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Emzara’s Buffet

3.9 (92 reviews)
Closed • 11:00 am - 4:30 pm
Updated a few days ago

Emzara’s Buffet Photos

Business Info

EMZARA’S BUFFET ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Casual
Touristy
Moderate noise
Outdoor seating

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Recommended Reviews - Emzara’s Buffet

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Filled plates
Emma S.

For a buffet they have a great variety. You can be sure you'll find something everyone can enjoy. I think because it's a big variety nothing is hugely amazing. It gives a home/cooked feel. There is a great amount of dining space. I went on a very busy day and there was still plenty of seating upstairs.

Salad plate and brussel sprouts... so good!!
Leora B.

My family and I decided to stop in at Emzara's during our day at the Ark. my husband and son sat here for more than 2 hours while my daughter and I went on the zip line and my son had some work meetings he needed to attend. No one said they couldn't or had to leave. By the time my daughter and I joined them and we all went down for lunch this place was PACKED!! Especially on the bottom floor which is close to the bathrooms and buffet but I recommended trying the top floor for a little more quiet. Seems like most people stay on the bottom. Tips: get two plates when you get in line and grab EVERYTHING you want on your first visit. Why? Because if you get your salad first then come back for meat and sides, you have to start all over at the back of the line. Now they do a really good job with the layout of the buffet and getting people through but it's still quite a line. So just get it all in one go and come back for dessert. Unless, like us, you skip dessert for Uncle Leroy's Fudge and Kezia's ice cream. Also, try the brussel sprouts! Best I've ever had!! Hands down!! Oh and don't turn your nose up at it because it's a buffet. It's actually really good food! I'm giving 5 stars because in spite of the shear number of people the served in a short time, the food was fresh, hot, and tasty, the venue was clean, the ambiance spot on, the service friendly, and there were a lot of food options! Sure to please everyone!

a large group of people eating
Jack G.

** Kind Service ** ** Clean ** ** Convenient ** With enormous amounts of people and huge group numbers, a buffet is a no brainer. The line to get in wrapped around the building but it kept moving. The options were not the greatest but I can say the fried chicken was very tasty. Also try their pudding, it was fantastic! My only gripe would be the styrofoam plates, not great for the environment and was not great for carrying food. It may be that these were not their normal plates because I saw a few different varieties brought out. There are tons of employees working here and that was very cool to see. The place was spotless except for the drinks section, that was chaos. Our experience was good all and all.

Seating area at 4pm just before closing
Momma S.

They had a wild range of food and it was hot and fresh. We ate after touring the arc and doing the zoo area which was about 4 and they closed at 5. I noticed the food wasn't kept full and seem like once things went empty they didn't replace it so i would recommend going around 12 or 1 not 4 like us.

Inside
Arlene M.

Emzara's kitchen is the main sit down buffet restaurant at the Ark Encounter. There are two entrances both of which you pay your price fixed buffet meal and then get in line to serve yourself cafeteria style. Scattered throughout the restaurant are taxidermy animals to replicate some of the ark's animals. My husband and I were there during the lunch hour and again the two lines were exceptionally long. There was plenty of seating available. It wasn't overly long of a wait until we got our tri compartment paper plate and started to make our way through the salads and side dishes. There is a sign telling you that you must take a clean plate if you return to a station. With this line I had no intention of doing that. Most of the sides are clearly labeled and then over to the back was an area for hot foods. Here you find fried chicken, meatballs, chicken tenders, barbecued pork, pasta, and fried fish. The dessert station sits off by itself with paper plates of their own. The plasticwear was wrapped at the eating end to protect the user but I found it a pain to open my fork. With my husband's help I managed. Beverages again are served by machine and when I got my ice tea I was looking everywhere for sugar packets. Finally an employee showed me a machine that dishes out the "perfect" scoop. Really? By the time I got back to my table the ice in my drink had melted. The food was average quality. Again nothing to hit home about. All the sauces and condiments were off to the side and I must say I liked the meatballs and chicken tenders best. For dessert I took what looked like an apple mixture and a small piece of chocolate brownie. Again they were alright but this is a place for tourists and one needs to expect that. They also sell the refillable plastic drinking bottle here which you can use anywhere in the park for $19.99 but to me it wasn't worth the money. Bottom line. The Ark encounter has a number of family friendly fast foods both inside the ark and in Noah's village for less money. You are probably better off going there however, I recommend if visiting this buffet come after 1:00 when the lines are less crowded. Enzara's restaurant is located next to the Ark itself.

