Ranking and reviewing the best buffets in Rhode Island, including Royal Buffet, Hong Kong Buffet, Hibachi Grill & Supreme Buffet, and Ichiraku Seafood & Grill, based on food quality, selection, value, and dining experience.
These places were visited in early to mid-June and August 2026, with some having been visited several times previously. This is a summary of our overall experiences dining at these locations and will be updated as we revisit them.
Summary
| Buffet Ranking | Short Summary |
|---|---|
| 1) Hibachi Grill & Supreme Buffet (Warwick) | Slight seafood-leaning buffet with weekend crab, baby octopus, and sometimes additional shrimp dishes. alongside standard Chinese American buffet fare. Notably, over a dozen different sushi rolls, a large salad selection, standard hibachi, and a complete, typical Chinese buffet dessert selection with a few unique options such as coconut and black forest cake squares, banana pudding, and full-sized cakes, but only basic hard-serve mini-cup ice creams and popsicles. Decent atmosphere: semi-quiet, attentive staff; however, asked to leave 30 minutes before close, started closing an hour before, and food was not replenished, leftovers were out until 15-30 minutes before close. |
| 2) Royal Buffet | Similar to Hibachi Grill & Supreme Buffet (Warwick), but with a few differences: smaller sushi selection and no baby octopus or crab; similarly sized dessert selection, but different items, including brownies, chocolate chip cookies, and standard soft-serve with cones. Some dishes rotate depending on the day/week. Like Hibachi Grill, same atmosphere and service (attentive, close before posted hours, can feel rushed). |
| 3) Ichiraku Seafood & Grill | Seafood-focused buffet, with buttery lobster, crab, baby octopus, and other typical seafoods, all slightly above average quality. Ichiraku is smaller than Royal and Warwick’s Hibachi Grill, where the selection is reduced in the Chinese American food, salads, and hibachi offerings. However, dinner included refrigerated bottled Asian drinks and tableside tea service. Exceptional selection of freezer desserts reminiscent of an ice cream truck, though missing a few dessert staples. Service is not very attentive, but they are friendly and make for casual conversation. Unlike other buffets, we were never asked to leave until right at closing; however, buffet stations began to close 30 minutes before the posted time. |
| 4) Hong Kong Buffet | A typical Chinese American buffet, but substantially smaller and with a homemade twist. Every section is small; no hibachi station. However, food tastes homemade and fresh, though largely unseasoned and not as boldly flavored as other buffets with similar dishes. Not a good place to bring a party with people of varying wants. The atmosphere is intimate, quiet, and slightly dim, making it feel more upscale. They let people stay even after closing, although buffet breakdown started 45-60 minutes before the posted time. |
| 5) Hibachi Grill & Supreme Buffet (East Providence, Rumford) | Similar to the Warwick location and Royal Buffet, but worse in every aspect. It’s smaller, though much larger than Hong Kong Buffet and slightly bigger than Ichiraku. Compared to the Warwick location and Royal Buffet, it’s smaller across all sections, and the quality feels slightly worse overall. They offer several varieties of tubbed hard-serve ice cream. Yet, some tubs of hard serve and other critical food items were never replenished. The biggest issue: The atmosphere. Very rushed, with loud families and children. Not enough staff to adequately serve tables, and an early, loud breakdown of the buffet and nearby eating areas—chairs barricaded us as they cleaned under the tables, all the while children jumped across furniture! It’s also very dark; you can barely see the food in front of you. |
Ranking & Review
1) Hibachi Grill & Supreme Buffet (Warwick)
Review
Coming in at the top is Warwick’s Hibachi Grill & Supreme Buffet, nearly tied with Royal Buffet (see below).
In summary, Hibachi Grill & Supreme Buffet in Warwick offers one of the most complete buffets in Rhode Island and is better than its East Providence location in every aspect. The Warwick location has a small seafood lean without compromising the typical Chinese American buffet experience. The prices are low, the service is attentive, and the selection is diverse with many standouts.
