If I could give this restaurant zero stars, I absolutely would. This was, without question, one of…read morethe nastiest buffet experiences I've ever had.
My daughter and I stopped at Golden Dragon in Cottonwood on our way home from picking her up at camp. We arrived around 11:15 a.m. for the lunch buffet, so we expected the food to be fresh. Instead, it was the complete opposite.
The restaurant itself looked old, run-down, and dirty. Before we could even get food, we had to set several plates aside because they still had crumbs and food debris stuck to them. That immediately made us question the cleanliness of the restaurant.
The buffet was even worse. Almost everything we tried was cold, dried out, rubbery, and incredibly chewy. The food looked and tasted like it had been sitting out for hours. Nothing tasted fresh, and we couldn't even finish half a plate each because every bite was so revolting.
What really stood out was that an elderly family sitting at the table next to us was also talking about how unfresh everything tasted. It was obvious we weren't the only customers noticing the poor quality.
To make matters worse, we spent nearly $40 for two lunch buffets and could barely eat any of it. We left feeling sick to our stomachs--not just because of the food, but because we had wasted $40 on a meal that was completely inedible. Looking back, we should have walked out the moment we saw the condition of the restaurant and the buffet. Instead, we gave it a chance, and we both deeply regret it.
A few hours after leaving, both my daughter and I began vomiting and having diarrhea. We strongly suspect it was food poisoning because we both developed the same symptoms after eating here.
Overall, between the dirty dishes, the run-down appearance of the restaurant, the old, cold buffet food, and now both of us becoming sick afterward, this was one of the worst restaurant experiences I've ever had. I will never be back, and I genuinely hope the restaurant takes cleanliness, food quality, and food safety much more seriously because no customer should have an experience like this.