Over priced , under seasoned and not friendly staff .

So I thought I would share this with you and let you be the learned ones. We had buffet and a water Then desert also from the buffet. The check was dropped off by a very muscled Asian fellow. As my female partner was leaving to pay the muscled server stood in front of the booth not letting her get out to pay. He kept repeating over and over that the tip was not automatically added to the check. Demanding that we make sure we add the tip. I found it interesting his approach was to the female that he could try to intimidate and not the male at the table. So he has a history of bullying female patrons. I would definitely not trust this establishment with your safety in anyway. Management had a we don't care attitude read more

My mom and I came to check this place out today for an early birthday dinner. Place looked clean and smelled delicious. The buffet had a wide verity of chicken , some beef, lots of seafood and I even noticed sushi. Everyone was nice and staff was quick to take empty dishes and refill drinks. I think we have finally found the Chinese buffet we like! read more

Joy Luck Buffet - They are clean - Chinese Near Me - Saint Louis, Missouri

I had a great experience at Joy Luck with my brother's family. We ordered off the menu which features many Sichuan dishes. One great feature of the menu is that photos of the dishes are included so you can see what you will get if you order a certain dish. I was not familiar with many of the options so that was helpful. We ordered Sichuan green beans, pig's ears, a beef dish with peppers, and some amazing squid. We ate family style and I enjoyed each item I tried. Rice is included with the meal and the server brought us a sea weed starter on the house before our food arrived. The service was very efficient. 3 out of 4 dishes arrived in less than 10 minutes. I would highlight the squid as my favorite of what I tried. It had to be the best calamari I have ever had. Joy Luck is most often frequented for its buffet. It looked really good and cost less than $11 at dinnertime on a Saturday. They even have a Mongolian BBQ selection as well. In addition to that, one can order a hot pot dish. Certain tables have the stove feature where hot pots can be enjoyed. I am glad I tried ordering Sichuan off the menu and would recommend it to all. read more

This place was so unsatisfying. Not much of menu, the servers are rude and act like the don't know English. The Crawfish was overcooked, bathroom was dirty, and my cup was chipped around the rim. read more

I mean it's food..... the place did not feel clean. As far as the booths and bathroom. The food was not great. Beef and broccoli was fine but all the chicken dishes were not good and pieces cut very small. Even the crab Rangoon was t very good. They did have a wide selection including sushi. Not super busy and lunch was 10$, a fair price . read more

Hmmmm, the wife and I really enjoyed our buffet meals here. I read a few of the one star reviews, and hope they were exceptions. We arrived shortly after opening on Sunday. The food was fresh and hot, and I thought quite tasty and flavorful. There was a really broad selection of items too. Sunday buffet was on $10 & change for each of us, so I don't even know why someone needs to order off the menu. read more

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The first buffet I've been to that I walked out of still hungry. The food was below average, and the cleanliness or lack thereof should result in them being shut down. For Yelp to have them at 4 stars makes me question the reviewers credibility and if I will continue to rely or their reviews moving forward. First off the hibachi tray had two spatulas for 6 items. 1 Spatula (shrimp and two diff veggies) 1 spatula for beef, chicken and pork. If you're allergic good luck. I witnessed the hibachi chef grab food that fell off of plates and onto the counter and put it back into the tray. After witnessing that, I went to the hot buffet and watched another man from staff do the exact same thing. I had no choice at that point but to pay and leave. On my way out I looked at the door and saw the B rating on the door. I wondered why I didn't see that on my way in but noticed that they conveniently had a closed on the 4th of July sign blocking the B rating. You couldn't pay me to eat here again. read more

Joy Luck Buffet - This is what you see walking in. - Chinese Near Me - Saint Louis, Missouri

