The Speckled Butter Bean Restaurant in Wildwood

[Villages PL]

A friend of mine told me about this restaurant (out on Hwy. 44) so we went there together. She told me it would be better than the Golden Corral. Well, it all depends on what you're interested in. In some ways it was better but in other ways it was a lot worse.

One bad thing that stood out was the noise from people moving their chairs in and out. The chairs had metal legs that would scrape against the concrete floor. If you were careful to lift your weight off of the chair while moving it, it wouldn't be too bad. But there were too many people who just didn't care to make the effort. It made the Golden Corral look like a high-class restaurant by comparison.

On the plus side, they did have some very good vegetable choices.

:icon_hungry:

[k2at]

My wife and I prefer The Golden Corral.

[buggyone]

Both Golden Corral and Butter Bean are buffet restaurants that have "Quantity Instead Of Quality".

[lightworker888]

we went there on our way back north and it was a great place to get a good breakfast quickly. In fact I did take out as we had the 2 dogs in the car, so we ate in the parking lot. It was better than the fast food which only offer bunwich type breakfasts. I could get my share of crisp bacon and DH could get his fill of scrambled eggs. Can't say anything about the other meals. We are't great fans of buffets although we have tried many. As was said, it is usually quantity over quality, but it works for breakfast. BTW the Red Sauce breakfast buffet was well worth it. And DH like the Hacienda on Sundays...... for me it was just OK, but I like the music.

LW888

[Villages PL]

Both Golden Corral and Butter Bean are buffet restaurants that have "Quantity Instead Of Quality".

Well, whenever I go to a "quality" restaruant, I often end up disappointed. Perhaps it's because I don't go often enough and I don't know exactly what I'm going to get. If it's not what I expected, I'll only get one shot at it, so I'll leave disappointed. In a buffet, I find that if I don't care for something, I can go back and try something else and I usually end up satisfied.

Would you please tell me something about the quality that you look for in a restaurant? Is it the fish, meat, vegetables, bread, dessert? All of these items seem to be very good at the Golden Corral. Of course, for the price they charge during the week, they don't have the big steaks or salmon. But what they do have seems like good quality to me.

[zcaveman]

We tried Speckled Butter Bean once and we were not that impressed. The chicken was good but the other meat choice was dried out pork. I liked the sides (mostly southern sides) but my wife did not.

We prefer Golden Corral. Great chicken and many more different choices of meat dishes and vegetables.

I think that the Golden Corral has QUALITY as well as QUANTITY. It is a buffet.

And they have some great desserts.

[Villages PL]

We tried Speckled Butter Bean once and we were not that impressed. The chicken was good but the other meat choice was dried out pork. I liked the sides (mostly southern sides) but my wife did not.

We prefer Golden Corral. Great chicken and many more different choices of meat dishes and vegetables.

I think that the Golden Corral has QUALITY as well as QUANTITY. It is a buffet.

And they have some great desserts.

My situation is a little complicated because I'm a vegan and my lady-friend is not. She likes meat. But, strangely, she has taken a liking to Speckled Butter Bean and they have few meat choices. I guess I could live with either restaurant but I definitely agree with you that Golden Corral has many more choices of just about everything. They even have fresh fruit.

[kentucky blue]

We tried Speckled Butter Bean once and we were not that impressed. The chicken was good but the other meat choice was dried out pork. I liked the sides (mostly southern sides) but my wife did not.

We prefer Golden Corral. Great chicken and many more different choices of meat dishes and vegetables.

I think that the Golden Corral has QUALITY as well as QUANTITY. It is a buffet.

And they have some great desserts.

I've never been to a buffet that had real quality food.Always lots of quantity,but not quality.Bottom line is they must make a profit to stay in business,and a buffet can't make it selling quality and charging the very reasonable prices they do.Buffet's helped me feed myself throughout college,and for that i will be eternally grateful.:icon_hungry:

[schotzyb]

My situation is a little complicated because I'm a vegan and my lady-friend is not. She likes meat. But, strangely, she has taken a liking to Speckled Butter Bean and they have few meat choices. I guess I could live with either restaurant but I definitely agree with you that Golden Corral has many more choices of just about everything. They even have fresh fruit.


I too see nothing wrong with the quality of food at Golden Corral. I only eat certain items such as the fried chicken(very good) and some side items and the salad bar is usually excellent. Hard to complain even you only eat one or two different items for the price.

[swrinfla]

I haven't been to Speckled Butter Bean, so cannot comment on their offerings. On the other hand, I have been to Golden Corral a number of times and remain amazed at what you can get there for the very reasonable senior rate of $11, or thereabouts! 5-star quality? Not really, I think. But not "trash," either!

