This review is for the bubble tea/smoothie bar located outside of the restaurant area. I was in the mall and wanted to grab something to drink, and saw that there was this new option (I didn't know until I got my receipt that the juice station was a part of Emperor's Buffet). You can get bubble tea for $2.99 and a 'real fruit' smoothie for $3.99. I opted for a pineapple coconut smoothie and it was really good. You could taste the chunks of pineapple, thereby affirming that there is actual real fruit in it, and I suppose there was coconut water mixed in. You can also add different types of boba, pearls, or jelly for no additional cost. I did find $3.99 a little steep than normal, but the size of the drink alone was enough to fill up my stomach completely, and considering how similar smoothies at different areas of the food quart only cost within a dollar less (which I'm guessing would be for smaller sizes) it's not something to complain about. Customer service sucks though, to be honest. Maybe the woman was having a horrible day, and I understand how hard it is to work in the service industry especially during holiday season, but she was downright rude. I asked (very nicely) twice if there was anything she would recommend, both times (the second time with much emphasis) that I should "just pick something". Will I be back? Maybe, if I see someone different at the bar. Smoothies/bubble tea is a nice, fresher, 'healthier alternative in a generally lacking food court. read more

Absolutely Horrible! Not always a great fan of Chinese buffets because of all the imitation food and coloring to make something look cheesy, but THIS PLACE was the WORST I have EVER gone to. COLD FOOD! empty tray at 2 :00pm on a Saturday. $14.00 for a meal when there were only 3 items that were truly edible! PLEASE DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY! you will be very disappointed. and the Hibachi is filthy! I wouldn't feed my dog off of that thing. I can only imagine the kitchen!. read more

They definitely remodeled this place since the last time I came here with my family. It's a lot brighter inside. What didn't change is the food. It's still not really up to par, not to mention they have three bars of food. That's all. One for main course, one for sides, and one for dessert. For the price, it may be worth it for people to stuff themselves, but other than that. It's not really worth it if you compare it to other buffet with the same price range. read more

Em Buffet - Sushi rolls, pepper steak, spicy chicken, grilled chicken and coconut shrimp. - Buffets Near Me - Riverside, Illinois

The worst experience ever! A roach in my plate. Never again will I come to this place! Worst part about it, I report it to manager all she did was take the plate to the back and ask if I wanted a refund. Horrible never again!! Do not recommend it at all. read more

Em Buffet - a plate of spaghetti with meat and sauce - Buffets Near Me - Riverside, Illinois

EM buffet is an alright spot to go to if you are just craving some Chinese food whille you are at the mall. They could do a better job at refilling the food trays (there were several empty for awhile on the buffet), and the taste of the food is not memorable. I like that they also have a lot of seafood options. I would suggest going for the fresh grilled stir-fry where you can pick your food options. read more

Honestly. It's really good. Friend and I were in the area randomly and craved buffet. We kinda joked about how it might be bad but whatever and surprisingly it was awesome. Sushi was tasty and the Chinese food was great. Yeah I didn't get the salmon under the lamp but I ate all the sushi and super happy with it. I'd eat here again with no worries. The cooked Chinese food under a heat lamp, where do you think your ordered food comes from?? Lol read more

I give this restaurant two stars. I went to this restaurant today with my husband and son. We expected a variety of food like most buffets and came to the realization that they do not. Most of the food (85%) is old. It looks like it's been sitting here all day. I gave it two stars because the few things we did try were okay. I wouldn't say great or good because they weren't. The food was okay. I tried the hibachi style food they had and the chicken they had!!!!!! OMG!! Disgusting. The chicken looked old and like it was going bad so I told the chef and he said "oh no it's okay" ummm no! I've left chicken out too long and I know how it looks when it goes bad. Definitely not coming back here even if they paid me to. read more

EM Buffet should be called "Ehh Buffet". Below average, nothing special. Low quality food with hardly any flavor. Even their rice is bad. And their bathrooms are filthy. read more

Do NOT EVER TRY THIS PLACE! I figured I would try this place with my kids since we've liked other buffets. It's the nastiest place you will ever experience! The staff are the most miserable looking people in the world that will not engage in any type of conversation with you, no matter how much you try to acknowledge them. The food is indescribable, something that I will be regretting for hours, I'm assuming. It's not fresh nor good tasting. They have Mac and cheese that runs! Chinese food places would be embarrassed to say this is theirs. I'm so upset to have wasted money read more