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The previous review still holds. Auxiliary to my previous review, a bonus star for the authentic Sichuan food on the menu. The menu essentially focuses on (spicy) Sichuanese cooking and takes about 12 mild non-spicy dishes such as the steamed Luffa. Red is present in most dishes - if not as a slick of potent Chili oil, then in lashings of sliced or whole chili peppers, or both, with other spices such as cumin, garlic, peppercorn and ginger. In Sichuan boiled beef and Chengdu Spicy beef, the soup/sauces are topped with unfathomably deep layers of tongue-numbing red Chili oil. Chengdu spicy beef features one additional generous layer of dried chili. Other plates such as Sizzling Plate Lamb and crispy Fried Duck are mined with green and red Sichuan pepper and coated with sliced dried chili, and usually levitated by other spices. read more

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My family has been coming here weekly for nearly six years, so I'll leave it to the child psychologists amongst you to analyze the impact of Joy Luck on the development of my teenage identity or whatever. Like Fight Club, the first rule of Joy Luck Buffet is that you don't talk about the buffet. Get the fuqi feipian to start (morsels of tripe and marbly beef slices soaked in chili oil topped with tingly spices); order the ma po tofu, cumin-braised lamb, garlic eggplant, or one of the spicier chicken dishes so that the complimentary pot of rice on your table knows the meaning of its life; and round it off with a bowl of delicious, hearty fish soup with vermicelli. Ignore the fortune cookie if you'd like. It's already a miracle of luck that Sichuan food like this exists in the Midwest. read more

I've been to Joy Luck many, many times with my girlfriend. She's Chinese and has assured me that this is one of the few places in St. Louis where really good szechuan food is to be found. I've never written a review because the best food was to be found on a menu written only in Chinese. There was an English menu but it wasn't even remotely the same. This has now changed and ignorant westerners are able to order the good stuff. First things first, yes there's a buffet and it looks thoroughly average. I've never once been tempted by it. If you, like me, aren't asian, the wait staff will probably assume that's what you want. Just ask for the menu. A few words about the menu-- First, unlike some places that put a little chili pepper next to menu items that are, at most, only mildly spicy, Joy Luck's little pepper means that the dish is likely swimming in chili peppers. Personally, I'm obsessed with a fish soup they do with various pickles. I'm also a big fan of their eggplant. If you, like me, enjoy eating innards, the beef and tripe appetizer (again, swimming in chilis) is great. They also do a hot pot here that's pretty great. You get a big pot of two kinds of broth that is cooking away on a little burner. You dip into this various meats, veggies, and seafood, cooking it all to your liking as you go. Loads of fun! My advice is to go in and just order things even if you don't know what they are. Explore a little! Eat something about which you feel uncertain! It's one of life's great pleasures. ....or...I guess you could go with the buffet. PS: some reviewers have mentioned that this place looks dingy. It did, but recent renovations have improved things. read more

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Very affordable buffet. Under $10/person during dinner, even less before 3pm. Soda was under $2. As soon as we walked in, we were offered a table or a booth. If you plan on doing the "hot pot" from the "secret menu," make sure you request a table with a burner. The hot pots are about $20/person and include unlimited refills and access to the buffet (as if you needed more food). Once directed to a table, they take your drink order and allow you to access the buffet. It is NOW that you should ask for a menu, since you will not be given one unless you ask. The buffet consists mostly of fried chicken entrées. The green beans were cold, but everything else seemed to be hot. There is a small selection of sushi to the right of the main buffet- mostly vegetable rolls or cooked fish. The rice is located at the end of one of the rows in a large black pot (I missed this on my first pass). My favorites were the shumai, crab rangoon, and pot stickers. You pay at the front when you are done. Your "receipt" is given to you when your drinks are delivered, so no need to flag down a busser. There are fortune cookies at the register to grab before you leave. read more

