Leaving Tinley Park's Grand Buffet Crabby … Or Not?

As you can tell from my moniker, I may not be the most jovial sort, but I do love cooking and eating food. I thought in keeping with my general demeanor, I should start out with a crappy post. We’ll find out shortly if I enjoy writing about food as much as I enjoy cooking and eating it.

My kids, like most families', were recently home from school for Christmas. My daughter is a crab leg freak, and it just so happens that the Grand Buffet on LaGrange Road in Tinley Park, has a buffet that includes crab legs. We packed the car and off we went to overdose on drawn butter and crustaceans.

At the front door, we were greeted by a number of slightly off-putting printed pieces of paper taped to the window. We got over those but were more than a bit shocked by a similar sign taped to the sneeze guard over the buffet in the proximity of the crab legs. I can’t remember the sign verbatim, but it went something like this, “Please limit yourself to three pieces of crab. The crab will be re-stocked every thirty minutes.” At the time, my crab-deprived daughter hit the buffet line the crab tray was empty and remained that way for the next 40 minutes.

Finally, getting crabby but not getting any crab, I went to the hostess and asked if they were going to bring out any crab legs. She said that she’d get some out right away. Just five minutes later, someone emerged from the kitchen carrying a “plate” of crab … not a full-size chafer … a single plate! Plate or not, my daughter dove in and grabbed her three piece allotment and went back to the table to enjoy her somewhat soggy crustaceans.

Grand Buffet is not an entirely disappointing buffet experience. The hibachi and sushi bar are passable for a restaurant where you’re paying about $13 to graze. There is a very good selection of seafood on the buffet (most of it warm), some “go to” buffet dishes including pizza, soups and a minimalist salad bar. There is a plethora of desserts and about a half dozen choices of ice cream. I recommend the spumoni.

Overall, I give the restaurant two Curmudgeons out of a possible five. As a buffet, it fairs slightly better with three Curmudgeons. Whether you leave the restaurant crabby or not, depends upon how you define crabby.

I hope you enjoy my foray into blogging. I will report back again soon.