Not the BEST buffet but for the price, it's okay compared to others. The variety of food is not alot but decent for the size of the place. Two rows of hot food, a grilling area, and the dessert/fruit/salad. Though I would only recommend this if you don't want any of the other fast food place and want "more" choices than for example, just a burger from McDonalds, or taco from Taco Bell. We went on Sunday, so it was the all day dinner price of $10.59 per person. They had salmon, the salt and pepper shrimp, and mussels to make up for the price. The sushi was not the best quality, the rice was a bit mushy. read more

Em Buffet - a plate of sushi, shrimp, broccoli, and oyster - Buffets Near Me - Riverside, Illinois

The buffet is in the mall so that is good. After shopping people can go and eat all the food that they can handle. The food is typical Chinese food that you would find at any buffet. The price for the buffet is decent so that is good for the wallet. read more

Someone slap me. I have no idea why I would eat at a Chinese buffet after my first and last experience with one. I think that the Sriracha sauce on the tables is what convinced me to come in. It looked like it might be somewhat authentic. Lunch was only $7.20 for all you can eat...seemed like a deal..as it would have cost the same to eat anywhere else in the food court. They have a hot stir fry stand next to the register. Pick your own meats and veggies. Raw meat sitting out scares me, so I passed. The next stand featured salads, desserts, and fruit. Another pass. Nothing looked appealing. The main food stand had some decent things to choose from. Some were piping hot, others looked lukewarm. The last food stand had soups, fried eggrolls, wontons, and American food such as pizza, fries, macaroni and cheese, etc. Who goes to a Chinese restaurant to eat these things? So anyways...you know when you eat something, and you really think it's good, and start feeling happy and thinking to yourself I could eat this everyday?? I got that..but by mid plate...I realized that it wasn't that great and I lost my appetite. I'm not sure what happened. Food is decent for a Chinese buffet, coffee was good. I'm done with buffets. read more

It's inside the North Riverside Mall by the front and occupies what used to be Garfield's. It's okay. If you are shopping here and hungry, go ahead and try it. Don't go out of the way. I don't know why they opened this up when the established and similar Great China Buffet is about two blocks away from here by Dominick's, and that one was the original buffet of it's kind around here. I will say one difference is that the clientele here can be a bit pushy. However, the guy who used to run the Great China Buffet was a jerk and the clientele was nicer. I haven't seen that jerk in a while though. read more

I've never ate from the buffet! But love bubble teas and they have a section right in front where you can order from. Probably my 4th time at this mall. My wife and i always like to order a bubble tea (smoothie) with tapioca before we head out. This last time i don't know why the tapioca had a cigarette smoke after taste!!!! we didn't say anything because the lady who took our order looked already super annoyed maybe because the mall was closing in 10 mins and she wanted to leave? Who knows! But definitely won't be buying bubble teas again from this place. read more

Kinda dissappointed by this place, I spent $20 here and the food that was on the heating tray was either warm or cold. They also don't have much to choose from. read more

They dont really have a lot of choices to pick from. But me n my wife go there about every weak. The employes there know us very well and they treat us like family. read more

Worst bubble tea I've had in my life. Made with water and tasted like soap. I threw it away after two or three sips. The taste is still in my mouth. Tapioca was hard tasted stale. Please do not make the same mistake I did. read more

The fried rice is undercooked, the soups suck ass, and everything else is mediocre at best. The highlight of this place in terms of food is the sushi and even that is decent at best.‍‍ read more

This is pretty decent for a Chinese buffet, but is no competition to a good sit down restaurant. The noodles are actually very good: springy and toothsome. The other options at this mall food court are pretty miserable, so if we're shopping there this is where we eat. If you want chopsticks they ask for them from the cashier. I have to disagree with Pat G about the nearby Great China Buffet. All the food there is flavorless and inedible. My wife and I walked out after eating half a plate. read more

I love Chinese / Japanese buffets and this one has become my absolute favorite. The food is delicious and the sushi bar beautifully presented. The buffet area is very clean and well maintained. I ate here a few years ago and wasn't impressed but I tried in again recently and was pleased to the point that I eat here once a week now. read more

I love their food. It is always fresh tasting and they have a wide variety and their sushi is yum! Coffee is terrible though. The place is always clean feeling and usually a relaxing time. read more

Food minimum.charges different for lunch and dinner but menu is the same. Everything cold-soup,tea.price is too much for selection.