This is my go-to place for Chinese hot pot. This is AYCE hot pot and includes access to the buffet for $20.99. Hot pot is basically a communal eating event - you sit around plunking thinly sliced meat, seafood, and veggies into boiling hot broth at the table, wait for it briefly to cook, and eat it with an array of DIY condiments/sauces for dipping. What hot pot comes with: 1. Choice of broth (regular, spicy, or half regular half spicy) 2. Meats: Beef, pork, lamb (defrosted, thinly-sliced), beef tripe 3. Seafood: unpeeled shrimp, squid 4. Vegetables and things: Napa cabbage, tofu, rice noodles, enoki mushrooms There is a condiment station behind the buffet where you have a selection of 10+ sauces and toppings. You come here to make your own dipping sauce. You make your own combo to taste. Condiments include satay, sriracha, oyster sauce, sesame sauce, peanut sauce, black vinegar, chili oil, chili paste, garlic oil, minced cilantro and green onion. One pot is good for 3-4 people. The ingredients for hot pot are okay quality and limited in variety, and service is kind of lackluster, hence the 3 stars. I almost never have enough belly space to sample from the buffet, but it is nice to grab some fruit after I'm done numbing my tongue eating hot pot. The buffet is very so-so - whatever you think of as your typical greasy, American-style "Chinese" food buffet, this is what you get. read more

I read reviews before I went but had mixed emotions on how people was reviewing. I gave it a try and it is the best Chinese food I've had! And very good service! Definitely recommend read more

Buffet: Pretty wide assortment of food. It's a pretty good value. Food is pretty decent for a buffet but my ultimate favorite would have to be the fried chicken wings. It's pretty difficult to find Chinese fried chicken wings in St. Louis for some reason, but they have'm and they're pretty good. Last Sunday when I came here for lunch I ate two plates of them. Disgusting I know, but oh well that's me. So you may wonder what does the Buffet INCLUDE!? 1. Variety of food in hot trays, other random things such as cocktail shrimp. 2. Sushi bar 3. Stir-fry station 4. Real ice cream - not that soft serve stuff you usually find. My favs from the buffet smorgasbord: 1. Fried chicken wings 2. Chicken skewers 3. Mussels All-you-can-eat hot pot: They pretty much have everything you would want and need. I forget the price cause I haven't been in a while, I think it's around $18 now. I don't think they have watercress though, what a pity... :"( Regular menu: The regular menu here is actually pretty good and authentic. Can get a lot of you favorite Chinese dishes here. I think my only gripe with this place is that they definitely use a good amount of MSG. read more

Ok. Please. If you have ever heard of Chinese Hot Pot and never tried it, this is definitely the place to go in St Louis to try it. I've been here twice now, in the past 2 weeks since discovering it, because I just haven't had Hot Pot in so long; it brought back a past craving. Hot pot is basically hot tasty soup constantly boiling where you cook meats, seafood, veggies, whatever you want in here. They have 3 meats, Beef, Lamb, Pork, a variety of seafood (squid, shrimp), vegatables, tofu etc. You can ask them for whatever and they will give it to you; we asked for egg and chicken as well. The Hot Pot itself has multiple flavors, but I definitely recommend the dual chicken soup, one side spicy, one side not spicy. It is all you can eat, you also get the buffet in the middle of the restaurant, as well as unlimited refills on any meat or seafood or whatever you want to cook. The service was good, all the waitresses were fun and friendly. We came as a group of 12 and ate for 2 hours and devoured the food, while making consistently asking for refills and making jokes with the servers. It was excellent. The meats and seafood were as fresh as you can get here in St Louis. So Definitely, I would recommend the hot pot buffet of Joy Luck. The normal buffet is very average, not very good food. Prices are 20 dollars per person for the Hot Pot, minimum 2 people. Make sure you ask for the hot pot buffet when you come here if that's what you want. It doesn't have the real crazy authentic Chinese stuff like Pork Blood but it definitely is worth the try. read more

