Charley's Buffet Restaurant Review
Charley's Buffet Restaurant Review
Charley's Buffet is a local icon to the Warsaw, (Lincoln), MO area. They are well known in these parts as having fabulous home-cooked food in abundance, but this isn't your typical buffet with bland, tasteless food served en mass. No siree! This is an award winning buffet, that is actually ranked #3 in all buffets across the nation in this recent article. They certainly lived up to their reputation and more.
They are open only Fridays and Saturdays 4:30-8:30 p.m. during approximately February through November. The closed season is due to the possibility of nasty winter weather here in Missouri, as they are about a half-hour drive into the country from Warsaw, MO. According to the reviews I saw online, and the recommendation of a friend, folks should plan to arrive quite early to get seating when the restaurant opens at 4:30. However, I had to call the restaurant to check on available foods because I am on a special diet, (more about that later in the article), and the owner told me that if we didn't mind waiting until later, arriving around 7 p.m. would probably be better for our situation. That was what we did, (we arrived around 7:20 p.m.), and we only had about a 15 minute wait. There really isn't any waiting space inside, but there are benches outside to sit on if necessary.
They have several buffet areas that are continuously stocked by cheerful staff. The first picture is of their main course buffet section. They have freshly prepared items such as home made fried chicken, shredded roast beef and ham. All of the items that my family tried were excellent, though the ham was the favorite by far.
Main Courses
The next photo shows their side dishes. They have corn, glazed carrots, broccoli with cheese sauce, macaroni and cheese along with many other freshly prepared items. The family favorite on this section of the buffet was the macaroni and cheese, though they said there wasn't anything that they tried that wasn't delicious.
Side Dishes
The photo below shows their homemade rolls. My daughter said this was her favorite part of the buffet over-all. She said the cinnamon crescents were amazing!
Homemade Rolls
The next three photos show their amazing desserts. I've read other reviews online that say, "just go for the desserts!" Frankly, the choices seem over-whelming to me, but I don't eat regular desserts because of my allergies. Thankfully, I didn't have to make that choice! An astounding variety of cakes, pies, and cookies, all made freshly at the restaurant, were provided in abundance. They even have a section, (third photo), dedicated just to cheesecakes. Additionally, there is an ice cream machine along with a variety of toppings. Everything my family tried was excellent, but the favorite was the chocolate chip mint cake. Also, the cookies with large chocolate chunks were superb.
Dessert Bar
More Desserts!
Cheesecakes
For those who don't eat sugar, there is, also, a sugar free dessert section, pictured below.
Sugar Free Desserts
As I mentioned, I am on a special diet. I have many food allergies, including wheat, (gluten), dairy and sugar. Eating out can be very problematic for me, so I called ahead. I spoke with one of the owners, and she was very gracious. She told me that she uses Lipton Onion Soup mix in the roast, and all of the other buffet items have at least one of my allerges in them. However, she offered to save out some of the vegetables for me without the sauces on them. All I needed to do was alert her once I arrived at the restaurant. Talk about warm and friendly folks! I decided that I would try the roast, as the only other "plain" meat was ham, and I know that I don't tolerate ham well.
Once we got there, after a few minutes waiting for them to get my veggies together, the photo below shows what I was given. Honestly, it was enough food to feed my entire family! She served me freshly prepared potatoes, green beans, broccoli, corn and cauliflower. I took the roast off of the buffet. Unfortunately, I later discovered that Lipton Onion Soup Mix has gluten in it, so I am having a reaction. However, on my next visit, I will ask to see if she can just save out some chicken without the breading on it for me.
Normally, one doesn't take leftovers from a buffet, but since they made so much food for me, I brought a big box of leftovers home. My family will be eating well for a meal today!
My "Special" Dinner
The restaurant's decor was fun and informal. There are several collections around the restaurant, and I photographed a few of them, shown below:
Fun Collections
I can whole-heartedly recommend Charley's Buffet in Lincoln, MO, as an excellent casual, family friendly dining experience. They have friendly, helpful staff, and freshly prepared food that doesn't skimp on taste or quality. As their t-shirts boast, "It's worth the drive!"
If special dietary issues are needed to be accounted for, just call them ahead to see what the options are. Dairy and sugar allergies can be easily accommodated with a phone call. For gluten and wheat issues, the jury is still out. If we have the opportunity to visit them again, I will update my findings.
And, finally, this shot is of the beautiful Missouri sunset we watched as we drove home.
