freshly made. It's a buffet but for the price was worth every dollar. Wished the ice cream was functioning but overall I enjoyed the place. read more

Nothing special, but what is concerning is the amount of fish inhabiting the koi pond in the entrance. The pond is too small for the amount of fish in the pond. They were slow moving and had no room to move around. This is cruel. read more

We usually come here once in a awhile. Meaning once or twice in a year. There are many good food selections. I really like the steamed fish, fried shrimps (head and shell on), zucchini w/ shrimps, clam stew, LOVE THE CLAMS, and the what i call the chow mein station where you can pick whatever you want with your noodles, and they cook it right there in front of you. For healthy eaters, there is a sushi (not fresh) station, fresh fruits & vegetables. I just hope since they have such a following, (I even saw a tour bus pull over and drop off people to come eat here), they should make more effort on maintaining cleanliness. The carpets look dirty. If you're super hungry, and you just want to EAT NOW, and not wait for your order, then this place will do the job for you. read more

Sakura Seafood Buffet - Salinas - Buffets Near Me - Salinas, California

My family and I have been coming for years! The food is always yummy although, the service is horrible! The servers get upset when you ask for things and the sushi lady, ohhhh the sushi lady!! The rudest most unprofessional worker there! I don't understand why she still works there if she seems so miserable and angry all the time! I went to the sushi station and grab some sushi rolls and asked her if I could have some unagi sauce for my sushi. She literally said NO! No!??? Lady I am paying for this service. Will not be going back read more

I've gone here multiple times and the food is really good. But the bad part of it is that it's really dirty in there. So I do recommend this place but order for takeout because its crowded, dirty, and loud in there. It's better eating at home or in your car than dining in. read more

Restaurant looked dirty inside does not look like a healthy clean place to eat. They need to do a deep cleaning inside.

i forgot to take a picture but on 1/25/24 i went to sakura buffet around noon. it was clean so it was a good sign for me. i served myself some fried rice and chicken on a stick. when i was eating the rice i bit into something hard, i ended up taking it out with a napkin and it was a piece of METAL!! i was shocked, i went to the front desk and told them about it and they gave me a refund. the lady at the front desk seem to not even care. i ended up opening the chicken and it was black and chewy. i will never go back to this place ever again. something needs to be done because this place is disgusting. read more

Came here for a funeral reception. Not to sound morbid but the food matched the mood of the occasion.. typical Asian buffet. We left at 8pm. It is now 10:30pm and n.y tiny still ain't roite! :/ read more