Gateway Restaurant

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  I'm giving the 2nd star grudgingly... I had a somewhat late buffet last night after working to 8:00.  The selection was, at best, poor.  The butterfly shrimp was made extra-extra-extra crunchy (probably 4 days ago)... the bbq pork (I don't have the heart to say char-siu) was dry, cold, flavorless and tough as shoe leather.  The Tso Chicken was gooey and gummy... and dry.  It was a $7.99 buffet.  I ate a few nights ago at the neighboring buffet (for $11.99) - I should have gone there.  
  Unlike MacArthur... I shan't return.

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  Posted on 01.11.13 Howard R.

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  I hate to one star a restaurant.The service was nice....they weren't busy....but that's the nicest part of our dinner.It wasn't clean....We had our two little girls with us, so its not like we were looking for fancy but dirty floors always bother me.They food really wasn't great....hard pot stickers,over cooked rice,and really pretty limited selection.I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings but I wouldn't recommend to my friends.

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  Posted on 12.15.12 Anne E.

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  I love this place, I did however grow up on this as the buffet of choice by my parents.
  
  Nothing fancy about this place, I was wondering where the coconut shrimp had gone on my last visit. they could make an 'orange chicken' or something of the sort instead of the best item being general tso, which is 'ok' for american chinese.

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  Posted on 08.10.12 Joey H.

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  My meal was tasty enough, and the staff was friendly, however I had one MAJOR problem.  The sweet and sour chicken tastes very fishy (literally), which leads me to believe they battered the shrimp and the chicken in the same batter.  I am highly allergic to fish and had a bad allergic reaction to my meal.  I specifically avoided all the labeled seafood dishes, and was horrified to discover such cross contamination in the kitchen.  I will not be returning.

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  Posted on 06.26.12 Elizabeth S.

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  It's an averge Chinese buffet. Well, maybe a tad less than average but for $8 dinner, it's all it should and could be. The place is clean, the food is fine, the wait-staff are attentive... if you want more selection go North a block and go tothe other Chinese buffet and pay $4 more.

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  Posted on 11.27.10 Gerald B.

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  Good lord I miss Chinese buffets. What used to be a staple of my weekly lunch routines in Minneapolis is but a memory in the vacuum of San Francisco when it comes to such restaurants. In the midwest, almost all Chinese restaurants serve food buffet style, but in San Francisco, I have yet to find one that does at all. Different strokes I guess.
  
  So while making a little holiday weekend trek north to Portland, this place won the random lottery for dinner, partly because it was in the right place at the right time, but also because it was something I hadn't seen since November 2008.
  
  It should be said that the buffet format almost always means lower-quality, less/not authentic food, but that's the trade off American diners must make between quality and quantity. And sometimes quantity is good enough when you're just plain starved.
  
  Shocked by the super low dinner buffet price of about seven dollars (drinks exceeding the complexity of water is extra) and the polite service, I gave it a go.
  
  The food was ok, not good, not awful. Some of the items tasted different--not sure if that was a regional thing to Oregon or a byproduct of byproducts/other ingredient substitutions--but for a quick and cheap buffet, it was sufficient. They had quite a selection spread across several serving tables, so the odds of stumbling upon something worth having seconds was good, and of course no buffet can go wrong with an ice cream machine.
  
  The clientele was a mixed bag covering a range of folk you might expect to see on COPS or Springer, but at least everyone was polite, including the androgynous naked baby that was wandering around without screaming.
  
  Will I return? No. But then again, I don't and will never live here, so the odds of me being nearby and also being ravenous from hours of intensely heated summer driving are pretty slim. Speaking of slim, even if the stars did align, I'd be curious to fatten myself at one of the other Chinese buffets within a block or two. No hard feelings, Gateway.

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  Posted on 07.12.09 aaron h.

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  Not the best, but not the worst,either - some pretty tasty items.  I had some good spicy shrimp (still in shell); better-than-average BBQ, giant rounds of sushi, tasty mussels.  There's not the variety as in the modern Chinese super-buffet, but quite a bit more than in those small lunch buffets some Chinese places have.  The hot and sour soup was real spicy while the egg-drop soup was eggy and bland.  
  
  As well as the buffet, there is a menu to order from.  
  
  What is lacking:
  - The rice is served in a little tray where it dries out.  Why don't they get a rice cooker?  Too many buffets are like this.
  - Food runs out and is not replaced for a long time, if at all.  
  
  Good points:
  - We came in a large group and the waiter kindly wrote out individual reciepts for each person.  He also was diligent about topping up our water.  
  - I managed to have several plates of food that I liked, and thought was well-made.
  - Even with the giant crab legs, the dinner buffet was only 7.95.
  
  Next time I'll try the place next door, just 'cause I haven't been there yet, but would have no problem eating at this place again.  I've run across much worse buffets in the Eugene area.

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  Posted on 03.08.08 Roy S.

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  Anyone who goes to the Gateway Chinese Buffet better be prepared for some very low quality food for incredibly affordable prices. This is literally a dream for the college students who may be living nearby. Another reason why its so cheap to dine here is because of another Chinese buffet that has moved next door that is taking a lot of the business. This place sadly doesn't beat the other in service, food quality, or ambiance, just in prices. And for those who are penny pinching but still want quite a bit of food, they can find that here. The variety of the buffet items is not strong and not entirely edible without wanting to chew it out either. Cheap and fast, thats their strategy and they're sticking to it!

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  Posted on 02.15.07 Jando S.

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