Ryan's: I've Had Better In School Cafeterias

Jeez...
 
The steak was OK at best, with little to choose from. I wanted "medium rare", but they had nothing close. They had no seafood offerings at all. The veggies were all either previously-frozen, or from a can. Bland. Tasteless.
 
They had a "taco station", which offered scarey looking ground beef, and that glowing yellow, melted cheese goo. Pass.
 
The salad bar was at least fresh, but they didn't have a pepper grinder, which I usually find at most salad bars.
 
This location is in a high traffic area of Atlanta, but was nearly empty, in the middle of dinner time. Maybe I'm not the only person, who made this mistake. Never again...
 
Golden Corral just stomps them. Not even competition IMHO.
 
Thoughts>?
 
 
 
 

I moved this thread to this forum only because I just couldn't use the term "Prime Cuts" in the same sentence as Ryan's Buffet !   We have eaten at our local Ryan's a few times, and I would rate this one to be as good as the local Gold Corral, but that still isn't saying much !! Compared to the Sizzler of 20 years ago both of these places just don't measure up when thinking of an inexpensive Steak Dinner Place..

Ryans weekend Breakfast Buffet isn't all that bad. They do eggs to order and omelets too. For the $5.00 charge for Seniors it is a decent breakfast. I can go thru a lot of OJ when it is included in the breakfast fee.

I have one thing to say;  I cannot believe that you ever saw a pepper mill at a salad bar.  As far as  meals at Ryans, I have always heard that they are dreadful  and  you get what you pay for.

The Ryan's here in Easley, SC really took a nosedive when Golden Corral came to town. I always focus on salad whenever go to Ryan's or GC, and Ryan's bar just couldn't compare to what's on offer at Golden Corral. I've heard that quality in other areas rapidly declined as well. Maybe the owners of our Ryan's saw the writing on the wall and just gave up.

We have a Ryan's close to Knoxville in Maryville, TN.  I can honestly say that I enjoy their product.  I enjoy their veggies, salad bar, desserts and certainly their fried chicken and gravy.  Perhaps they are not the same everywhere?  I cannot vouch for that but what I have had was very good.
 
Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Man, I haven't been to a Ryan in forever since they shut the 2 down around Dayton. I always remembering being somewhat satisfied when I was there but that was when I was younger and less discerning about my food.

mayor al
 

Compared to the Sizzler of 20 years ago both of these places just don't measure up when thinking of an inexpensive Steak Dinner Place..

Al I also have a great deal of nostalgia for the Western Sizzlin (what it was here) of yesteryear.  Was it that I really didn't know any better back then or were they actually doing things then that you couldn't get at that price point today?  I miss those damn black-forged-from-hell chargers and the cheap tinny things the meat came on and the squished-on-the-ends potatoes and the smell of the place and the horrid upholstered booths.
 
Ryan's used to be a more 80s suburban version of the same thing but then they went to the nightmarish steak buffet and it all went in the toilet from there.

mayor al


I moved this thread to this forum only because I just couldn't use the term "Prime Cuts" in the same sentence as Ryan's Buffet !   We have eaten at our local Ryan's a few times, and I would rate this one to be as good as the local Gold Corral, but that still isn't saying much !! Compared to the Sizzler of 20 years ago both of these places just don't measure up when thinking of an inexpensive Steak Dinner Place..

Ryans weekend Breakfast Buffet isn't all that bad. They do eggs to order and omelets too. For the $5.00 charge for Seniors it is a decent breakfast. I can go thru a lot of OJ when it is included in the breakfast fee.

I think Golden Corral runs circles around Ryans.

Nancy,
Our SoCal High Desert Sizzler was pretty popular back in the '86-'95 era. After 1995 (the Janet era) we tended to eat more at home, than in town (marriage does that to a guy). Once a week that Sizzler would have AYCE Steak ! Yep they would deliver the @ 6oz standard Sizzler Sirloin over and over (on the hot metal plate each time) until you said STOP. I was smart enough to ask for a reorder as soon as the current steak arrived at my table. Otherwise it could be a long wait between steaks (something they were counting on to reduce reorders).

They frequently had AYCE Beef Ribs also. I loved those 'soaked in sauce Ribs!'  Price for either entree was $9.99. But I made them cry back in those days when I started in on the AYCE process.

I had dinner at the Ryan's in Kankakee IL a couple of years ago and was very unimpressed with the food. That meal is one of the reasons that I generally have nothing to with buffets ( Dinosaur BBQ in Rochester NY being a happy exception. )

We once had a Sizzler's in Dallas and they were real good.

