Old Country Buffet
Update: Old Country Buffet is now HomeTown Buffet.
In a word: Seriously? You need a summary of the OCB?
The specs: #0439
Address, hours & details via Isthmus; reviews at Yelp, 
; official web site.
JM, John, Nichole, and Rose all ate at the buffet.
The bill was $50, or $12.50/person.
JM, John, and Nichole gave Old Country Buffet a C+; Rose gave Old Country Buffet a B- (see our grading rubric).
Latest Old Country Buffet news and reviews
We're not sure which old country has a buffet like this, but given OCB's ubiquity in the current country, we wonder if they're referring more to Eddy Arnold than Don Corleone. We stopped by on a Sunday and JM and his folks relived some Sundays from his youth.
We were pleasantly surprised at how clean and well-stocked the place was, with dishes at the right temperature. They may know their market, but there's no excuse for the deplorable vegetable selection, which was mostly iceberg-based salad bar, steamed carrots and corn, a massive head of cauliflower doused in cheez sauce, and several cold salads that were basically excuses for eating too much mayo. Accordingly, John and the rest of us ate too much meat and dessert. Everything tasted like we were eating under the cloud of a bad head cold.
That said, there is a niche for the OCB. A German teenager - as in, one from The Old Country - once told Nichole that the thing he remembered most about his soccer team's visit to America was the Old Country Buffet where, he exclaimed, eyes wide, "You can sit there and eat all day long." We left after only an hour, calorically done for the day.
This place is absolutely terrible. I'm embarrassed that German kid went there - what a sorry example of American food!! The one time I went, I picked at my salad and then had some ice cream - the only two semi-edible things on the bar, and even they were iffy...
I just can't figure out what on earth the appeal of this place is, other than it's all-you-can-eat.
Posted by: catwoman | June 22, 2009 at 02:06 PM
C+, B-
That is terrible. This is the worst place to eat in Dan County. It is disgusting.
Posted by: Jon | June 22, 2009 at 03:40 PM
Sometimes I feel like the only born-and-bred Midwesterner who's never been to one of these places!
Posted by: Jen | June 22, 2009 at 03:56 PM
"Seriously? You need a summary of the OCB?"
Yes, I have never been there. You have confirmed that I never want to be there.
Posted by: Elizabeth | June 22, 2009 at 07:03 PM
Not all OCB's are the same, the one in Brookfield, WI is probably the best one I have been too. While I agree they are no where near the top of the restaurant pyramid, I would give them a better rating than you did, probably a B or B+, perhaps though that is because I am a vegetarian and it is one of the few places you can go with a group of friends that really has something for everyone.
Hint: Best time to go on Sunday's is about 11 am, that way you get breakfast & dinner for the price of breakfast!!!
Posted by: Ken | June 22, 2009 at 07:32 PM
Still better than Mad City Crab Shack.
Posted by: Timmy | June 22, 2009 at 11:55 PM
This is one of the two restaurants I have been panhandled in - yes you read it correctly - in. (the other being Texas Tubbs) It speaks to atmosphere of this place. The only reason I was here was to take an elderly friend - because the old folks do like their buffets. I like the analogy of everything tasting like it was "under the cloud of a cold". Very correct.
The only place worse than this is Pondergrossa.
Posted by: Heather | June 23, 2009 at 07:23 AM
One of my best friends is German, and she freaking loves going to buffets when she visits here- her explanation is, in Germany there are no buffets- you can't even get free refills on coffee- because Germans are too cheap and they'd take advantage (her explanation, not mine!). She gets a kick out of the fact that you can eat however much you want for one price.
Posted by: Autumn | June 23, 2009 at 09:17 AM
Heather and Timmy: right on both counts.
Autumn: what an interesting observation! I thought it was just the teen-boy thing, but maybe there's more to it.
Posted by: nichole | June 23, 2009 at 11:53 AM
Germans go crazy -- and I mean CAH-RAY-ZEE -- for some wacky shit. Ever see one at the beach on a hot day?
Posted by: Kyle | June 23, 2009 at 04:25 PM
Well, if I make it across the lake this won't be a place I'll stop. Thanks for the forewarning.
MB in TC
Posted by: Mari | June 23, 2009 at 08:42 PM
Heather -- While I like OCB's in general, the one in Madison is probably the WORST one I have been to anywhere partly due to the restaurant & partly due to the clientele and those observations are based on experiences from SEVERAL years ago.
So with that in mind, they actually probably were generous with the grade they gave THAT location.
Posted by: Ken | June 23, 2009 at 09:07 PM
What brand of chocolate milk does Old Country Buffet serve?
Does anyone know what brand of chocolate milk does Old Country Buffet serve? And where I could buy some? Its hands down the best chocolate milk I've had in a while.
Posted by: vo | February 18, 2010 at 04:14 PM
Asking them would be the only option I know.
I would assume it is either a "house brand" or a food service brand [neither of which is available to the public].
Personally if you really want to know, go to Woodman's and get one of each kind of chocolate milk they have and see which matches it / is close.
Posted by: Ken | February 18, 2010 at 05:57 PM
Kids, I just want to point this out before The Management deletes the spam:
Ken just gave a very serious, friendly and helpful answer to a bot named "viagra online."
Posted by: Kyle | February 18, 2010 at 10:18 PM
Closed for remodeling as of mid-July 2011, with new signs already installed for "Hometown Buffet" just another name in the corporate empire of Buffets, Inc. (I am not making this up.)
Posted by: Eastside Deb | July 17, 2011 at 09:28 AM
Oh, Deb, how we wish you were kidding.
Posted by: Nichole | July 30, 2011 at 08:49 PM