Several standouts: around a dozen sushi rolls, a large salad bar, a complete hibachi, and a dessert selection of full-sized cakes (chocolate, strawberry, flan, and cheesecake), plus unique offerings such as coconut and black forest cake squares and banana pudding. Lastly, they have hot foods typical of a Chinese American buffet, without compromise, with a slight seafood lean. This included weekend crab, baby octopus, and sometimes additional shrimp options, as well as typical seafood like mussels, clams, oysters, and fish.
Unfortunately, the experience is held back by buffet cleanup and food consolidation well before closing, as well as employees asking customers to leave before the posted closing time.
Arrive well before close. Customers are asked to leave about 30 minutes before close—we were even escorted out once! However, the service is attentive, and the atmosphere is mostly fine aside from an occasional loud family.
You can visit my full review here.
2) Royal Buffet
Review
Coming in right after, if not on the same level as Hibachi Grill & Supreme Buffet, is Royal Buffet.
Royal Buffet offers a full Chinese American buffet experience at low prices. It has everything, though the service, especially before closing, can be questionable.
While other similar buffets may be missing items or are simply smaller, Royal Buffet likely has it. A complete hibachi, salad bar, and a good dessert selection. It has all the staples of a typical Chinese American buffet, and they also rotate a few dishes each week. The quality of the food is standard, maybe slightly higher. It’s regularly replenished, kept hot, and well-seasoned.
Downsides? The service and atmosphere.
Get there 2-3 hours before they close to avoid the headache. A full hour to an hour and a half before their posted closing time, they begin breaking down stations and cleaning nearby tables loudly and aggressively. It’s as if they are trying to get you to leave. Not only that, if you managed to stick around 30 minutes before their doors apparently shut, you may be asked to leave. And don’t forget a good tip, because, according to many online reviews, they will hound you for it!
Needless to say, you will start to feel rushed if you arrive even just a little “late,” which dampens the experience and atmosphere.
Royal Buffet is still one of the best buffets to visit. The price for the quality and offerings is hard to beat. If you can just deal with the subpar service and the risk of being kicked out early, Royal Buffet is top-notch.
You can visit my full review here.
3) Ichiraku Seafood & Grill
Review
Seafood! Fish! Sushi! Crab! And… lobster?! How is this not first place?!
Ichiraku is a seafood buffet with undertones of Chinese American buffet influence. It has a few of those bog-standard buffet foods, but it gravitates towards the many other offerings. Ichiraku is unique—it’s in its own category of buffet, a seafood-based one.
It’s pricier than other standard buffets, likely for good reason. Their seafood is mostly above-average. The lobster—yes, lobster—is buttery and chunky. The sushi station has a fair 8-10 different rolls at slightly above-average buffet quality; the same goes for their variety of fish, crab, squid, and other seafood dishes.
They also offer tableside tea service, a fridge full of Asian-inspired drinks, and a freezer stocked with premium, unique ice creams that mimic an ice cream truck. Notably—a personal favorite: a station of different steamed dim-sum buns in bamboo baskets!
The welcoming atmosphere and exceptionally friendly staff were a plus. The restaurant was mostly quiet and well-lit, and the plates were Ichiraku-themed. However, staff weren’t very attentive—several times, we had to ask for refills and some buffet areas to be restocked.
The trade-offs? It’s pricey, and some of the offerings at their buffet stations are lacking. The salad bar? A few pieces of spinach and basic sides. Similarly, their hibachi area is severely limited. Some typical non-seafood buffet hot foods are also absent. Lastly, the dessert selection is missing some staples like puddings, nuts, and fruit, and the hard-serve ice cream comes in bland mini cups.
If you want seafood, unique desserts, and drinks, or enjoy dim sum buns, give Ichiraku a try. At its price, it’s roughly reasonable. However, if you’re looking for something more traditional Chinese American-inspired, more expensive, or cheaper, I’d go elsewhere.
You can visit my full review here.