I'll need to revisit this and update my review someday. I came, and tried to conquer the hot pot. Solo. The hotpot totally kicked my ass. This is not a job for one person. The buffet looked good. The sauce cart for hotpot was championship quality. The tray was easy on veggie variety, but ridiculously stocked with shrooms, noodles, tofu, squid, shrimp, lamb, pork, beef. And cabbage. Plan for this! Don't eat for a day. Water diet and stretch your stomach beforehand. Smoke a pack of Phillies first, get lost at sea for a while. Hunger strike for world peace. Hot pot here is pretty epic. DELICIOUS. Great place!!!!! Another bit of advice... Get you some peppercorn oil, and cut it with the salty chive sauce. Mix your garlic paste with cilantro. Ummm, I suggest straining the chilies out of the sauce at the end and finishing with a bunch of tofu. This will serve to lubricate your butt tunnel before all the chili oil spills from your insides the next morning. I'm serious. But it's all worth it. read more

Joy Luck Buffet - The sauces. If you get spicy broth, I don't think you'll need the chili sauce. - Chinese Near Me - Saint Louis, Missouri

Joy Luck has authentic Sichuan food, and it's not on the buffet. Dry-sautéed Eggplant (see pic): it's amazing. Rich, mild, sweet and sour sauce with pieces of chewy eggplant that have the mouth feel of steak fries (large french fries). The sauce is to die for. If only I could order other menu items with the same sauce. Peppercorn Fish Soup: spicy with a great, garlicky broth. You'll need to remove the red and green chilis before eating it unless you can handle the heat. Chengdu Spicy Beef (see pic): very hot, of course. Need to remove chilis before eating. Not as varied in flavor as eggplant dish above so it was not my favorite. Overly salty and oily. Shredded Pork with Garlic Sauce (see pic): could have been very good but was too salty. Lamb with Cumin (see pic): very mild and good. Not exciting but definitely tasted different (central Asian flavors). I'll try other dishes next time. Hoping to find something I like as much as the dry-sautéed eggplant and fish soup. One last comment, it looks like they've stopped using those beautiful, large, rough, handmade ceramic bowls for serving. I hope someone at the restaurant sees my comment and puts them back in rotation! :( read more

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Before you go beating me up as to why I gave a buffet a four star rating, hear me out.... As buffets in the city go you don't have many outside of the casinos, Golden Corral, Homestyle buffet, Ryan's Steakhouse, and a few Indian lunch buffets. Based on that we're not really left with much to choose from, and the aforementioned have their shortcomings (clientele). Honestly I have yet to find a Chinese buffet that really offers authentic Asian cuisine en masse, so with that in mind I found that Joy Luck is one of the best buffets. The servers are friendly and quick, the restaurant is clean, so are the bathrooms, and they offer plenty enough food for your hearts desire. I'm not going to be long winded but they offer everything in line with most buffets, and even decent sushi graded above grocery stores and on par with most middle tier restaurants. They have a "secret menu" which offers authentic cuisine that have neither the gumption not time to enjoy; but I understand it's quite good and relatively true to its roots. To sum it up, I've been going here for years and the quality has not deviated, solid buffet and inexpensive; you can't go wrong. read more

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No idea why this place has such high ratings. This place is super expensive for not very good food. The hot and sour soup tasted fine but had developed a film from not being stirred recently. The steamed dumplings did actually taste good, but they fell apart too easily to eat without a fork. The lettuce on the salad bar is too large, and you are not provided a knife. The honeydew on the salad bar was so unripe that none of us couldn't eat it. The vegetable lo mein was too greasy. The stuffed mushrooms were bland, which I didn't think was possible to do. They had some kind of roasted beef with au jus on special that was... not what I would call special. Meanwhile, we were sitting in a back area with a skylight. Seems like a cool idea... if you ignore the obviously taped up areas where I'm assuming it leaks. The booths were so close together that two people cannot pass unless both go sideways. The tables have built in heating elements that mean there is no where to put your feet. I had to sit with my feet turned to each side while my husband (whose feet are 5 sizes larger) sat at the far edge with one knee half in the aisle. The service is so slow that I tried to refill our drinks myself and got yelled at by the staff. We only got a second refill because I got up from the table and went to find a staff member. read more

