Hands down best buffet within 2 hours of of Asheville! The food is always fresh, made well, and tasty! I especially enjoyed the frog legs and hibachi grill! Everything on the grill is made to order and included in the buffet! So get as many orders as you like! The restaurant is clean, with a relaxing atmosphere and the servers are incredibly friendly, our server Holly was especially helpful and kept the table clean and our drinks full, which I admit can be a challenge when dealing with me. Over all if you're hungry and enjoy Asian food then you need to check this place out! read more

This is the worst food I have eaten in a restaurant of any kind.It looks amazing, and for sure salads can be created that are fine. When I ate each dish it was awful to my taste.I am not fussy. read more

This is the first buffet that I serves that Thai food!! (Some) From a Thai girl's perspective it definitely tasted authentic. Server was very sweet and attentive. The place is HUGEEE with lotssss of food. 6 bars of food, hibachi and sushi. Bathrooms were clean and they have very spacious party rooms. Great prices as well!! I will definitely come back again whenever I visit Asheville again. read more

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first of all, let me start by saying I've always been a fan of yao's. I get it. It's not gourmet food. However, it's always been tasty and the meats have always been edible. Was Just there on September 17 in the evening.... Several of the dishes, the meat wasn't edible. Chinese restaurants use a technique called velveting. Usually begins with a tenderization and then some sort of marinade involving cornstarch, which gives it this unique Chinese food texture a softness in the mouth. For example, the beef with peppers.... The beef was not tenderized or velveted at all, it was so chewy and tough. I literally could not eat it. Besides that it had no flavor whatsoever, and the green peppers were completely raw. Similar experience with the chicken and broccoli.... It's pretty hard to make chicken breast even more tough.... But they managed to do it. I make a lot of Asian food at home Chinese in particular.... And can easily create a product far superior just in regard to the texture and flavor of the meats to anything I ate at Yao. Once again, I've been a consistent yao customer since they opened..... This time the food was so bad, I don't think I'm ever going back. read more

Went today and food was very fresh, well stocked and hot! They were very busy! The waitress never let us run out of drinks! We were seated in the back which was really nice and quiet! It has a beautiful projection on the ceiling back there too! We will definitely be back!!! read more

The food was great however the place was DISGUSTING. I'm talking trash everywhere, every corner looked like food was just swept away and never actually cleaned up. Then I took my child into the bathroom to change her and I refused to do it on the changing table. The table was disgusting, the bathroom was disgusting again trash everywhere. The toilets didn't look like they had been cleaned at all. The sink was dirty, no soap in one of the dispensers and only one hand dryer worked but they had two on the wall. read more

Yao Grand Buffet - Changing table for babies - Chinese Near Me - Asheville, North Carolina

Very friendly seated immediately, and the food was very fresh best buffet so far in Asheville and I've tried several

Food was good, not incredible but good for an Asian buffet. Restaurant was very clean , & service was excellent.

Food was awful. Everything except the sushi and rice, and noodles was so over cooked it was impossible to cut. I could not eat the spare ribs, calamari, and many of the fried chicken dishes they were so tough. The sushi fell apart it was so poorly made. I will never eat there again read more

Nice atmosphere and great service. Walked in and was immediately seated. The variety of the food was excellent. Very fresh and well stocked. Whether you like Seafood, Chicken, or Pork prepared Chinese style; food is excellent! The topping was a well stocked Desert Bar. Service, Food, and atmosphere was excellent! Price was spot on. Good place to experience Chinese Food "Buffet Style"! read more

Food was mediocre Cold food Service was amazing tho This will be my last time coming to this one. Nothing can make me come back to try it again. read more

A beautiful and spacious Chinese buffet but all for show. The food was mediocre and quite disappointing. There were so many items out and noticed that some items were sitting around for a long time. I was waiting to eat the fried rice but it was so dried out due to the heater below. The best items here was the cheap sushi. That says a lot about the experience. Good customer service but not so good when it came to the food. read more

So much variety! Very happy we came for dinner. Ordered hibachi, ate sushi, at hot entrees. I found all my favorites, like eggplant in garlic sauce, dry green beans, sesame donut balls, Pad Thai, miso soup, spring rolls (both fresh and deep-fried). I didn't have room to try anything on the salad bar or dessert bar. Wish I had room for the custard bun. My dad tried all of the many delicious soups (he said they're a bit too salty though), mussels, noodle & fried rice dishes. Service is friendly and prompt. Staff are always bussing tables, refilling drinks, paying attention. Generous hot tea portions with a ceramic teapot. Family-friendly. Recommend! read more

