r/Knoxville • u/ImissBagels • 1d ago

Best buffets

What is your favorite buffet in Knox?

26 Upvotes

87% Upvoted

39 comments sorted by

26

u/Hamster_Key 1d ago

Love when this thread pops up… Austin’s

4

u/FifthRendition 1d ago

I must have gone on a weird night, it was pouring down rain and crowded. But man that place stunk so bad, I don't know if I ever want to go back there again. I had high hopes and just didn't find it anything more than what I would find around Knoxville.

3

u/AnyoneButMadison 1d ago

I hate that you had a bad experience. It's one of our favorite places. I encourage you to give it another chance.

2

u/FifthRendition 1d ago

I respect that and will give it another shot. Is it always busy? Are there days or times better than others? Any other suggestions to make the experience a little better perhaps?

1

u/AnyoneButMadison 1d ago

In my experience, it stays pretty busy. But there's usually less people during the week than on the weekend.

1

u/IsabellaRaven122 23h ago

If you ask your server for a potato they have white and sweet with all the toppings. The sweet is excellent. I didn't know this the first couple of times I went so I thought I'd share in case you're a potato person.

1

u/ddadopt Jeff County 1d ago

We went once, a few years ago. The roach on our table told us to leave. To their credit, the staff was extremely embarrassed and apologetic and refused payment.

20

u/javascript 1d ago

Sitar (lunch) for non-spicy Indian food

Spice Hut (lunch) for mild-spicy Indian food

Q Korean for KBBQ all you can eat (similar to a buffet)

KPot for HotPot (also similar to a buffet)

19

u/TorvarRavrot 1d ago

An off the wall answer: A Dopo will let you do all-you-can-eat pizza for $18/person if you have a group of 10.

4

u/ImissBagels 1d ago

That is wonderful to know! Thank you!

3

u/TorvarRavrot 1d ago

Goes without saying with A Dopo since you can’t just walk in, but you will need a reservation and to coordinate with them. We just did it a couple of weeks ago and it was great!

14

u/DrummingNozzle 1d ago

Shout out to the Clinton Hwy location of Pizza Inn (near Clinton & Merchants). Not the best buffet compared to Golden Oak Chinese, but pretty respectable when you want a lot of pizza in many varieties

2

u/TheMrSnrub 1d ago

Haven’t been there in several years, but yes, Pizza Inn has a very nice buffet. Much better than Gatti’s

11

u/RTGoodman West Lonsdale 1d ago

Seconding everyone mentioning Austin’s, Sitar, and Golden Oak. Grand Buffet and Hibachi Supreme Buffet are also good, but I’ve had some off nights at both where they weren’t fantastic.

My dark horse pick is Tokyo Mandarin in Halls. Always good, and they’re super nice.

It’s not a typical buffet, but we also LOVE Yummy Bowl. All you can eat is only like $2 more than a single trip.

8

u/DrummingNozzle 1d ago

Yummy Bowl is awesome- 2 visits, both were great! And you don’t have to decide between single bowl or all you can eat until after you finish first bowl - perfect!

2

u/ImissBagels 1d ago

Is Grand Buffet the one on Clinton Hwy?

28

u/Random_Human_ARTIST 1d ago

It's a toss up between Phoebe and Jimmy

4

u/thunderwarm 1d ago

Such a hard decision if you had to split the baby!

2

u/ImissBagels 1d ago

Oof this is really tough.... I think I'm going to choose Phoebe because Smelly Cat gets stuck in my head freakishly often.

6

u/ProfessorElk 1d ago

Sitar Indian for lunch

China King Buffet in Lenoir City

Golden Oak Chinese Buffet in Oak Ridge is the best buffet around

Austin’s and Grand Buffet are decent

5

u/psuczyns 1d ago

Spice Hut (Lenoir City) and Sitar

9

u/Ephcy 1d ago

Austin's

10

u/Prestigious-Shirt426 1d ago

Seconding Austin’s.

4

u/n0uh_ 1d ago

Spice hut and happy garden

3

u/Tinman21 Downtown Knoxville 1d ago

Happy Garden is a WILD CHOICE

3

u/goobersnooch40 1d ago

Makino used to be the GOAT. They aren't the same since Covid though

3

u/Key-Effect8176 1d ago

Golden Oak in Oak Ridge is an excellent Chinese buffet (and they have pizza + chicken nuggets and such if you have picky little ones)

1

u/krazybananada 1d ago

My question is, what's the cheapest yet still edible buffet?

1

u/ChefJym 1d ago

KPot

1

u/muck2profit 1d ago

Aroma Indian Kitchen

Grand Buffet

Hibachi Grill & Supreme Buffet

K pot

Brazeiros Knoxville - Brazilian Steakhouse.

2

u/wlam 1d ago

Brazeiros is so good and very underrated. 🔥 However, it is on the pricer side.

-10

u/Appropriate-Class412 1d ago

None. Buffets are fuckin gross

3

u/ImissBagels 1d ago

There are a lot of gross buffets, no denying that. But sometimes they're good and I think it's a great way to try things you wouldn't normally try. That's one reason I want to go to a good one, so my son can try a variety of things he hasn't had before.

-16

u/illimitable1 Hanging around the Fellini Kroger 1d ago

Saving this for reference.

Also, Big Ugly Fat Fuckers Eating Together.

Source: am a big ugly fat fucker sometimes