I agree that GC is way better than Ryan's.
Joe

nocarolina


I had dinner at the Ryan's in Kankakee IL a couple of years ago and was very unimpressed with the food. That meal is one of the reasons that I generally have nothing to with buffets ( Dinosaur BBQ in Rochester NY being a happy exception. )
 
 
Unless thing have change a great deal,  I  do not blieve that Dinosaur BBQ  serves buffets.  I think this may have been a special "deal"  when  The  Roadfood group  was there.

When I was in college here, the Ryans was always crowded and it was a treat for us starving students. A couple of years ago, it closed (I heard it was after a Golden Corral opened). I recently visited a Ryans in Goshen IN (it was near the hotel, the place I really wanted to hit was closed on a Monday, and I was really hungry). There were only two other tables with customers. The food was okay, nothing to rave about.

Greymo, that buffet at Dinosaur BBQ back in September was a special deal just for our Roadfood group, but, special or not, it was the only buffet that I've ever enjoyed. Last February, when our RF Glee Club had dinner at Leonard's in Memphis, I was one of the few in the group that ordered off the menu instead of going with the buffet. Afterwards, several of our bunch that did the buffet said that they now wished that they had opted for the menu; apparently the food on the buffet was rather disappointing ( my meal at Leonard's wasn't the best Memphis has to offer, but I still enjoyed it. )

I agree with Mayor Al and Papa Joe, Sizzler is several cuts above Ryan's and IMO better than Golden Corral. I first ate at Sizzler when our parents included them in our list of eateries we would take turns eating at every weekend in the mid-60s when they were still a local So Cal chain, later on in the 70s and ever since my wife and I and our future inheritors began eating there on ocassion as well, a tradition that continues with our children and our grand children.
 
Sizzler has always had a superior tasting baked potato, their salad bar always is fresh and with a wide selection of choices. Sizzler introduced me to their tasty Malibu chicken,  my wife flips out over their grilled shrimp kabobs and they always have a delicious soup for me, a stone cold soup lover-even on 100 degrees days
 
 
 

JonJax

Up in Hesperia, The Sizzler I mentioned above folded in BK some time back. I read in the on-line Desert Newspaper that they are reopening in a new location (still in Hesperia) with an "expanded menu format". It did not describe that new format in any detail. Are you aware of a change in Sizzler's menu/pricing etc?

Haven't been to a Ryan's in several years.There was on on Nagodoches in San Antonio which was pretty good. It closed some time after Thanksgiving in i think 2007 and is now a seniors center.
There is one in New Braunfels, but I haven't tried it yet.The Golden Corral on Pat Booker in Universal City gets really packed.

mayor al


JonJax

Up in Hesperia, The Sizzler I mentioned above folded in BK some time back. I read in the on-line Desert Newspaper that they are reopening in a new location (still in Hesperia) with an "expanded menu format". It did not describe that new format in any detail. Are you aware of a change in Sizzler's menu/pricing etc?

 
Your Honor the Mayor
 
here's the link for Sizzler, the Cali locations menu
http://www.sizzler.com/menus/steaks.asp
 
 

Interesting...The only high desert location is in Barstow!! No mention of the Hesperia reopening???

Also the description doesn't accent any major changes in format or menu.  I had forgotten about the "Malibu Chicken" They used to have a special AYCE of that one also...but after two or at most three of the chicken things I was so salt-saturated I couldn't down the iced tea fast enough!

Ryan's and/or GC wouldn't know how (and NEVER did) to cook a decent steak; even if they had the product to do so.  I remember Sizzler fondly; now that they are totally gone from anywhere within 500 or so miles from me.

 We must be extremely lucky. When we go to GC I ask for my steak medium rare and I always get what I asked for.

 Don't read this if you don't wanna get grossed out! BTW, i posted this a long time ago.  
http://thewvsr.com/ryans.htm      

I used to go to Ryan's all the time back in the 80's and it was the bomb.  The Ryan's nowadays might be different though.  All I know is, I just went to a Golden Corral yesterday and it was just okay, nothing to write home about.  Comparing the old Ryan's to the new Golden Corral, Ryan's wins hands down.  Just my opinion...

jeepguy


 Don't read this if you don't wanna get grossed out! BTW, i posted this a long time ago.  
http://thewvsr.com/ryans.htm      

@ this story...smh...poor guy. lol

When Ryan's opened in Martinsburg a few years ago it was pretty good. It has gone way downhill since then. I agree GC is now a lot better.

Ryan's in the Memphis area was better in 2008 then the local one. The local has changed management several times. The whole chain was bought out a few months ago. It is now releated to Old country buffet.

I ate b'fast at Ryan's yesterday, still sucked.