11 Overlooked Dishes to Sample at Popular Buffet Chains

There’s nothing like going out to a buffet when you’re super hungry, sitting down to heaps of food, and eating until you’re absolutely stuffed. It may not be the most high-end dining experience out there, but buffets offer value and a family-friendly environment that’s perfect for casual nights out on the town, kids’ birthday parties, and beyond. When you go to your favorite buffet restaurants, there are probably some go-to dishes you’re always on the lookout for as you go through the buffet line. If you’re like us, these are often the respective restaurants’ most popular offerings.

But just because you already know and love your favorite buffet classics doesn’t mean you shouldn’t branch out and try something new. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of some of the most delicious — and most underrated — buffet menu items at popular chains you may frequent from time to time. Give these dishes a try, and you may just have a new favorite for family buffet night.

When you first think of Golden Corral buffet items, what comes to mind? Probably not fried chicken. There are plenty of chain restaurants that boast fried chicken as their signature offering, but Golden Corral is not one of them. That being said, Golden Corral is known for its breadth of options, so it shouldn’t surprise you that fried chicken is on the menu, even if you haven’t made a beeline for it when you’ve visited in the past. Well, we’re here to tell you that it’s definitely worth a try. Is it the fanciest, most drop-dead delicious fried chicken you’ll ever have? Probably not. But for all-you-can-eat buffet standards, this stuff is really good.

You know when you get a piece of fried chicken and discover that about half of it is breading? That’s not what you’ll get here. Rather, that breading is nice and light with a crispiness to it that’ll immediately make you want to take another bite. It’s fatty enough to have that luscious texture you expect from fried chicken, but it’s far from being too greasy. Plus, the chicken itself is nice and tender, which provides a perfect textural contrast to the crispy skin and breading. Add in a distinctive note of black pepper, and it should be obvious why this fried chicken is on our must-try list at Golden Corral.

Out of all the restaurants on this list, Fogo de Chão may be the most high-end. This Brazilian buffet chain is focused on meat, meat, and more meat, which is probably what you’ll want to load up on considering the price of a meal there. And while we believe you should absolutely get your fill of steak if you’re a true meat lover, that doesn’t mean you should pass up the fresher menu items altogether. That’s because Fogo de Chão also has a legendary salad bar, and it’s a shame to pass it up.

There are countless different light, fresh options to choose from at the salad bar, but one of our favorites has to be the watermelon feta salad. This refreshing salad helps cut through the heaviness of all that meat you’re eating and offers a hydrating bite between pieces of steak. The watermelon is nice and juicy, while the feta provides more texture and body to keep the salad from being too light. Give it a generous shake of salt, and you might find yourself going back to the salad bar for seconds.

The Midwest might just be the country’s spiritual home of the buffet, and Pizza Ranch is an undeniable staple in the buffet scene. It’s an Iowa-based pizza joint that’s known for its ultra cheesy pizzas, most of which, of course, are savory. Pizza Ranch is a great place to snag a meat pie topped with meat, veggies, and every other topping you could imagine to share with your family.

What might surprise you, though, is the fact that one of the best items on the buffet menu isn’t a savory pizza at all. Rather, it’s the cactus bread, and it just happens to be one of the best dessert pizzas of all time. Plain old pizza dough is slathered in butter and then topped with butter, sugar, and cinnamon, which gives it a sweet and approachable flavor that’s hard not to love. Once the restaurant adds the cinnamon streusel and cream cheese icing on top, though, it seriously takes this sweet pizza to a whole new level. It might not be the most sophisticated dessert you’ll ever have, but those simple flavors come together so well that you’ll be hard-pressed to find a pizza lover who won’t want to try a slice of this stuff.

If there’s two foods in the world that we’ll forever love, it’s pizza and pasta. Blessedly, a lot of restaurants offer both. However, very few offer both pizza and pasta all in one dish. Cici’s Pizza, though, that bastion of family eating outposts, is an exception. The chain’s iconic mac and cheese pizza is undeniably one of the best items on the menu, despite not always getting the hype it absolutely deserves. This dish is just carbs and carbs and cheese on cheese. How can you not love that combo?

Perhaps the most important part of this dish is the garlic butter brushed crust. Without that distinct and pronounced garlicky flavor, this pizza might be a little too basic and one-note for our tastes. However, that intense note of garlic really helps brighten up this pizza that’s basically just flour and cheese otherwise. The cheese pizza is topped with even cheesier mac and cheese, and after staying in the oven for a few minutes, that pasta crisps up nicely, creating a more-than-al dente texture that’s immediately appealing to pasta lovers. If you ask us, this dish would be even better with some pepperoni on top (but you can always get a slice of pepperoni and add it on yourself). It’s a pizza buffet experience you absolutely have to seek out for yourself.

When it comes to a traditional restaurant with a traditional menu, you don’t often get to get a glimpse of the dish before it actually comes to your table. When you’re at a buffet, though, you actually get to see everything before you put it on your plate. Most of the time, that works to your advantage, but it can deter you from trying out dishes that look less than delicious but actually happen to taste amazing. Perhaps that’s what’s stopped you from trying the pork with gravy at Golden Corral before.

It may not be the most popular dish on the menu, but believe us when we say that the pork with gravy is worth seeking out. The juicy, tender pork is made even more appetizing with the thick, savory gravy that you can spoon on top of it. It’s a nice departure from boring old chicken-based dishes, and it’ll fill your plate with some variety. Give it a try the next time you’re looking to switch up your meat routine at Golden Corral.

