Our ROMEO group of 10 were here today. First visit since it's been called Magnolia's. I think the price was somewhere around $17.50 or so and they offer a discount for seniors over 65. I see they add a gratuity automatically if you have more than 5 people sitting in one section. Thought that was a bit unusual but since it's a buffet maybe that's normal. The guys all had different things. The General Tso's chicken was deemed good, lots of items to choose from. I tried the chicken wings (just so-so), but nothing to write home about. I also tried some type of meat that looked good (almost like a beef stew) but it was ice cold. Terrible. Sample the fried fish filets and they were good. A bunch of us tried various sushi rolls and found them good, along with clams and mussels. There was something for everyone. The dessert had some vanilla pudding ( I think the guys thought it was a banana pudding), and to me it just looked like plain vanilla pudding with some wafers on the side. I passed on that. Quite a few had some of the mixed softserve ice cream and liked it. Three or four ordered from the "Make to order meals" where you select your meats, rice or noodles, and they prepare it for you. Overall it was a good experience. Average rating was a 4.1 for the group. read more

Love magnolia buffet, great staff and food i just wish we were given a bigger selection of food for the price paid to eat here compared to its competitors. read more

I absolutely love this place! Me and my dad and my sister come here all the time! Even if one of us has some hard days! The service is great! And the setting is just chill and relaxing. The sushi was very good and I always get it! read more

Magnolia Buffet - Soft serve mixed - Chinese Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

Great place in town if you just want a classic Chinese Buffett. I went here during dinner and they have all the original stuff such as fried rice, orange chicken, noodles, teriyaki chicken, etc. My favorite thing about this place was the unlimited Sushi and Nigiri, the rolls were being made on the spot and everything tasted fresh. The staff were friendly and they made sure our drinks were topped off and would remove the used plates from our table. They have a wide variety of foods and also a place where you can make what appeared to be a Mongolian bbq dish or similar to it. They also have a salad bar. Lastly they have a dessert bar with common pastries and some ice cream. Overall I wouldn't frequent this place, but its nice when you can't decide what to eat and are simply hungry. read more

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Extremely disappointed and pissed off that a staff member held onto my AirPod Pros for an entire week before I caught up to them. Had to call the police and do a report!!! obviously they didn't understand there is built in locators for the item!!!! Sound off and Pros beeping behind the counter where someone stash them behind junk!! Spending $30 a person to eat at your shit and u don't have the decency to return people shit!! Never ever will I go there again!! read more

Absolutely amazing food. Love their noodles. Great sushi along with lots of other foods. Great place for a date

Very bad. I felt sick after eating here. Will not go back. Looks like food is prepared in the morning and sits out all day.

Had a great experience at this restaurant with my family here. The food was wonderful and the place was very clean . Here are some of the foods that they have. They have a solid bar with multiple different dressings and condiments. They also have a Hibachi Bar with shrimp chicken and beef with vegetables that you can add to it even eggs. For the main area they have multiple stations that included fried shrimp, coconut shrimp, sea salt shrimp, General Tso's chicken, teriyaki chicken, salmon, ribs, fried fish, quesadillas, string beans, lo mein, fried bananas, rice, with many different varieties They also have soup hot and sour, wonton or egg drop and many more things everything was filled and they were constantly adding more food before it even was low. They even had a dessert bar with soft serve ice cream that included chocolate or vanilla. Also for dessert they had small little cakes different kinds of ones and almond cookie and hot apple pie slices on the main food bar. The price we paid was $16.82 but that was for Saturday evening price that also includes a drink the price is lower during the week and also for lunch. I believe it was well worth it and then some our waitress was Sue and she always continued to fill our drinks and check how we were doing. She gave us wonderful service. The woman in the front where you have to pay first was also very friendly and very informative since it was our first time coming there. read more

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Carmen at the Front register provided Outstanding Customer Service! She was friendly and Very Professional! KUDOS to Carmen!

The family and I were passing through and found this place. It had a great selection of food. They even had frog legs. The food was good. The service was good and it was nice inside. I would eat there again. read more

Was t very impressed. Bland food. No real management going on. Food was warm at best. Definitely not worth the money we paid. There are better options in my opinion. This was on a Sunday too. No excuses. It was definitely better when we came last time. A couple of years ago read more

Sold buffet especially at the lunch price. Fast, attentive staff. Quality newer style Chinese buffet. Not my go to for Chinese buffet, but on the north east side of town it is a decent option. read more

I have never had a bad experience at magnolia buffet. It's a little pricey but the food and the service there is great! I recommend it to everyone. It is also clean!! read more

