"The Thanksgiving Buffet in the Ballroom was very disappointing, especially for the price of $49.95 + Mimosas, + tax and tip, with few bright spots. Our reservation allowed us to pay in advance, then be directed to a waiting room, for about 30-45 Minutes. They were very busy however.
The shrimp, king crab legs, were excellent. The prime rib was good, but most of the other things, may have been made from raw goods, but certainly didn't taste that way to me. The gravy for the turkey appeared to simply be turkey stock, celery, and other tidbits, but not traditional dressing gravy, and with no body and little flavor.
Sweet potatoes tasted like canned sweet potatoes. Maybe they weren't, but they surely tasted as if they were.
We tried two desserts, one pumpkin pie and the other a cheesecake. Even though we had them about 2:30 pm, both were completely frozen in the middle, so hard we couldn't even cut them with a knife. They did allow us to take them out in a plastic container, for eating later, after they thawed to room temperature when we got home.
Service was so bad, my coffee arrived after the dessert, and I never received a requested refill. I did hear a wait person complain they had only gotten $7 in tips all day. Those conversations, if had should not be withing hearing range of customers.
There were four of us who ordered Mimosas. Three were filled at normal height in the flute, and one was between 62-65% full. At $6.00 each, they should have been full servings. It would have been nice to have been told they were not included, but we were not, rather they were simply on of beverage choices list given verbally as tea, coffee, water, and Mimosas.
I didn't try any of the breakfast food items, nor tried any of the salads, or vegetables other than potatoes, so I can't speak to them. I generally have one Egg Benedict, but these were under a heat lamp, looked overcooked, and just a speck of sauce that I assume was to be hollandise.
I don't expect home made goodness at a hotel buffet, but I certainly expect at this price point to have professionally acceptable levels of goodness, and not institutional quality taste of a lot of the items I tried. Next year I will go to Dallas!"
