Buffet restaurants are good and bad.
They are good in that you eat your fill without question. You can satisfy any number of people with any imaginable taste sensation. They are bad in that you often eat too much and eat foods that only half satisfy you in terms of quality.
At Marker 9 at Highway 192 in Kissimmee, you'll find three buffet restaurants: The Sizzlin' Grill, Ponderosa and the Chinese restaurant Full House.
Sizzlin' Grill is open from 7:00 A.M. (for the $3.79 breakfast buffet) to 11:00 P.M.
Sizzlin' Grill is locally owned; it's not part of a national franchise. When you walk in, you get more of homey feel. It might just be my imagination, but it seems as if the employees really care. The buffet is always impeccably stocked and cleaned up. All the food items are labeled. The wait staff is so very friendly.
I wish the food were as good. It's OK. It's about as good as mom makes, if mom sometimes throws a frozen pizza into the oven. Some things, like the turkey and the salmon are very delicious. Somethings, like the soggy broccoli swimming in liquid, are edible but not really done the way you would like.
My biggest complaint is the music. I'm not sure why Rock is playing, but I wish it wasn't. I'm all for modern music at the arcade, but not at a sit-down family restaurant.
The one thing that I like about Sizzlin' Grill, but I'm sure the owners don't like, is that it's nearly empty. Of course, I feel sorry for any eating establishment with only a fourth of the sections filled. Though, it does make for an easier time getting another plate piled high!
Ponderosa has the opposite problem; it's too busy. To enter into the restaurant is to enter into chaos of large groups in a hurry, famished families and the slow elderly. I don't care for this kind of feel as I eat; it's like eating in a bus terminal. Of course, it's not always like this, but more often than not, it is.
For some reason, the employees at this particular Ponderosa remind of the United Nations, where at least you get translators.
But, food is the main reason to go to any restaurant. Ponderosa's food is good enough. It's that industrial-strength, cafeteria fare. It is plentiful, though not replenished as quickly as the people dish it up. The employees aren't really to blame; their restaurant is just too popular.
It's open early for the $3.99 breakfast buffet.
If Ponderosa is the quintessential American restaurant, then Full House is an equally good representative of Chinese restaurants. I love the decor--the red tented center is wonderfully kitschy. It isn't fancy, but you feel a happy mood. It is a smaller space than Sizzlin' Grill, so even though there are a constant flow of people (as opposed to a flood like at Ponderosa), you don't feel like you're in an empty cavern. It's quiet, with only some Chinese music playing.
The employees are Chinese also...very, very Chinese...as in: don't expect them to understand you. That communication gap would be a problem if you were going to order off the menu, but you're going for the buffet.
It is typical Chinese buffet. There are the crab legs, the pork ribs, beef with peppers and lots and lots of chicken. There is also lots of deep fat fried foods. Chinese buffets do mix the extremely healthy with the shamelessly unhealthy. It's tasty at Full House.
Full House is open 11:00 A.M. to 11:00 P.M.
Sizzlin' Grill Map
Ponderosa Map
Full House Map
FEBRUARY, 2008 UPDATE:
There's yet another buffet restaurant which has been added to the previous line-up on 192, across from Old Town. Since Cici's Pizza is a big money-maker, the name for this rip-off is IC Pizza. At $4.79, the all-you-can-eat is a great price, but it's not that great an experience.
Honestly, it takes time to make a restaurant into a destination. On my first visit, I faced some dissapointment which guarantees that I won't be back any time soon. They need to work out the kinks.
The price of $4.79 was fine for me, but I felt it was unfair to have young children pay $3.79. That is without a drink. At Cici's, children are $1.99, which includes a drink.
The restaurant is currently cavernous, with only a few tables filled with others like me; hungry people wanting to try something new in town. The feeling of emptiness is increased by the lack of pleasant music. I complained about Sizzlin' Grill's music, but now I'm going complain about the lack of any, any music. The only sound you hear is the team of employees trying the offerings. There's a lot of commaraderie between workers, to the point that I felt like an intruder. My used plates sat too long while they sampled the pizza that I thought was made for me--the paying customer. It's a little strange to eat under such conditions.
The Romaine salad is better than at Cici's. There are more tasty bits tossed in with the leafy greens.
I hated the garlic bread which has a greasy taste; not a buttery taste.
The pizza itself is OK. I would say that the freshly baked pizza is better than Cici's. The crust is actually baked on the premises, rather than shipped pre-fab. The sauces are rather blah, with nothing that improves or diminishes the whole. The toppings are of somewhat uneven quality; some toppings look downright nasty, while others appear very fresh. Overall, the pizzas are good enough for what you pay. However, with so few people scarfing down the food, the pizza sits for a long time and ages unappetizingly.
As with Cici's, I continue to be dismayed at the lack of signage. What is on the pizza? I don't know! What's more, the employees don't always know and they must ask around to find out. What a drag! Can't pizza buffet restaurants simply place labels in front of their offerings?
As I said, I won't be back any time soon. I wish them well. I think it's a great location and has serious potential to be a contender for some of Cici's dollars. First, though, they need to think of how to please their own customers.