My biggest objection: no wine or beer to go with my din-din! :-( :-(

SWR
:beer3:

[logdog]

We've been to the Butter Bean and were disappointed. We've also been to several Golden Corrals in various cities and thought they were just so so. However, the Golden Corral in TV is actually pretty good. I love their salad bar and the pot roast.

[Villages PL]

I've never been to a buffet that had real quality food.

No one yet has explained what they mean by quality. Do they offer organically grown vegetables? I don't think anyone expects that and it's not important to me. The same goes for the meat. We don't expect grass-fed beef or free range chickens etc..

There's only one thing I've noticed that doesn't look as good as I would expect. The tomato wedges. But they taste good. I'm not sure what the quality is but I wouldn't be surprised if they're grown in Mexico. That's the only thing I've noticed.

[buggyone]

If you are happy with going to Save-A-Lot Grocery store and getting their produce and meat, you are probably going to be happy with the Butter Bean.

The quality is not prime meat but their price is not prime either. You are paying around $10 for all you can eat and what can you expect for that price?

At Ruth Chris Steak House, you will pay $45 for just a steak and then add on the creamed spinach and the baked potato and have a glass of wine and you will have a total for 2 people of around $150 plus tip.

You get what you pay for. Nothing wrong with that.

[Donvito]

If you liked canned food, and not fresh food, or food socking in water, then the Golding Coral is for you. As for the Butter Bean it's not much better. And by the way neither one of these has trained chefs.

[Villages PL]

At Ruth Chris Steak House, you will pay $45 for just a steak and then add on the creamed spinach and the baked potato and have a glass of wine and you will have a total for 2 people of around $150 plus tip.

You get what you pay for. Nothing wrong with that.

Absolutely, nothing wrong with that if that's your thing. Just to compare, for $150, I figured roughly (the early bird special at G.C.) that two people could eat every day for 8 days and that would include the tip. That's a lot of enjoyment! :)

[mamagator]

We started eating at Butterbean about a year ago. The food was good, and since we are Southerners who love that kind of cooking we were good customers. Lately, the food quality has been poor, and it sits for long periods without being refilled with fresh. We will try one more time, then its back to the "G. C. Steakhouse" as our grandkids call it!

[Bogie Shooter]

We started eating at Butterbean about a year ago. The food was good, and since we are Southerners who love that kind of cooking we were good customers. Lately, the food quality has been poor, and it sits for long periods without being refilled with fresh. We will try one more time, then its back to the "G. C. Steakhouse" as our grandkids call it!

Did you share your concerns with management? If not, why not?

[CaliforniaGirl]

We started eating at Butterbean about a year ago. The food was good, and since we are Southerners who love that kind of cooking we were good customers. Lately, the food quality has been poor, and it sits for long periods without being refilled with fresh. We will try one more time, then its back to the "G. C. Steakhouse" as our grandkids call it!

I was raised on my grandmother's Southern cooking and I frequented the Speckled Butterbean in Webster. It was like my grandmother's ghost was in the kitchen supervising. I was thrilled when they opened the Wildwood location. When it first opened, it was not as good as Webster but still good. But after several disappointing visits, I won't be going there again.

That said, I will still go to Webster. Hate the drive, love the food.

[mamagator]

We have spoken to several members of the wait staff (who are all very good!)
regarding food being cold and/or food not being refreshed. Of course, they are not the ones to complain to. However, I feel they can get the message to the managerial staff/owner. I am hoping to try again this weekend, and find that the food is back up to snuff! Not canned and definitely not cold!

[Yorio]

We've been there several times and for what it's worth, it's not worse then some of the buffets around in TV. Thought the southern fried chicken was not bad. Haven't been back this winter but if you say things are pretty bad do you think they don't now care about customers? Remember they are sitting on a pretty good property when the Brownwood is built.

[scrapple]

I too see nothing wrong with the quality of food at Golden Corral. I only eat certain items such as the fried chicken(very good) and some side items and the salad bar is usually excellent. Hard to complain even you only eat one or two different items for the price.

I sort of eat the same way as you. I'm there for the salad bar and fried chicken. Ok, that chocolate fondue thingie that they recently started is thebomb.comyumolicious/criscogoodness/on a stick! Anyway, I tried the Spuckled Bitter Burn and thought it was pretty nasty at the time. Granted, I never went back, and probably won't, but the one time I did, the food was stale, cold and sitting around for a while. At least at Golden Corral, they mix it up every so often.