a woman sitting at a table

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Page 3 of 3

Ask the Community - Emzara’s Buffet

Kellie's Homestead Restaurant - Smoker Duo (Brisket and Pulled Pork)

Kellie's Homestead Restaurant

3.3(196 reviews)
4.5 mi
•$$

Four of us came here for dinner after a full day at the ark…read more We were greeted promptly and seated in a comfortable booth. There were both large and small tables available. The menu is large and varied. It ranges from appetizers to entrees and even had a variety of desserts. Our waitress was precious and delivered great service, checking on us several times. Our table got Country fried steak, a burger and meatloaf. All selections were delicious and the portions were more than enough for us all. The sweet tea was good! We were too full for deserts. There's a small shop with homemade sweets and breads at very reasonable prices and some gifts. There's plenty of parking as it's in a large strip mall. We all agreed we would eat here again.

I'll start with September 23 - 25 2021, our 1st visit to the area & Ark. We live in WA state. We…read morefound Kelly's our first night. Went in for dinner & had a wonderful homemade meal. Kelly told us about their little dinner theater on Fridays. We went back for dinner & the play. The day we were leaving to continue our trip we went in for breakfast. That's how much we enjoyed Kelly's. Now let's get to today October 27 2026. A friend & I are on girls trip to the Ark. I've been talking Kelly's up & telling her what great food we had in 2021. So disappointed in our visit this evening after leaving the Ark Encounter. There were 2 booths with 2 people in each one. We were seated given menus. Our drinks were delivered we asked for straws. She said we don't have any. The waitress started telling us everything on the menu they were out of. The list of what was available would have been shorter. I ordered the chicken bacon blue cheese salad & fried green tomatoes. My friend ordered the Mexican chicken salad. Our waitress came back & told us they didn't have blue cheese for my salad or the dressing for her salad. I decided to skip the salad as blue cheese was a big part of the salad. So very disappointed I hope this isn't what Kelly's has come to. I asked the baker guy if Kelly still owned it he told me yes. We went to the register to pay the hostess. Another young waitress came up & started complaining loudly in front of us to the hostess; that she seated people in the other girls section & not in her section. I said you can deal with that after we pay & leave. The hostess asked me if I wanted to leave a 18 - 20 or 25% tip. I told her I wasn't leaving a tip. And we left. I apologized to my girl friend that we didn't have the same experience my husband & I had in 2021. Needless to say we will not be back to Kelly's in the future. That makes me sad this was such a BAD experience.

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Kellie's Homestead Restaurant
Kellie's Homestead Restaurant - Side salad and country fried steak

Side salad and country fried steak

Kellie's Homestead Restaurant

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Hansie Flip Burgers - Wow! Bring your appetite for these big burgers and huge fries!

Hansie Flip Burgers

4.4(116 reviews)
2.1 mi

We stopped in on our way to our hotel around 2:30 on a Thursday afternoon. They were out of sweet…read moretea and chocolate shakes. There were two tables of people there when we arrived and it was fairly quiet. We ordered and sat at a table and noticed there was seating outside so we moved outside to soak up some sunshine. My husband ordered a strawberry shake and large order of fries to split and we both had the single bacon cheese burger. I had mine on a gluten free bun. The burgers came out and our mouths fell open. They were beautiful with the beef, bacon, cheese, sliced onion and tomato and special sauce. We could just get our mouths open enough for a bite. Wonder how that works with the double burger. The first bite was WOW. Now this is what a burger should taste like. And the hand cut fries were delicious also. I tased my husband's strawberry shake and that was also excellent, so much so that he felt better that they were out of chocolate...lol. The chef asked us on our way out how our food was. We would definitely come back here for these burgers, fries and shakes done just right!

My wife & I were driving back to Indy from Lexington. We were checking Yelp along the way, looking…read morefor someplace to eat. This place popped up & we thought it looked good, so we stopped in. The outside looked quite nice, as did the interior. There were plenty of seats inside, but we sat on the very large patio, since it was nice out. We ordered two bacon cheeseburgers, large fries & two drinks. Everyone we interacted with were very friendly! The burgers were HUGE & amazing in construction & taste!! The fries & Hansie sauce were very good, as were the fountain drinks. The prices were pretty good, well, especially since we got the singles & not the double burgers. One of the people even suggested another restaurant in town if we ever came thru again! How classy is that?! We will definitely be back if we are even remotely close to here in the future. I just wish they were closer to us.