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This was a very subpar buffet with such potential. The interior was amazing and spacious and the entrance was practically glorious. But it fails in every other way. The sushi was terrible, tiny little slivers of salmon, etc on the nigiri and the nigiri was itself about half of the size you would expect nigiri to be. It made me feel like they were being a bit cheap. The rest, all the rolls just stuck together and tiny and crumbled apart eating with chopsticks trying to pick up pieces. Not good. Over to the teppenyaki (no it's not hibachi, google the difference). You can choose your rice or noodles and vegetables but THEY choose the amount of meat you get. Again, looks very stingy to a customers' perspective. I stopped eating it altogether anyway due to an odd aftertaste and also the meat being as dry as a desert. Lots of selections but none good. Quality control and trying to stretch out the lifespan of food until the health department throws it out is downfall of what had the potential to be an absolutely amazing buffet. Charging customers extra money for using their credit card is the nail in the coffin from a 2 star to 1 star restaurant. Such a shame. read more

Yao Grand Buffet - Dry fried rice, extremely dry steamed wontons, etc. - Chinese Near Me - Asheville, North Carolina

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Yao Grand Buffet, despite my previous negative experiences, I decided to give it one last try last night. It is by far the worst buffet I have ever visited. I wouldn't feed this food to my dog. The food was greasy, cold, and unappetizing. The sushi was of the lowest quality I have ever encountered in my life. While there were a few edible dishes... the hibachi and soup bar, which are prepared fresh and served promptly. However, I caution customers to exercise caution when selecting their meals. Regrettably, Asiana Buffet, which was my favorite buffet in town, closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. read more

Fourth time here. This time it wasn't so good. Food was cold and some of the meat was tough. They don't even give you a knife to cut through it. The state inspection grade was 88 or B. Not sure why. I guess it could be worse. The atmosphere is nice and the place is very clean. The selection of items is also extensive. I'll give it one more try. read more

The buffet items are hit-or-miss, so it takes some trial and error to figure out what's good and what isn't. On occasion, they won't put out certain items that are normally staples, like the sushi. The cook-to-order hibachi isn't self-service, so you have to tell them which meats and vegetables you want. I guess this is for health reasons? One other thing of note: the hibachi bar isn't always open, so if this is a potential deal-breaker, be sure to call ahead and ask. That being said, the servers are always courteous, and the kitschy faux-Asian decor is kind of fun. I wouldn't leave the house just to eat here, but it's good for the sake of convenience. read more

LET ME TELL Y'ALL WHAT JUST HAPPENED!!!! I AM LIVID!!!!!! Was at YAO'S CHINESE BUFFET on Smokey Park Hwy. Arrived at 3 pm. We will have a business lunch, discuss business, eat, and mind our business. Finished the first round of plates. Got up for the second round and saw that they had put out a crab boil. Fixed my plate, sat down. My colleague noticed my plate and got up and fixed him a plate. I ate one crawfish, and this lady came speed walking past the table, and swiped up our receipt. Before we could ask any questions, she was on the other side of the restaurant checking the other patrons' tables. My colleague and I looked at each other, confusedly wondering what's going on. We continued eating. I ate my corn quarter, bit down on my crab claw to crack the shell and discovered no meat inside when the waiter came by. My colleague inquires, "Excuse me, sir. Can you tell us why that lady came and took our receipt?" He says, "Hold on." He hastens off to the front desk. He shakes his head, walks back, and tells us they have switched from lunch to dinner. The speed walking receipt -snatching bandit walks up behind him and explains again that we would have to pay the dinner price because we fixed a plate of the crab boil they just put out. My head tilted to the left, and I blinked my eyes for a few seconds trying to understand. I asked her why we were not informed about this? She was trying to explain that there's signage that says...I cut her off. I said, "that is not how you do business!" in an agitated tone. I did not raise my voice, but my blood pressure began to boil. She said, "Well, I will take this off your bill and you can pay the regular lunch price" while snatching our plates off the table. Whew!!!! BREATH RAMONA!!!!!. We said, "Ok! Thank you!" We got up, walked to checkout, paid the bill, and left. It would have been one thing if she had walked up to the table and told us that they were switching over to the dinner pricing and that certain dishes would be billed at the dinner prices. But, to speed walk through the restaurant snatching receipts off the tables like a thief snatching pocketbooks and chains off people's shoulders and necks and then running away with no explanation or allowing us to decide to pay the upcharge is incorrect. That is not good customer service, and I don't care what kind of signage you have. I have never seen any signage in that establishment stating that policy. I am soooooo disappointed in Yao's disregard for business acumen. So, if YOU choose to patron their business make sure you are aware of when they switch over meal services so you can prepare for the receipt-snatching thug to come running through to upcharge your bill without your knowledge nor allow you to make that decision for yourself to pay the upcharge for some watery, bland, no meat having crab legs. They will never receive a swipe, tap, chip, or cash from me again. Thank you for making it to the end of my rant! I'LL Holla! read more