My mom and I had lunch at Magnolia Buffet yesterday, 11-14-2025, around 12:00 PM. Food and value were just ok ($32.00 for 2 with a senior's discount) but the reason for the 1 star is the inattentive and rude waitress (older Asian lady who spoke very little English). Service was so lacking that the manager had to call the waitress over to our table at one point to get her to refill our drinks. Mind you the restaurant was not even half full. Near the end of our meal, we asked for a refill on our hot tea and asked for a new bag of tea. This waitress proceeded to tell us condescendingly in broken English that the tea is very strong suggesting we didn't need a new bag. Now I understand customers are not always right, but we were left amazed that she had the audacity to voice her opinion over a $0.05 bag of tea. This type of subpar service and attitude from a wait staff member are the reasons we never tip ahead of receiving the service. Otherwise, we would have been extremely disappointed for tipping this waitress $4.00 or $5.00, which is our customary tip rate at a buffet for a table of 2. Needless to say we tipped her what she deserved--$0.00. With today's economy and high prices, I think customer experience could make or break a business. I also encourage everyone who patronize this restaurant to tip AFTER the service is rendered. read more

I'm pretty sure this was the only Chinese buffet I haven't tried in Columbia yet so I thought today would be the perfect day. My daughter wanted to go to "buffet" so buffet we went ! Just like every other buffet, they have you pay before you go in. It was $20 for adults on weekends and I'm not sure how much kids were but i wanna say maybe 8.99 (for 6 yr old) because my total was about $30. The place looks like an old Golden Corral (don't quote me on that, I could be wrong) but it was big and spacious. I didn't get to take a picture of the food, but if you've been to a buffet, most of the items are pretty similar (sushi, hibachi station, lo mein, egg rolls, etc). We got there about 1:30 and it wasn't too busy for a Saturday. The food I got was pretty good and standard, my favorites will always be the coconut shrimp and cream choose wontons. The coconut shrimp is creamy and perfect sweet coconut flavor that balances the saltiness of the shrimp itself. Anddd who doesn't like cream cheese wontons !? They are creamy and is so good with a little sprinkle of soy sauce on them. I also got the salmon which was cooked well but didn't have too much flavor and I also enjoyed the teriyaki chicken which looked like it had a yellow Chinese mustard base and I typically don't like mustard but whatever they used gave the chicken a lot of flavor and it was cooked perfectly and super tender. My daughter got orange chicken (not sure if that's what it was) and fries. That's her favorite go to meal and of course she loved the desserts. She got the mint whipped mousse which I actually enjoyed as well. It was light and had a subtle mint flavor , the best part was it wasn't too sweet. She also really liked the strawberry cake which was moist and definitely could taste the strawberry flavor. My go to dessert is always the banana pudding but this was better than the other places I've been because although a bit stale, they provide the best wafers on the side and have a wafer crumble on top of the pudding. I thought that was so much better than having soggy wafers. I'd say our trip was a success. Even my daughter said this place is now her new favorite. read more

Highly recommend! I special waitress that go see all the time. The atmosphere is nice & clean. And everyone is nice & there to serve!

It is always well stocked and very clean. The staff is very nice. And the food is very good.

Food normally pretty good but last time I ate there about a week ago it was not all being kept hot. The crab Rangoon was not crispy. The general tso's chicken was inconsistent in size. I did.like the mei fun (rice noodles) . Apple pie the crust not done and apples were canned and hard. Best dessert was soft ice cream although it melted really fast. Service was fantastic! Bathroom female such a mess with paper towels on the floor and beautiful counter tops were covered in water. They need someone to keep it clean. Next time I'll go to Jasmine on down the road. Farther but I love their apple pie with phyllo dough crust and what tastes to me like they cooked the apples. Also Chinese donuts are yummo. read more

The food is great, haven't been disappointed! The buffet is clean, they do have plastic utensils. The tables are serviced before & doing your meals. For children, their's no given menu, for them, since it's a buffet... The buffet has a very large array of items & hibachi grilled food. And it's always very clean the times we were there! The only regrets about this restaurant is, I wish they were on my side of town!! read more

one of our favorite local spots! very rarely a wait, plenty of options, and most times a clean spot with a quiet environment. it's busy but steady and enjoyable. my favorite is the coconut shrimp and the hibachi bar! read more

Food was amazing they so many options from desserts to food. The service was nice they treated us good no problems. Ambiance: it looked nice the bathrooms smell kinda bad running the good smell there but it was a cool and chill vibe read more

Wait time was long, but the service and the food was very good. We had a large crowd, and they were able to take care of us and we enjoyed the food very much! read more

This place is always good. We have gone too this spot a lot. The staff is always nice and the food is fresh most times. I have gone and the food have not been too fresh. But overall a good place to each for a reasonable price. My family enjoys and will continue to visit. read more

Magnolia Buffet - Me enjoying my time at Magnolia. - Chinese Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

