Diamond Buffet & Grill

came here on a weekday evening, for the $ 13.99 buffet ($ 15.25 with tax). Pay as you go in, which i think is different from most buffets, before they seat you. The CA Health Services rating of an «A» is posted on the front door.
Big bucket of cold snow crabs, with plenty of nutcrackers right next to it. Uneven in terms of saltiness, but I guess that’s expected. A little bit of green slime on some of the legs, but overall, fairly meaty and not too heavy on the stomach.
The sushi station wasn’t huge, but had a few different choices, that were nice to try. a person in our party really enjoyed the salmon sashimi, but we agreed that the tuna sashimi wasn’t quite right. But then again, recent news reports say that 59% of tuna in los angeles is fake anyways.
There was a hibachi grill, but there were no customers nor chef around. i forgot to try it.
The hot dishes were okay. many different variations of shrimp, including conconut shrimp, veggie shrimp, spicy whole shrimp, split shrimp with butter, etc., a la bubba gump shrimp company. there was fried crab, and some of them had a bit of meat to them, but a bit hard to get at a lot of meat, even with the nutcrackers.
The dessert section was verrrry sparse and not too good. basically the soft serve section, with just vanilla and chocolate (some little girl was there for a while, and i wasn’t really paying attention where she was touching or licking around the spout). the cakes, moussses were tasteless. there was a chocolate fountain, but the only thing there to dip were marshmallows, and even those turned out to be old crusty ones.
so all in all, the snow crabs and the sushi were the highlights. the cooked shrimp were okay, but shrimp isn’t really all that healthy, especially ones from southeast asian shrimp farms, which use alot of antibiotics. okay to try for the price, and maybe i’d consider trying on a weekday lunch for $ 10, to see how it differs from dinner.

After reading all the negative reviews, I was prepared for pretty bad food but was actually pleasantly surprised to enjoy it more than I thought I would. I came here for a family party (we had reservations) on a Sunday night.
The variety of food offered is pretty good. For the price range, the selection of sushi seems larger than most, and they also have a Mongolian grill, fried seafood and chicken, cold crab legs and other cold seafood (crawfish, octopus, and seaweed salad), a small section of Chinese buns, salad bar, desserts, boiled shrimp in a Cajun style, and baby clams.
I’m a sushi snob so I only tried an avocado roll; it was fine. I figured I wouldn’t like the sushi offered at that price point. However, I did enjoy the fish cooked with tofu and vegetables in a somewhat spicy sauce, the cold octopus salad, and as well as the Cajun-​style boiled shrimp. While not as spicy as I would have liked, the shrimp had a pretty decent flavor. The baby clams served with bell peppers were also pretty tasty. The fried rice was bland and the noodles lukewarm. Nothing amazing there. Probably the worst thing I had was the sesame ball with red bean filling (hardly any filling and the ball itself wasn’t a good consistency). Also, the fried bananas were overcooked.
For desserts, they have a soft serve ice cream machine, puddings, cookies, small cakes, and banana pudding. The banana pudding was okay, but it’s kind of difficult to mess up. I do wish it had more whipped cream instead of marshmallows on top though.
The service was average; one of the servers was pretty friendly and helpful, the others less so but still okay. The only weird instance was asking one server for a knife and being told where to get it from the buffet rather than having her bring it, but another server ended up bringing one to the table.
Overall, for the price it was pretty okay, definitely not a 1-​star experience (but not a 5 either). I probably wouldn’t choose to come back but if someone else wanted to I wouldn’t oppose it.

The place was «Eh». Their staff was friendly but they seem unappreciated? I noticed all the servers were running back and forth except for one. I’ve came here and brought friends and family here before but this last time was horrible. The price is too high for the quality of most of their food.
Was less satisfied every trip. Over it.

I gave a star for the price, but it is basically what you get for being what you pay for. We got there for a Sunday dinner with my family of 15 and the food was mediocre-​less even.
If you like warm crabs legs, look elsewhere. There wasn’t even a line for the crab legs, I wonder why… I’ve asked the servers to heat up mine and was told they don’t have a microwave oven. What kind of answer is that? Crab in a microwave. I asked if they can dunk it ina boiling water for a sec, the guys just refused and turned his back around me and left.
So I tried the fried crabs, what a mistake. It wasn’t fresh, and after trying one I started having tingling in my tounge and my body started itching. I know when food isn’t fresh and I get that reaction. The other food were dry, like the honey glazed shrimp. I never seen it drier that that.
Parking was ok, I give them that. Other than that, It wasn’t worth it for me to come back.

