New China Buffet Wins the Hearts of Locals

Located in Summerville, South Carolina, New China Buffet is a takeover that owner Mr. Jiang thoroughly renewed in 2006. This buffet, take-out of Americanized Chinese is in an accessible location with a spacious parking lot that holds 100 cars. The restaurant seats 250 in total with two extra party rooms to accommodate around 60 revelers.

Jiang likes to keep things simple. That's why he reiterates, “the décor is not the main event here, it's the food.” That said, the red high backed booths of leather aligned on one side of the restaurant sit adjacent to bright windows allowing for a tremendous amount of southern sunlight to shine in on the plates. In the center of the room is a long banquet like table seating over ten persons. The chairs are of red maple with an accordion like shape in the center of the back. The carpeting is a rose color and the walls are simply painted white to accentuate the food. The only other color you'll find is the green of the hanging plants.

The Main Attraction

Any buffet restaurant strives to display various entrées with vibrant and memorable flavors, ensuring customers a refreshing dining experience. New China Buffet is no different. The dazzling 80+ items on the four buffet bars offer a range of soups and fried rice to compositions featuring chicken, beef, pork or prawns. Starters can be either a delicious Egg Drop or Hot & Sour Soup, followed by some mouthwatering appetizers such as Crab Rangoon or Spring Roll both worthy of a try. The more enticing entrées come last; be it white chicken meat or the various seafood including mussels, crawfish, scallops, crab and salmon to whet your appetite. Customers come especially for the seafood. Some even order it for both lunch and dinner. Let's not forget the yummy desserts. Several kinds of cakes, puddings and ice cream are available. A large selection of sushi and rolls are added to the already extensive menu. Beer and soft drinks are also available.  

Among the well-crafted dishes perhaps the most remarkable entrées are the Grilled Mussels and Oysters and Fried Scallops. Seafood is purchased from a distribution company which sources it directly from several local markets. Thus they are all fresh and through skillful handling, usually grilling or frying, they appear to have a unique appeal to satisfy customer's cravings. Some patrons even drive 50 miles to eat New China Buffet's seafood.

Some entrées are not displayed on the buffet bars but are included in the menu. If there are special requirements from customers, such as boiled or steamed dishes, the kitchen prepares it for them. This type of customized service is not what an average buffet restaurant should do, yet New China Buffet does go out of its way to please customers. Jiang contends that some people want fried rice noodles (Chow Mein Fun), but don't like onions. The chef replaced the dish with garlic or any other requested ingredient(s).

Management Key Points

To manage freshness of the food at the buffet bars, temperature control, monitoring of the sourcing channels and keeping a close watch on the displays are key, says Jiang. He chooses reliable distribution companies and carefully checks the freshness of all deliveries. He also has the staff constantly replace the buffet table with fresher offerings, which is also an efficient way to save on spiraling costs.

To manage waste, Jiang thinks reduction is a prime concern. For him, he can only control food portions and the timing between refills at the buffet bar, as the quality of the food can’t be sacrificed. He says though reluctantly that food waste is just inevitable.

To manage the sanitation of the restaurant, a daily check with a keen eye helps keep the place in tip top shape. The dining room is tiled and kept spotless. The kitchen is managed by the chef and his assistants who do a thorough cleaning, including the wok, kitchen range and other equipment before they get off work. According to Jiang, he thinks a clean and neat environment is one of the highlights that helps enhance the restaurant's ambiance. The staff is a big help in the upkeep of an immaculate restaurant. The standard set by the local Health Bureau are in compliance.

To manage customer service in a buffet setting which requires less direct contact yet attention to refills, clearing off plates, the staff will take customized orders from the menu, as mentioned earlier in this article. The restaurant is abuzz with diners during lunchtime, more so than at dinner so the staff try to make small talk when there's a free moment. Sincerity is a surefire way to win the hearts of customers and to keep them coming back for more.

To manage the restaurant, the owner has an efficient approach to turn the restaurant in a right channel with the collective effort of the staff. The staff are self-disciplined and have a clear idea of their tasks. There is no need to push them to clear tableware. They could do a good job, said Jiang. Whenever there is complaint, they handle it with the utmost efficiency.

About the Owner

Before Jiang took over the restaurant in 2006 and firstly remodeled the restaurant to give customers a more comfortable dining environment. To match the new look in décor, the food offerings were also updated in the hopes of attracting new customers. They sampled the menu to attract more customers. Then after a while word of mouth recognition gained them a following.

“Making money is not the only goal, for me, I just do my best to satisfy the customers,” said Jiang.

There are too many similar-themed restaurants around, how to outsmart the competition was a really tricky job. Despite difficult, he never had an excuse to give up. The only thing to do was to face the music with great courage. Improvement is the eternal theme: improve the food and service.

“We’ve already done a good job, and we will do better,” said Jiang.

New China Buffet