Have eaten there a couple of times the food is hit/miss. But my biggest problem is there is a little lady that walks around the whole time you are there and watches you like she thinks you are going to steal something. And she is rude. All the waitresses we have had have always been friendly and kept our drinks filled up. read more

Seriously the best buffet in town at the moment! I have loved this place for years now, every sense they were under the name Asiana even! They had a bit of a ruff patch there when the owners had been focusing on their other restaurant across town. Covid was essentially hard on places like this, but recently Yao's has picked it up! I went last Saturday and was blown away! They were packed, and the food was always hot and fresh, it tasted great! They had even brought back some of the nicer dishes that are hard to find such as the blue crab, frog legs, and a truly made to order hibachi grill, all included in the buffet! The atmosphere was lively, and everything was beautifully clean, service was great too, drinks were always full and plates disappeared whenever we finished one. All in all, I would give this place 10 out of five stars if I could! For me, it is always a treat to go here and there is no better place in town if you're really hungry, want a variety, or just just don't want to deal with a wait at some of the other restaurants in town. Also, if you want good asian food, but can't quite decide on what, there is no better place! read more

I've been to many Asian buffets around the nation and this place is the worse buffet experience I ever had! I love eel sushi and theirs was the first I ever had to spit out. Many of the items I tried, I had to spit out! I LOVE Asian foods and they were the worse! Do not go there is my recommendation. read more

Excellent Tasting food with huge selection. Attentive, courteous service, Family friendly. Parking right out front. Great value for the fare. Highly recommended! read more

Middling and inconsistent Asian buffet with plenty of choices but too many missteps to warrant recommending. A quick trip to Asheville brought my kids and I to YGB for a late dinner. We arrived more than an hour before closing, but it wasn't the freshest batch of food waiting for us. While our server was friendly and efficient, there didn't seem to be much effort being put towards putting fresh food out, particularly at the sushi bar. Overall, the quality of the food was decidedly average, but some dishes were inedible, such as the miso soup, which was so salty and weirdly thick in texture, I could only muster a few spoonfuls. Some of the sushi fish had an unappetizing gray appearance but tasted ok. Other staples such as spring rolls, fried scallops and baked whitefish were pretty decent. Management wasn't particularly friendly on checkout. In the universe of Asian buffets, this one should probably be avoided unless other options have been exhausted. (2 stars). read more

The food was cold. The atmosphere was very mediocre. My friends that I went to have lunch with all got sick. I would never go back to this Buffet. The pricing however, was decent. read more

Used to be a 5 star place however (oversteamed FLAVORLESS salmon, unseasoned crystal chicken, Fried chicken & egg rolls ) but some is as amazing as I remember ( green tea, sushi/oysters, crab & seaweed salad, curry, donuts) read more

Yao Grand Buffet - Crystal & Fried Chicken, Sesame & Egg Roll, Shrimp & Spaghetti - Chinese Near Me - Asheville, North Carolina

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The food was plentiful with many options and service was good. The ambience was nicer than expected for a buffet. I enjoyed the restaurant.

Lots of choices. Pretty impressive to find such a big buffet in Asheville NC. Surprised but good surprise!

I ordered take out here on a Thursday for dinner. These are my thoughts and observations. - After our call our order was ready in 15 minutes. That's standard for take out. - It's easy to add to your order when you pick it up. - My Thai Tea was delicious. - The cashier was astounded that we didn't tip him for giving us a straw. We heard him make rude comments as we left. - The food was tasteless. Overall, its a subpar Chinese takeout experiance. Maybe their buffet is better. read more

We start off saying normally their buffet is excellent, if you go between 12 and 1:00 PM during the lunch rush when everything is fresh, I went at 8:30 and they were still open. I suggest you do not go at that time since their buffet is terrible, the kitchen is closed their service is subpar and their hibachi is also closed. You get no service at the table and yet they still want you to give them a 80% tip, the kitchen was closed, which created problem since I wanted to order off the menu, special House rice, which is not served on the buffet, their buffet looked discussing since everything was left from lunchtime, their sushi section was nonexistent since they were not making fresh sushi, even though they didn't close until nine if you ask for any special sushi, they have no wants in making it since they were closing at 9 o'clock, they were cleaning the restaurant even though there were people eating, mopping the floors cleaning tables, finishing up to get out there as quick as I could. I suggest if you can eat here the latest you should go there at 7 PM, hopefully the buffet will be decent still read more

So I went here the first time ever and it was the worst mistake. Most the food I got wasn't even hot. Their hibachi selection was pitiful. I tried their hibachi and it was hot but didn't taste all that good.. As for service my waitress was nice but I didn't even get to eat 1/4 my sushi plate and she already brought me the check. The only thing good I had here was the sushi. Other than that it was not the place to go eat. I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone. read more