Ponderosa Steakhouse may not have the reach it once did, but you can still find it in parts of the Midwest. It may not be the place you’d go when you were trying to get the most high-end steak possible, but it is a spot worth checking out when you want a cheap hunk of beef you don’t have to cook yourself. But it may not be the steak that you want to go out of your way for when it comes to Ponderosa Steakhouse. Rather, the underrated food you might want to try is one that’s rather unexpected: the ham cubes at the salad bar.

Sure, it’s not quite the same thing as a nice T-bone, but these ham cubes are delicious. They’re made from quality deli meat and are cut quite thick, giving them a lovely, almost bouncy texture. Of course, they’re at their best when you sprinkle them on top of a salad. That being said, they also taste good on their own as a cold side dish. Sure, it may not be the most conventional side dish at Ponderosa Steakhouse, but who cares? Embrace the ham cubes for the best possible buffet experience. Mixing and matching ingredients is what a buffet is all about, anyway.

It makes sense to focus solely on the meat when you go to a Brazilian steakhouse. But if you go for the meat and nothing but the meat, you’re going to be missing out on the true Brazilian steakhouse experience. That’s because there are several Brazilian side dishes that enhance the steakhouse experience, and one of them is farofa. Luckily, you can get it when you visit the restaurant.

Farofa is an absolute staple for many meals. It’s made of yuca flour that’s been cooked with fatty meats, like bacon and sausage. It’s also lightly seasoned, which makes for a super flavorful, breadcrumb-like situation. You don’t really eat farofa on its own. Rather, it’s used as a complement to a ton of other dishes. When you add it to meat, rice, or veggies, it gives those respective dishes a more complex flavor along with a slight crunch. That’s why you absolutely have to try it the next time you go to Fogo de Chão. Once you start adding farofa to your Brazilian steakhouse meals, you’ll never go back to a farofa-less steak situation again.

You can get a cheese or pepperoni pizza anywhere. And although Cici’s versions of these pizzas are solid, they’re not really anything special, despite the fact that you can eat as much as you want of them. That’s why you may want to branch out and try something a little more interesting. Cici’s Pizza’s Buffalo chicken pizza might not be the most popular item on the menu, but it’s definitely worth checking out if you’re getting tired of the average, everyday pizza you’ll otherwise find on the menu. Sure, it’s not the only place with a Buffalo chicken pizza, but we think Cici’s version of this less-than-traditional pie is especially delicious.

On top of the garlic butter-brushed crust, you’ll find a bed of mozzarella cheese dotted with juicy pieces of chicken. What really makes this pizza shine, though, is the drizzle of Buffalo sauce on top. It’s tangy with the slightest bit of heat, offering a more acidic experience than you’ll get from most other chicken-based pizzas.

Let’s be honest. Is Golden Corral’s mac and cheese the most delicious mac you’re ever going to taste? We can confidently answer that question with a resounding no. But if you’re going to Golden Corral, you’re probably not seeking a super-gourmet experience anyway. Rather, you’re looking for (nearly) unlimited amounts of food that tastes decent and satisfies your cravings, and the chain’s mac and cheese definitely does just that. Unfortunately, it loses points from its lack of a crispy, crunchy topping that could add a layer of textural interest to the dish.

At the same time, this mac and cheese is still rather appealing, especially for cheese lovers who prefer a subtly flavored, creamy mac situation. The cheese sauce is velvety, and the pasta itself retains its al dente texture for a toothsome eating experience. We think this dish could be especially appealing to picky kids (or adults who sometimes crave the simpler things in life).

You won’t find a Sizzler everywhere in the country. They’re mostly concentrated in the western part of the U.S., so if you happen to have easy access to the restaurant, consider yourself lucky. If you do know about the restaurant, you’re probably most familiar with the steak-centered dishes it’s known for. Maybe if you were dragged there as a child against your will and you weren’t a big meat eater, you preferred the salad bar. But if you ask us, one of the best dishes the chain has to offer is a chicken-based one: the double Malibu chicken. The dish has a base of breaded chicken topped with a slice of ham and covered with melted cheese for a decadent, protein-filled bite.

Do you really need to drape slices of ham on chicken to make it appetizing? No. But Sizzler does it anyway. It mirrors many of the other cheese-drenched dishes on the menu, so it doesn’t seem like it’s a big departure from the other items on the menu. But if you get a chance to try this stacked delight, you definitely shouldn’t miss out.

We’ve already mentioned the cardinal sin of dining at Fogo de Chão, and that’s only focusing on the meat when there are so many other items on the menu worth checking out. But we have one more must-try dish you should seek out the next time you visit the Brazilian steakhouse chain. It’s the pão de queijo, or cheese bread, and it’s perfect for soaking up that extra meat juice you’ll undoubtedly have left over on your plate.

This bread is made with manioc flour, which gives it a springy texture that’s a marked upgrade from an average dinner roll. The cheesiness is sharp and strong but not so overwhelming that it detracts from the texture of the bread. It also has a puffiness to it that makes it easy to pull apart — perfect for dipping. Don’t make the mistake of thinking the pão de queijo is just a random roll you can easily pass up on your way through the buffet. It’s absolutely worth a try.