New to Columbia! My neighbor said this was the best buffet he's ever been to, so my friend and I decided to check it out. One of the better buffets I've been to in a long time! NOTE: their website mentions crab legs, but they do not offer crabs legs or oysters during this time because of COVID. Their website also says they close at 10, but they close at 9 now. Be mindful of that if you decide to go. Upon entering, we were instantly greeted by this very nice woman at the counter, KarmenWe paid $29 for two dinners. She explained that they didn't have crane legs or oysters, but everything else was still available. She asked us what we wanted to drink (which was included with our meal) and escorted us to our table. Onto the food... it's what you'd expect at any Chinese buffet. You have to wear your mask when walking around, and plastic gloves are provided for you to wear when reaching for food. I had a combination of everything and had no complaints, except that they were out of white rice. Being that we went an hour before closing, it was expected. Our waitress, Miss Sue, was what made our experience that much better! She stayed and conversed with us for a while, always checked to see if we needed anything, made sure our food was up to par, she was just overall a sweet person. Karmen then checked on us to see if we wanted to get anymore food since they were closing and made sure we were good to go before they started cleaning up. ***Their customer service here was AMAZING. We've never received such great customer service at any other Chinese buffet before. Because of their awesome service, we will definitely be back! Especially when they have crab legs again.*** read more

Magnolia Buffet - two plates of food on a table - Chinese Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

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Just your typical buffet, nothing special. I do appreciate that it's a clean place and it doesn't feel icky like most buffet's. They unfortunately charge 18% gratuity before you're seated if you have a party of 6 or larger. I feel it should be 8. I would go before rush hour. We arrived around 12:30 on a Sunday. By 2pm the place was too crowded. read more

Delicious buffet with a large selection of food. I tried a little bit of just about everything, and it was all good. Customer service is a plus. read more

We always enjoy coming here. Always a nice selection of food and the tables are always clean.

Food was great service was great!!!! Only problem was that the cashier was trying to over charge me but she got it right. Just make sure you check your receipt before you seat down. Overall it's very family and kids friendly. Will go back. read more

Poor service, Waitstaff is rude. Food was sub par. Bathrooms were filthy and seems they are never clean.

QUITE expensive if you ask me. But I actually think that this place is sooo good! Clean. Exquisite. Not sure if it's authentic. I'm not Asian or Chinese but... I think it tastes authentic? But I loovee the noodles, the sushi, the everything. The lights are super pretty, the service is good, I'd say their nice. They help and come often to say "refill?" Which I like that. But it's amazing pretty much! read more

It was good! A lot of choices on the bar and to be cooked. Better than some of the Asian buffets in Atlanta! I need to put this one on the list for every visit. Over $16 per person on the weekends. read more

Large variety of food, all I tasted was very good. The staff was very friendly. It was very clean. The service was excellent.

This is a forewarning! We went to Magnolia Buffet. The food may taste OK, but you better worry about what's actually in it. Went in the bathroom at the sink washing hands one of the servers came out of the last stall with her APRON AND PLASTIC GLOVES ON. SHE JUST USED THE BATHROOM!! She DID NOT stop at the sink to wash your hands or the gloves. And again let me emphasize that the gloves and apron were already on when she came out of the bathroom stall. So after she left the bathroom and we followed behind her to see if she would change either. She went straight back to serving some other people, their drinks, and what have you. Did not skip a beat. Yuck! read more

Great selection of all the goodies! Sushi, Mongolian BBQ, plus the standard Chinese buffet selections. Clean and roomy. All without costing a fortune. Need a complaint? The soft serve was a little too soft. read more

Love coming here with the family. Pricing is reasonable, and food is great. For this to be a buffet, they keep up with fresh food. Customer service is great. The setting of the restaurant is nice and clean looking. read more

Lot of good food.service is fast.theAmbiance,lighting ,and fans work great.The food is room temperature read more

Magnolia Buffet - a plate of food with shrimp, crab legs, and noodles - Chinese Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

I pass this business often being in Columbia a lot. First, I never knew it was a Chinese buffet. I always thought it was a Southern style buffet. They recently got back in the swing of things after COVID, and it always packed when I pass, so I figured it had amazing food. AND IT DOES!!! Secondly, it's modest on the outside but beautiful on the inside with all kinds of modern touches. The food is AMAZING!!! They have several options and each one is flavorful and made with great preparation. Also, at this buffet the drink is included in the price, that is the main reason I chose this spot as well. You pay before you eat as well. I like that so you don't have to wait for a waitress once you are done eating, you can go on your merry way. Everything about this place makes sense, so it makes sense to try them out. See what I did there?!! LOL!!! read more

I'm pleased to report our first foray into Magnolia Buffet exceeded our meager expectations. We went on a Sunday during post church rush but even just a few weeks since their grand opening, they were able to easily handle the volume. Very little food wasn't fresh and plentiful, the grill to order station was busy but not an impossible wait. Even for a high traffic day they had an impressive amount of seafood out, including oysters, crawfish, peel and eat shrimp, and cold mussels. My favorite from the hot bar was their salt and pepper blue crab, though I didn't see any seafood crackers. Service was warm, attentive, helpful. We will definitely go again. read more

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Excellent food choices. I chose the cold seafood selections. Sushi, mussels and shrimp. Spouse chose seafood, vegetables and sides. Service was very good. read more

Good. Standard buffet options. Hot food and busy restocking during dinner rush. Nothing SPECIAL, so 3 stars, which means "It was fine. I'd go back." read more