4) Hong Kong Buffet
Review
Imagine your typical Chinese American buffet. Now, cut it down several times, then make everything by hand—this is the basis of Hong Kong Buffet. Hong Kong Buffet is a very small Chinese-American buffet with a homemade feel. This all comes with its own positives and negatives.
The pros? The food feels and tastes fresh. For example, their General Tsos: instead of being extra deep-fried and saucy, feature fresher-tasting, leaner chicken and a lighter sauce. This smaller selection also comes with the caveat that much of their food doesn’t have the super-punchy, well-seasoned, fatty taste you often find at other buffets. Essentially, it’s what you’re up for—food with a homemade vibe, or do you not care and want all the flavor of a more traditional buffet?
An important issue: their selection is severely limited across all stations. In fact, it’s perhaps the smallest buffet in the state. The salad bar is a joke, with only a few bits of spinach and fewer than a handful of toppings. Similarly, the dessert station only presents a few options at most. The hibachi? Doesn’t even exist. However, on weekends, there’s a small, dull-looking, and flavorless prime rib station for an additional price. At the very least, their sushi bar was mostly average, with a slightly higher-quality feel.
In terms of service, it’s mixed. They let people stay after closing, but they aren’t always attentive. Expect to request refills and ask for your table to be cleared at least a few times. Another pro, however, is that the overall atmosphere is exceptionally quiet and clean, nicely dim, and feels upscale.
Hong Kong Buffet is a mixed bag. If you want an upscale, more intimate atmosphere with limited tableside attention, and you’re willing to eat homemade but less flavorful food from an exceptionally limited selection, this is a place to visit. Overall, it’s not a bad buffet. I would just suggest that if you want a more traditional Chinese-American buffet or something with more variety, reconsider.
You can visit my full review here.
5) Hibachi Grill & Supreme Buffet (East Providence, Rumford)
Review
Hibachi Grill & Supreme Buffet’s East Providence location is similar to its Warwick location and Royal Buffet, but smaller, with worse service and substantially worse atmosphere, as well as specific, frustrating problems detailed in the primary review that left us saying “we’ll never come back again.”
When it comes to food, Hibachi Grill & Supreme Buffet is a traditional Chinese-American buffet. It has a decent, satisfying selection, and notably, a suitable selection of sushi rolls and desserts, though it feels limiting at times around the hot food areas. If I had to compare this to others on the list, it’s smaller than its Warwick location and Royal Buffet and much larger than Hong Kong Buffet.
The first few annoyances: a few critical items were never replenished, such as the ginger for the sushi and certain hard-serve ice creams, as well as the serving spoons themselves (which apparently “broke”) right in the middle of dinner! But right at closing time, those items were seen refilled for the following day. Also, the hibachi station was unmanned for extended periods.
The overall dessert selection was excellent, and the sushi roll offerings were expansive (both rivaled, if not surpassed, Royal Buffet in this regard), but not addressing its key issues brought it down. Additionally, the salad bar was okay, but it was missing a few standard toppings, which may be more disappointing to salad lovers than to the typical buffet-goer.
The service, and more so the atmosphere, were horrendous, and are the key reasons this buffet ranks so low.
Staff started breaking down stations well before close, although some food was left out even until close. However, the worst part of the buffet experience was the noise: extremely noisy, rowdy families and overwhelmed employees who stopped table service completely 30-45 minutes before closing to attend to cleaning, all in an equally loud manner, including dragging metal chairs across the floor. No more refills or table clearing. What was especially annoying was that, while employees cleaned under tables, they barricaded us in the corner with chairs for some time.
And why is this place so dark? I can’t see anything, not even the food in front of me, and I hear way, way too much—ugh, I just don’t want to be here! It’s way too overstimulating and genuinely miserable.
As noted above, their hibachi was serviceable, assuming someone was there to take your order; the sushi roll variety was surprisingly excellent; the dessert selection was great; and the hard-serve, especially, was tasty. However, the salad bar was mostly average.
Essentially, just go anywhere else and avoid the headache until this spot actually becomes a pleasant place to eat.
You can visit my full review here.