No Limit Cheap Fantastics: The Top 5 Buffets in Eugene, Oregon

Far and away the best buffet in Willamette Valley. The Empire offers free birthday dinner and has the best sushi of any buffet. Shrimp, eel, tuna and salmon -both maki and nori style. Spicy tuna, Philadelphia rolls, vegetarian rolls. They even do the rice correctly (which most buffets and supermarkets that offer sushi do not!). Where else on the West Coast can you get all you can eat sushi for $9?

While there's a number of vegetarian choices, Empire's specialty is clearly seafood. Dinner menu (particularly on the weekends) includes stuffed scallops, mussels, king crab legs, and any number of shrimp or prawn dishes. My favorites in no particular order: the stuffed mushroom caps, garlic green beans, seafood medley (which includes perfectly tender squid -yum! If you like squid, you know that chewy is its middle name), fried won tons (filled with cream cheese), pot-stickers and the very very popular saucy coconut chicken.

They have a lounge with captioned televisions (sports/news) and a full bar. At the cash register pick up a business card and turn it over. Score! Frequent diners club. Don't forget to have it initialed -one step closer to a free meal. The staff is friendly but have varying degrees of English fluency. I enjoy that but if you or someone you are dining with has difficulty understanding accents or gets impatient or xenophobic... don't come. (Your crankiness gives us all indigestion.) Once when I was there, in the soft hum of diners' conversations around me I heard Spanish, Japanese and Samoan (I think) - I didn't understand a word but I was in multi-cultural heaven. My favorite server Jenny is slowly teaching me Mandarin. If you see her, tell her "Nee how mah" from me. The Empire is my favorite restaurant. Everything about it is "how how".

Prices run $7.49-11.49, with discounts for seniors. (Children pay 70 per year.) Open 7 days a week and most holidays, Mon-Thur 11a-9p, Fri- Sat 11a-10:30p, Sun 11a-9:30p.

Olive Garden Italian Restaurant
www.olivegarden.com
1077 Valley River Dr
Eugene, OR
(541) 349-8929

No doubt you're saying: "Wait a goshdanged minute! Olive Garden is neither a buffet or a bargain." If you want to get technical, okay but their lunch special (Soup, Salad & Breadsticks -all you can eat for $7.95) is as satisfying as any larger spread. The garden-fresh salad, comes pre-doused in a light vinagrette, and (like everything at Olive Garden) begging for all the parmesan as you want freshly grated on top. OMG warm garlic breadsticks. Seriously you will fill up on these.

Soup choices: (New) Chicken & Gnocchi: a creamy soup made with roasted chicken, traditional Italian dumplings and spinach. Pasta e Fagioli: white and red beans, ground beef, tomatoes and pasta in a savory broth. Minestrone: Fresh vegetables, beans and pasta in a light tomato broth a vegetarian classic. Zuppa Toscana: Spicy sausage, russet potatoes and cavolo greens in a creamy broth. I've tried them all. Zuppa is my fave. I'm a sucker for creamy soups.

The (under $10) Neverending Pasta Bowl is only available in the fall (usually Oct-Nov) but it's another delicious bargain. One of the nonbuffet advantages is they don't have any "can't take extras" home rules. (Or if they do, they're not strictly enforced.) The big danger to your pocketbook is the tempting and spendy drinks and desserts. They're open Sun-Thur 11a-10p, Fri-Sat 11a-11p.

Chicken Bonz
www.chickenbonz.com
1815 Pioneer Pkwy E
Springfield, OR
(541) 726-0111

If nothing in life sounds as satisfying as hot wings and beer, Chicken Bonz is the place for you. Grab some friends and head out. Not exactly in Eugene, this Springfield restaurant is hidden away in the Pioneer Parkway Plaza strip mall. Only those in the know will find this delight tucked in beside a Payless shoe store. Painted wooden benches and chairs; each table is decorated with paper towels on a spindle. Sodas are refillable. There's fries, salads and sandwiches - a full menu - if you went for something other than wingz. $9.95 for all you can eat wingz or get 'em bonzless. Hours: Sat-Wed 11a-8p, Thurs-Fri 11a- 8:30p.

Eugene Mongolian Grill
2053 River Road
Eugene, OR
689-0689

Dinner and a show in one. Well, it is if you're like me and thinking watching your food tossed around, frying on an open grill is entertainment. Okay it's not Benihana's but you knew that from the price. Pick your choice of meat, veggies, and sauces and see it stir-fry to perfection. The price is based on bowl size (small 7.25 medium 8.95 large 10.95) lunch prices are a dollar cheaper and all you can eat is always $10.95. If you choose just "one time" bowl, you can take home the left-overs. All you can eats, cannot. (I hate those "can't eat it later" policies and am likely to try to charm the management into making an exception for me -I always say I'm going to put a ziploc baggie in my purse for just this situation but I never do. My friends and family would die of shame. And I am pretty charming so...)

If any buffet management types are listening - ok, you caught me. I can't eat that much in a single sitting and I want to get my money's worth. Would it be so terrible for me to have leftovers for lunch tomorrow? I would be your forever fan! Anyway, the alternative is my party taking over a table and eating very slowly, pacing ourselves. If you'd let us take our leftovers you could have filled that table with paying guests, once maybe twice over. Think about it.

Hours: M-Th 11a-9p, Fri-Sat 11a-9:30p, Sun 11a-8p