I am only evaluating the dinner sushi and shrimp dishes. This place offers salmon sashimi unlike other buffets in this price range (14 to 15 depending on the day). Salmon isn’t the best I’ve ever had but it was definitely more than satisfactory for a cheap buffet. Shrimp dishes were pretty good.

Eh. An Asian buffet at a really weird location for this kind of thing.
Food is mediocre at best. The Americanized chinese food dishes were pretty ordinary and when they tried to make ‘dimsum’ it tasted it was made from frozen and they have never eaten the authentic ones before.
There is also a sushi selection … but they chopped up all the sashimi into small pieces and the rice was a bit undercooked.
There was also Mongolian grill section that was really popular but I didn’t get any because of the long line and it is all carbs (=filling).
Dessert bar was underwhelming. All the random puddings and mousse taste like pure sugar, and the soft serve is really icy.
However, you WILL get full and $ 15 for weeks buffet is pretty cheap.
There is a free parking lot connected to the buffet but the signs are tiny and spots are mostly ‘90m parking’.

The food is just average for the area but I went to the restroom and when I came back my bill, fork, spoon and my ice tea was gone they took for granted I had already left. The bathroom was dirty, I ate cheese cake the was hard, the meat was not tasty and hard, sea food was OK but the other food was average I won’t come back.

Barely made it here yesterday due to crazy LA traffic. I was freaking starving & was just in the area & thought why not go for a buffet so I could stuff my face, because at this point I could literally eat a cow.
Like usual I Unilocaled what was around the area & I this was the first one I seen. I started reading the reviews & honestly didn’t care anyways about what people were saying. Took a glance at the pictures & I just went for it.
Finally got there. They offer free parking in the back, so that was cool. Walked in & me & my husband had to pay before we got seated, alright? I guess that’s how the Chinese do it.
Long story short, I had roughly about 10 plates. I’m a small girl with a very big appetite lol plus I was really hungry! The food was good. The crab legs was pretty decent. The Cajun shrimps I had reminded of hot N juicy crawfish which was a BIG plus cuz I love that place!
The Korean BBQ was very flavorful. I love honey walnut shrimps, but what they had was not so good. I never get fries when eating at a buffet but ended up eating it anyways & surprising it was great. Almost taste like Popeyes fries. ALMOST*
The sushi could be better. The frozen yogurt was amazingggg. I had 2 cups. Sesame balls was perfect. I actually took some to go lol
Would I come back? Yes!
The servers were really nice so I don’t know why some of you are complaint about service.
P.S I never seen a buffet with a popcorn station. Lol I guess that was for the kids. But oh! They also have a chocolate fountain, for all you chocolate lovers.

Big parking lot
Pretty spacious for large groups or families
Their sushi line is below average
Their Chinese food is bomb
They have a salad bar, dessert section with chocolate fondue !!
Although they use cheap chocolate in their fondue and doesn’t taste good
They have a Mongolian tapan yaki style
Selection of shrimp, beef, chicken with veggies and noodles of chow mien or udon
I always get a plate …
Cheap … Not too loud … Front and back entrance/​exit has cashiers working
Servers are friendly … Some of them are actually great
When you go with large groups of 15 or more they charge service fee of 15%
My pastor didn’t know and tipped them again
We came back after few days and they checked the receipt and realized that we were a regular, refunded the double tipped amount
Lunch menu and dinner menu is bit different
But over all worth the trip
Ive been to this buffet with my family, friends and then the whole church
Of course everyone had different opinions about this place but overall everyone have pretty good score

Was really delicious I went there on Christmas Eve I believe. My first time having frozen yogurt it was soooo delicious. Food was pretty good (I’m picky) and service was excellent very fast

I’ve came here a few times. It’s pretty good when you dine in but I made the mistake of coming here and taking it to go. I filled up four trays with meats and veggies and a small side of shrimp for each tray. The cashier inspected all of my trays and knew I wasn’t buying 5lbs of shrimp but she still charged me the seafood rate. Wasn’t worth it but it was late and I’d spent to much time FaceTimeing my families order already.
If that’s your plan make sure you get a separate tray just for seafood.
Aside from that the walnut shrimp is awesome, sushi sucks and so do the treats and soups. My sister loves the instant mashed potatoes for some reason. Stick to the meats, veggies and fried foods.

You get exactly what you pay for. If you’re in the mood to devour as much low-​medium quality food as fast as possible, this is the place to do it.
Note: If you are a fan of mediocre sushi, you will likely enjoy the variety they have to offer at the sushi bar. (This was my personal favorite station.)