I walked into the buffet and as I was about to pay the entree fee a mouse ran out of the kitchen and the chef came out trying to get it. Now I don't want to jump to conclusions but that's nasty. I don't recommend coming here cause of that incident because who knows what they were doing with that mouse. read more

As with all buffets, the earlier you get to the buffet (IE closer to opening time) The better the food is. Its good Chinese american food, if you think its going to be a culinary delight of asian wonderment.. Well you are going to have to find a real chinese restaraunt. Its a great value at 8 bucks or so per head and beats the pants off anything in the food court adjacent. It has all the standard chinese buffet fare, orange chicken, lo mein etc etc.. The chicken wings are actually pretty delicious though. You can definately eat your moneys worth but dont expect some kind of life changing event eating here. read more

The buffet who now has a different name and probably run by different person is OVERPRICED. 10.49 for dinner buffet when they only have two rows of food and half of that is sushi! The food isn't even great; i recommend to go to a cheaper chinese restaurant. The smoothie section they added is o.k. but overall the buffet is horrible, the staff is unfriendly and i would not go back! read more

On 6/9/13 the Lady at the registered asked me how many people and as i was handling my cc i replied "one" then she looked as me and asked if i was with "them" meaning my husband and 17 months baby who were off to the side. I replied "yes" but they are not eating! The the lady said something and gave me back my cc without charngin me. I apoligized and said i did not understand! To make the long story short, i was denied service and the lady picked up the phone and said she was calling the Police!!!!!!!!!!!!! this was because I asked her for the business license number. I think (and i say I think because i did not understand what she was sayint) she assumed my husband and toddler were going to eat for free... I did not want anything for free, i was going to go in and eat while hubby waited for me with the baby... I was so humiliated and upset, there was defenitely a language barrier and should have asked for a manager. I use to go there but will not ever AGAIN... Very poor customer service skills.... read more

This place is a waste of money and time. The food is not hot on the hot table. The hostess told me that I could use the microwave on the counter to warm up my meal. The sushi was mediocre but the best part of the meal. I will not return to this restaurant. read more

So I was really hoping for great expectations here. Once we started getting our food, my boyfriend realized there wasn't many varieties to choose from. I had picked the sweet and sour chicken, noodles, sushi and Mac and cheese. I honestly disliked the food here it just tasted like crap except for the sushi. To top it off I ordered a bubble tea but it had this weird taste like minty or too much cinnamon, the taste was so off from the other bubble teas I had. So I tried exchanging it and was rejected immediately because it was open (which is obvious because I tried it and it was my first time there) but the cashier offered me to purchased another one. Really? Anyways I just lost my appetite by then. Then my boyfriend decided to go on to dessert, well it looks like they only had "vanilla" ice cream but it was actually white chocolate. WTF. This was my first time and it will be my last time coming here. I'm so done. I'm only giving this two stars because they had a varieties of sushi to choose from and I like sushi. read more

the food here was horrible, everything looked like it had been sitting out for awhile, nothing looked fresh and the food was cold. the food was also dry and the egg rolls were greasy. there was was hardly any servers around so definitely not great service. the best thing i can say i had was my water. read more

Wow, this place is truly terrible. The selections are dry, tasteless, and/or so gross-looking that I ate only one small plate of food and left. read more

They are jerks here, they don't let you sit were ever you want. Food is horrible. And price is expensive 26 for to people. Don't go here if you want good service and good food. read more

This place has recently changed ownership and enticed by the hip new decor, I checked it out. Unfortunately I was really disappointed. As someone brought up eating Asian food I thought nearly everything in the buffet looked unappetizing. The food either looked too greasy, too dry, or mishandled. The salmon looked good until I ate it and had to spit it out! The only decent spot was the sushi which was about average. The one thing that puzzled me is why they didn't provide little cups to pour soy sauce in for the sushi. I supposed the owners think that the convention is to drench the sushi with sauce. Another decent spot was the Mongolian style grill, which besides the sushi, was really the only thing that I really delved into. The vegetables seemed fresh, but the beef was tougher than shoe leather. I was turned off that the cook handled everything with his bare hands instead of wearing at least some kind of glove. The previous owner had a buffet that played down to American tastes in an insulting way with the idea that " these customers don't know what good food is, so we won't make the effort to make it good". The latest owners don't even come close to at least making most of the food edible. read more