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Hansie Flip Burgers - Dinnng room

Dinnng room

Hansie Flip Burgers - Handcut fries

Handcut fries

Hansie Flip Burgers - Menu

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Menu

Carson's Food & Drink - On Main - Goat cheese appetizer

Carson's Food & Drink - On Main

4.5(1.5k reviews)
40.4 mi
•$$

Strong reviews and an interesting menu lured us to this upscale casual restaurant. We grabbed a…read moretable on their covered patio since the weather was so nice for early October. Our friendly waiter kept things moving. It was happy hour (3-6pm) so we got drinks at a reduced price. The menu had so many tempting choices it was difficult to choose. I opted for the Hawaiian chicken sandwich which was tasty. The only downside was the top of the bun was bit dry. The broccoli covered in cheese was a good change of pace. My wife got the spinach and field green salad with a piece of salmon. It was excellent and the salmon perfectly done medium rare. Prices were reasonable. Highly recommended.

After seeing the online reviews, we decided to check out Carson's for dinner, and this place comes…read morehighly recommended by locals as well! On a Sunday night, there was a wait, but we were able to snag two seats at the bar. The bartenders were great--I wish I remembered their names! They made some excellent food and drink recommendations and were very attentive. We started with a Caesar salad to share, which isn't pictured, and then ordered two pasta dishes that we absolutely devoured. Everything was delicious! The following day, we discovered that many restaurants are closed on Mondays, so we ended up at Carson's again. This time, we decided to check out the back porch. We were expecting a similar menu, but the back porch seemed to focus more on meat and fish options, while we were looking for sandwiches. So, we relocated to the main dining area at Carson's without a reservation. Thankfully, the hostess was able to seat us but let us know that we would need to be finished dining by 7 p.m., which wasn't a problem for us. Our server was great, and we started with the goat cheese appetizer, which was absolutely incredible! Unfortunately, my Buffalo chicken sandwich was drenched in Buffalo sauce to the point that I couldn't really enjoy it. My spouse and I also decided to share sides of the mac and cheese and smoked Gouda broccoli. I was pretty disappointed with both because they were heavily covered in truffle, which I personally don't like. Because of that, I wasn't able to enjoy my second meal here as much as I had hoped. Nonetheless, I would still recommend checking out Carson's. There are plenty of menu options, and our first experience was fantastic. Based on my two visits, though, I would strongly recommend making a reservation if you plan to dine here!

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Carson's Food & Drink - On Main - Interior seating

Interior seating

Carson's Food & Drink - On Main - Side salad

Side salad

Carson's Food & Drink - On Main - Baked Goat Cheese

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Baked Goat Cheese

Local Feed - Wagyu Beef Lettuce Wraps were outstanding!

Local Feed

4.0(489 reviews)
28.6 mi
•$$

Faboulous everything! We had a big group and everyone enjoyed themselves. Service was excellent.read more

Reviewing Local Feed is surprisingly difficult…read more The first challenge wasn't even the restaurant. Ongoing road construction around the area made parking an absolute disaster. We ended up parking at a nearby closed business because it was the only option available, and honestly, we were lucky not to get towed. We nearly turned around and left before ever walking through the door. Once inside, things improved immediately. The rustic brick interior, mismatched tables and chairs, and relaxed atmosphere made a great first impression. We were greeted and seated right away. Before visiting, I had already looked at the menu online, and as a party of three we tend to order family style. We order whatever sounds good and share everything. Local Feed had posted their seasonal specials online, so we already knew what we wanted before arriving. Unfortunately, service was where the experience started to fall apart. It took longer than expected for our server to stop by the table, so we placed our food order immediately when she arrived. I asked about the seasonal and rotating draft beers, but she couldn't tell me what was available and suggested that I go look at the bar. That was the first red flag. When I got to the bar, there was no bartender present. After waiting a bit, I returned to the table expecting my server to come back for our drink order, but she never did. Later, another employee appeared behind the bar, but he explained he was serving a different section and told me to speak with my server. Eventually, a third employee helped me get our drinks and even made sure they were added to our tab after noticing which table we were seated at. The food, however, was outstanding. We ordered the Brussels sprouts, beef lettuce wraps, brisket poutine, and a chicken sandwich. Everything arrived hot, fresh, and absolutely delicious. In fact, I jokingly said, "Of course the food would be great." That's what makes this review so difficult. The food was easily 5 stars. The service was closer to 1 star. Averaging those together lands me at 3 stars overall. Despite the service issues, I would absolutely give Local Feed another try. The food quality and atmosphere show that this place has a lot of potential. If our service experience was simply an off day, I could easily see why others might rate it 5 stars.

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Local Feed - Inside seating area

Inside seating area

Local Feed - Risotto

Risotto

Local Feed

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Emzara’s Buffet - buffets - Updated October 2026

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