You pay as you walk in? How is that reasonable when you haven’t even seen the quality of the food. Cost for a party of two cost around $ 33!!! Which would be fine if the food was actually good or even cooked correctly.
Food was terrible and wasn’t cooked correctly, not to exaggerate but we found a long hair on our food which I didn’t mention it to management just simply left!
Parking is terrible and majority of their customers seemed to park in the meters.
Go elsewhere

Service by the hostess was crappy. The food was great and the service by the people walking the floor picking up dirty plates and making sure we had drinks. My mother and I will be back.

The parking is very convenient, they allow you to park for FREE in the parking structure behind the restaurant which has a restaurant entrance from the garage.
Prices are fair, cheap considering the food choices.
The dining area is huge and the booths are comfy. They keep it air conditioned, so bring a sweater.
Go for the sashimi and crab legs offered for dinner, yum! The crab legs are steamed just right, not soggy, and the meat is decently seasoned.
The rest is pretty standard. Soups, fish, seafood, American food, sushi, noodles prepared in front of you, salad bar, desserts…

Review in #Haiku:
Pleasantly surprised
At the weekend options here
Just… prepare for guilt -.-

This review is based on the parking and NOT the food or ambiance.
If you open a restaurant in an area that uses parking meters and is combined within a residential area at least provide a parking lot or area for your patrons. The closest open metered parking was 5 blocks away. Unfortunately we had to take our business elsewhere.
I’m not giving up trying this place i will just do it another time and write a proper review.

My parents have this obsession with buffets, so I’ve had my share growing-​up and I am bias to it because the amount of the food is often more overwhelming than appetizing. My absolute favorite brunch buffet experience is at the St. Regis Monarch Beach. If you haven’t, you must– and I mean– must try!
Sandwiched between Downtown Los Angeles and K-​town, Diamond Buffet & Grill is in somewhat of rough neighborhood. Some folks may frown upon it, but everyone has to eat. I went for work twice, and it was surprisingly better than what I had anticipated.
I stuck to sushi and king crab legs. I’ve eaten here twice and I’m still alive. Their selection is pretty big with mix of Chinese and American food. Oooh! When I went, they didn’t serve alcohol. Sort of killed the work dinner.
Nearest Metro Station: Red and Purple Lines at Westlake/​MacArthur Park Station

It was too good to be true unfortunately. When this placed open it was clean, had awesome peel and eat shrimp without heads, and awesome win ton soup. The food quality was amazing and the place was clean as hell. Well, I guess if it’s too good to be true then it is. The place was a little cleaner this visit but they no longer have good peel and eat shrimp and the won ton soup is gone. The mashed potatoes for example were runny and of poor quality. I saw several times where there was dirty napkins and other stuff on the buffet and the staff ignored it and just passed it by.
They totally change up the food for the worse. When the place opened it was the perfect buffet. Now it is like all the others. The food is still good but the selection has changed for the worse. Too bad because it was an awesome buffet for a very short period of time.
I stopped going to Vegas buffet because of the selection at Diamond but now that they removed the good items I am going back to Vegas Buffet where they have an awesome custom cook area with fresh chicken and steak.
See pictures.

If you’re looking for a diamond in the rough that also doesn’t cost a fortune then look no further than Diamond Buffet & Grill.
Located just a block east from the busy MacArthur park and Alvarado section of Westlake, it’s fair to have some hesitations about the caliber of the buffet given its somewhat questionable location. But, walk inside and you would swear you were dining at a large dim sum palace in San Gabriel… except the clientele looks very different. The place is large, new, and clean. There is convenient free parking access to a connected garage — the garage entrance is on Westlake. It looked like there were private rooms should you want to throw an all you can eat wrap-​up party for your film crew. On a Sunday, the place was packed for lunch, but the servers and bus boys did a decent job clearing tables. This also meant that the buffet was constantly being refreshed with new heapings of food, which is a good sign.
I’ll admit that the food is mostly three star caliber, but did you hear about the price? We paid $ 14.95 per person for a weekend lunch. On weekdays, the price drops down to $ 8.95 for lunch. Crazy? Yeah. A sandwich, side, and beverage will set you back $ 10 at many places so this is a steal for the variety. For this reason alone, Diamond pockets another star. Back to the food. There is a bevy of hot and cold options including a Mongolian BBQ bar, sushi/​sashimi station, limited dessert bar, and a very broad selection of hot food items. I thought the highlights were the Teriyaki Chicken yakitori sticks, fried bananas, Mongolian BBQ. I did not have the stomach to try every item at the buffet so there may be other notable items to discover. The soup station is a bit lackluster and I was surprised there wasn’t a miso soup offering given the large sushi/​sashimi station.
I can’t eat here everyday or I would begin to look the part, but for the occasional buffet craving Diamond Buffet is a great option for the price. Overall better value than Vegas Buffet with comparable quality and selection.