Seriously, $7 lunch and $9 dinner. 2 people ate, with tip, for less than 20, and we were full for the rest of the day (and night). I especially liked the Honey chicken, egg rolls and the General tso's. The rangoon was nice too, not dried out like you might expect, and the fried rice was good- and it had pork in it. And I topped it off with almond cookies. And of the course, the bf lets me in on the secret that they have real authentic stuff - and according to fellow yelpers, I need to make a special trip back for that. Will do! read more

I have actually never eaten inside but have had some carry out/delivery food from here. First off, they usually deliver on-time and I think most of their foods are reasonably priced and taste pretty good. I've tried some other Chinese restaurants in the area but this has got to me my favorite. I absolutely love their beef fried rice. It is so flavorful and they give you a lot for the price! Recently, I tried their shrimp with lobster sauce and thought it tasted pretty good. I have also had their chicken chop suey and that also tasted pretty good. Even though I can't speak for the actual quality of their buffet service and food, I have to say that I definitely recommend their menu items. They give you more than enough food if you get the full order. I would say 2 people could get full off of an order. It is definitely a place to try out! read more

It's been almost 10 years since I have been to this place. Back then the outside looked like a hurricane washed out Denny's and the inside looked like a mixture between a junkyard and an abandoned sunporch. The food was oh so blah. However, when I recently went to the restaurant..... well the outside still looked like a hurricaned out Denny's, but the inside was redone to the point I could actually stomach eating in there now without feeling grossed out from the atmosphere. It's just seemed so dark and dirty in the past, but now it's semi elegant and the food is good. Lots to choose from for $8.09 (tax included)...will be back PS I am glad they used some of that money to remodel the spot . It really helps with the overall customer satisfaction of wanting to come back and do referrals read more

The "secret menu" is delicious! But you MUST LOVE spicy food. The lamb is melting in your mouth. The pork hock is five spice flavored, very tender and moist. Did not try the buffet. Looked plentiful and interesting i.e. frog legs, crawfish, etc. There is sushi also. The place has an outdated decor but it was packed on a Friday night. It smelled heavenly and the staff is very helpful explaining the more authentic dishes. read more

Joy Luck Buffet - Spicy lamb - Chinese Near Me - Saint Louis, Missouri

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Their buffet is pretty decent! Of late, I have been ordering their General Tso's combo meal to take with me to pool league!! It is a lot of food & it is very delicious!! You get 2 crab rangoons with the meal! I think you can add a soup with it for an additional charge!! If you do take out, call ahead! read more

1888 join Love today it is now 1239 I guess the restaurant opens up at 11 o'clock we got there a little after 11 the Atmos the inside the place the building is freezing on the inside did you basically got to wear your coat to eat and the food was cold so the rating I would give this restaurant is a -5 STARS. The restaurant used to be a good restaurant near many times before but now I wouldn't recommend anybody to eat here especially after today. the food was cold it was not warm they kept trying to explain to the guest the steamtable was hot, but the soup was the only thing that was warm. read more

Haven't been to a buffet in a long time!!! Decided to give it a try and was pleasantly surprised the food was great with a variety of awesomeness!!! Everything was fresh and warm and the cooks kept coming out to make sure everything was full and warm and this was doing a nice lunch rush!!! The place was clean and the service was great! Highly recommended! read more

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Ordered carry out. Was very disappointed in soggy, over-breaded General Tsaos and Orange chicken.

