Yao buffet-sushi-grill

They were definitely serving 2 day old noodles and seafood that's been taken down from the buffet after closing. Then they are closed on Tuesday. And then they reheat everything when they open back up on Wednesday and serve it. It was a truly awful experience today. Sad to see a place that I've enjoyed so much fall so far. And seriously what the hell is up with corn in my egg drop soup and the egg drop soup being so cloudy with cornstarch that you can taste the starch just by looking at it.

The food was not outstanding. I was disappointed.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 3

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Crab Rangoon, Egg Drop Soup, Orange Chicken

Good food best buffet that I have found in town so far.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 4

Recommended dishes: Hot and Sour Soup, Sushi Bar, Salad Bar, Sesame Chicken, Crab Rangoon, Hot N Sour Soup, Egg Drop Soup, Orange Chicken, Baby Octopus

Don't waste your time on this restaurant! Poor sushi board. They didn't have nearly any of the sushi shown on their website/Facebook page, and what was there wasn't fresh. The egg rolls had obviously been sitting out for quite some time; they were overcooked but barely warm. The fried chicken wings were way overcooked and dried out. Lo mein noodles were mushy, sticky. Spare ribs were 90% fat and had no flavor.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 1

Service: 1

Not bad

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 3

Service: 3

Really great customer service

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Even though they had a lot of different bars of food there wasn’t a lot of food out and the food that was out tasted like garbage. The best part about this place was the desserts/sushi and the server we had.. we will never come back again.

Food: 1

Service: 3

Excellent place to eat a lot of variety of food highly recommended one of the best buffets I have ever been to

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

LET ME TELL Y'ALL WHAT JUST HAPPENED!!!! I AM LIVID!!!!!! Was at YAO'S CHINESE BUFFET on Smokey Park Hwy. Arrived at 3 pm. We will have a business lunch, discuss business, eat, and mind our business. Finished the first round of plates. Got up for the second round and saw that they had put out a crab boil. Fixed my plate, sat down. My colleague noticed my plate and got up and fixed him a plate. I ate one crawfish, and this lady came speed walking past the table, and swiped up our receipt. Before we could ask any questions, she was on the other side of the restaurant checking the other patrons' tables. My colleague and I looked at each other, confusedly wondering what's going on. We continued eating. I ate my corn quarter, bit down on my crab claw to crack the shell and discovered no meat inside when the waiter came by.
My colleague inquires, "Excuse me, sir. Can you tell us why that lady came and took our receipt?" He says, “Hold on." He hastens off to the front desk. He shakes his head, walks back, and tells us they have switched from lunch to dinner. The speed walking receipt -snatching bandit walks up behind him and explains again that we would have to pay the dinner price because we fixed a plate of the crab boil they just put out. My head tilted to the left, and I blinked my eyes for a few seconds trying to understand. I asked her why we were not informed about this? She was trying to explain that there's signage that says...I cut her off. I said, "that is not how you do business!" in an agitated tone. I did not raise my voice, but my blood pressure began to boil. She said, “Well, I will take this off your bill and you can pay the regular lunch price” while snatching our plates off the table. Whew!!!! BREATH RAMONA!!!!!. We said, “Ok! Thank you!” We got up, walked to checkout, paid the bill, and left.
It would have been one thing if she had walked up to the table and told us that they were switching over to the dinner pricing and that certain dishes would be billed at the dinner prices. But, to speed walk through the restaurant snatching receipts off the tables like a thief snatching pocketbooks and chains off people's shoulders and necks and then running away with no explanation or allowing us to decide to pay the upcharge is incorrect. That is not good customer service, and I don’t care what kind of signage you have. I have never seen any signage in that establishment stating that policy. I am soooooo disappointed in Yao’s disregard for business acumen. So, if YOU choose to patron their business make sure you are aware of when they switch over meal services so you can prepare for the receipt-snatching thug to come running through to upcharge your bill without your knowledge nor allow you to make that decision for yourself to pay the upcharge for some watery, bland, no meat having crab legs. They will never receive a swipe, tap, chip, or cash from me again. Thank you for making it to the end of my rant! I'LL Holla!

Traditional buffet style with a variety of food options. Food is priced by weight and is very affordable.

Kid-friendliness: With so many options they're bound to have something for everyone

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 4

Not great. They seriously need to do some repairs.
Get better lighting.
The food was ok. But the place just felt nasty.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 3

Service: 2

There were so many buffets of food here It was crazy! And sushi! Lots of great food!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Sushi Bar, Salad Bar, Sesame Chicken, Crab Rangoon

We went to this restaurant at approximately 7pm. We were not impressed with the selection of entrees. Most of the food was seafood (mussels, fish, some shrimp, etc.), most others used chicken. There were ribs- which were full of bone fragments- not safe for adults or kids. The chicken in most cases was dried out. I love seafood but seeing the peel and eat shrimp, mussels and other seafood laying out and having eaten other protein which was not hot (temperature) I was afraid to try it. The restaurant looked nice and clean, the server was very nice. There was a puddle of water at the end of one of the buffets, slip hazard. For two with a tea, it was $40. Definitely not worth the expense. Very disappointing

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 2

Service: 4

The servers are friendly and accommodating!

Vegetarian options: The buffet offers tofu and veggies in brown sauce, Thai eggplant, usually either steamed broccoli, spinach or Brussel sprouts, veggie lo mein, vegetarian egg rolls, vegetarian hot & sour soup, order your own vegetable stir fry, and several vegetarian sushi options, as well as fresh fruit and Chinese donuts, sesame balls, and those sugary Chinese fried crunchy noodle clumps- (I think they're called Darsaan) for an animal product free dessert. I'm fairly certain that the only dishes above with eggs in them are the hot & sour soup & egg noodles in the lo mein. The donuts are vegan as well as the other desserts.(Not claiming they're health food, just non dairy & egg free.)

Dietary restrictions: See above

Kid-friendliness: My grandson has come often. He's a toddler, and they offer high chairs and are happy to clean up his mess.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 4

Great clean buffet, 3rd time here

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5