Nasty disgusting food I once saw a fly in the wings smells horrible inside dirty disgusting desserts it's so hard to breath inside waitress are rude and dirty the dirty plates dirty the food always is old or has something in them nothing good at all you just have to be bored while you wait it's so depressing no kind sounds happy I saw multiple flies and bugs near the food shut this place down!! It's like eating rat food. read more

Food was cold and bland no taste no flavor and some things was hard as a rock. Atmosphere was good but food was horrible

Came here for lunch. Very average buffet, there was absolutely nothing about this place that made me want to stay longer or come back. Food was blah, sushi was not fresh, it was made the night before for sure.. place is cheap, and you get what you pay for (if that) read more

Its all you can eat that you pay $12 for, what did you expect? There were open oysters. In a chinese buffet. Desserts were bad even for a place like this. If you must eat here stick to the meat and pray that its chicken pork or beef. read more

Horrible!! Worst service i have ever had . The server was so worried about fixing and giving us a check that we could never get any refills... she still never got out checks right . When we ask for a manager she told us it was her. When we ask for a different manager she then told us she was the owner.. we will NEVER go back.. read more

Good food; good price; huge selection on the buffet. Pretty nice atmosphere. Best Oriental buffet in the area.

One of my favorite, all-time writers was a gentleman by the name of Johnathan Gold. If you haven't ever heard of him, Mr Gold was the kind of food critic that people loudly and often ask for. He didn't just patronize and review the well-known, or hoity-toity nouveau places that have become synonymous with the superficial, upscale, and stereotypical Los Angeles area. Instead, he would get down in the muck, visiting and reviewing places that others would consider unimaginable or even unwritable. But he always did it, with an honest, descriptive prose that was known to cause some places to experience an unexpected surge in customers. What kind of places? How about a place in east Los Angeles, set up in a garage, with a mother/daughter team doing the cooking? Yes, his writing was that good. So good that I recommend that you stop reading this right now, and get to know his writings, reviews, and his general life. So, what does a west coast food critic have to do with a Chinese buffet in candler? Well, in order to visit Yao, you are going to need to let go of a lot of preconceived notions- and I do mean a lot. First, as you approach, you'll notice the smattering of questionable businesses and building structures. Then there's the business itself, located in a former grocery store. The parking lot may very well contain sketchy people working on a car or two. As of this writing, there is also major construction happening. All these factors should be completely ignored. The interior, while clean, warm, and welcoming, will not feed into a 'culinary trip to the Far East' idea. And that's fine. You're there for the food, not architecture and interior decoration. Seeing that it's the food that'll be the reason you'll be going, let's spend some time on it. Overall, the offerings are no different than other places such as Twin Dragon or Asiana. But the difference is that the food is more favorable, and noticeably fresher. If something is running low, the item will be replenished within minutes. While there's nothing wrong with going solo, I recommend bringing a friend or two. Doing this will encourage each other to eat slow, smaller amounts and, most importantly, enjoy each other's company. The best day to do this is Wednesday or Thursday. While this isn't a place to do a formal celebratory meal or feast (either-or), it definitely is a good place, or worth serious consideration, for a casual 'I-am-in-the-area' meal. read more

It's a Chinese buffet. It was larger than a lot I've been to, but, like many buffets, the food was mediocre at best. I'm not a picky eater by any means - I love Chinese food. A lot. But I tend to not love what's on the buffet. The only thing that really stands out to me is that the wonton soup was by far the saltiest thing I have ever tried to eat. Don't really recommend. Won't eat there again. read more

Man I loved this place when I first came to WNC. This place had more food options then their sister buffet Asiana Buffet. Last month my girlfriend and I got food poisoning and the time before that we felt like throwing up. My girlfriend had to call off three days of work and go to the doctor They do not change out utensils. I use the bathroom first when I get there and many times employees and especially customers do not watch there hands after #1&2! People are often going under the sneeze guard reaching for food. Never go there for dinner after 6 as everything is already been sitting out for hours. Sigh, sorry Yaos I reported you to the health division. read more

This restaurant was clean and had a dark but warm atmosphere. All the staff we encountered were very polite and helpful. The buffet has tons of options and they also serve sushi and have a teriyaki grill and will cook to order. On the down side some of the meat was chewy with a lot of fat, a lot of the options were kind of greasy, and the taste was about as expected from any Chinese buffet I have been too. Dinner buffet for 2 with a soda and a water was $29 without tip. I would recommend Yao to a friend with a large appetite and able to pound greasy food. I probably will not go back just because I usually don't eat a ton of food and can't justify the price. read more

Yao Grand Buffet - Front of the location - Chinese Near Me - Asheville, North Carolina