Solid buffet. Wanted something fast for kids, and this exceeded expectations. Hibachi grill decent, although no sauce-options like a Mongolian BBQ, but it's not supposed to to have that. Sushi rolls were good, lots of veggies, avocado, and a little fish but great compared to most grocery store options (which was our 2 option for the evening). I did like that the manager was closely monitoring the buffet and as favorites got low, he had staff on top of it. Things I always get and rate on Asian Buffets: Green Beans, Chicken Wings, Roasted/Smoked Chicken, General Tso's Chicken, Crab Rangoons, Sweet 'n Sour soup (just needed a bit more pepper, found on our table). All hit mark except Crab Rangoons which I like with more filling and a bit browner. What will have me go back is their Hot Pot ~$21 pp. Kinda tough to enjoy with our 4 kids under 10 yrs old and their needs of multiple trips to buffet and bathroom. But noticing others around us looked delicious with lots of condiments and really authentically tasty in appearance. They don't serve alcohol, so go to eat & enjoy a friendly conversation. read more

Joy Luck Buffet - Smiley face - Chinese Near Me - Saint Louis, Missouri

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Visited St. Louis for weekend, find this place for dinner. Didn't go for buffet, but ordered some Sichuan food. The food was unexpectedly authentic and tasty. Friendly and helpful service. Highly recommend locals and visitors come here for a authentic Sichuan cuisine! read more

Joy Luck Buffet - Chinese Near Me - Saint Louis, Missouri

Great Buffett! Love they are on DoorDash. So convenient! We like going in for the Buffett. It's very clean and good food

Food was cold and not worth the $30 we spent for lunch. Very disappointing. Mongolian BBQ

Came back here on a Sunday evening to try some more stuff. The experience was mixed. Once again, kicked off with the Calamari in Ginger Juice for an app ($6). Once again, it was fantastic. I took the advice of Zach X. and tried the Shredded Pork w/ Garlic Sauce ($9). It was pretty damn good, with flavors that reminded me of hot and sour soup. It was a bit too saturated in sauce, however. Great portion and plenty to take home. Now the not-so-good. We wanted a vegetable dish so we went for the "Chinese Vegetable Surprise" or something like that ($8). It was a gamble that did not pay off. It was basically a ton of bok choy leaves with pieces of tomato and eggplant, drowned in some sort of brown sauce. Unfortunately the sauce was kind of slimy. I couldn't imagine actually eating a piece of the slimy bok choy. I did pick off some of the pieces of eggplant which were also slimy, but pretty tasty. But overall I really can't see anyone enjoying this dish. Our service, while friendly, was not very attentive. We had to flag the waitress down a couple times. They seemed understaffed. I won't dock any stars because I still think Joy Luck is a gem. But I will be a bit more cautious next time. read more

I didn't enjoy the buffet at all however the hot pot part I found to be so good and I had so much fun!

First time coming and it was excellent!!!! One of my colleagues insisted that I go and I'm glad that we did!!! Very fresh hot and delicious!! read more

Food was nasty and tasted spoiled, The service was terrible, the bathrooms were nasty, and they were disrespectful. (I only put one star because it makes you). read more

Saturday Lunch buffet was only 7.49 and hot tea was only 1.49. For the price this place is fine. They have hibachi stir fry (no rice noodle), and a very basic sushi. Many options and the place was absolutely packed with large groups. Overall very filling but nothing stands out as phenomenal although the dumplings and the teriyaki baked chicken was better than anything else. They have six flavors of Baskin-Robbins ice cream self-serve hidden in the back read more

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This was by far the worst I have ever ate. The crab Rangoon was spoiled the chicken was horrible. We asked for silverware and the server was rude. They didn't fill out drinks 1 time so I got up and done it myself. They also didn't even pick up our plates. The price was ridiculous also for the service we got read more

There was a living bug wriggling inside a cake. Cutting it open, we thought it was the syrup stretching but turns out six legs were flying out the cake. The manager only gave a discount though my buds next to me couldn't continue eating after seeing this. The manager didn't even apologize and kept repeating its not their fault. Honestly this is so disturbing cause shouldn't it be the restaurant's job to check their food for sanitary. I cannot ever go here ever again. I feel sick. Honestly i might sue them read more

To my brother and I , this is the best buffet ever!!!. We went on a Saturday for lunch and everything was delicious excellent, well prepared and delicious! I can't wait to go back read more