A review of Hibachi Grill & Supreme Buffet in East Providence, Rhode Island, including the sushi, hibachi, desserts, prices, service, and overall dining experience.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Low buffet price; small weekend upcharge due to seafood offerings (which were mostly typical) and extended closing hours Coupons available, including a 10% discount for seniors, military, and students Around a dozen different sushi rolls; very good dessert selection, including hard serve ice cream Food is generally kept fresh, though some critical parts not always stocked Staff let you stay a bit past closing time | Mildly smaller than average Chinese-American buffet, specifically the hot foods and salad bar Often, a loud, rushed, overly dark, chaotic atmosphere from families and employees Inattentive service, including in the buffet area Service can become rushed as staff begin cleanup before closing |
Review
This review is for the East Providence, Rumford location, which was visited several times in summer 2026 and in previous years.
Hibachi Grill & Supreme Buffet has two locations in Rhode Island, one in East Providence’s Rumford and the other in Warwick. They appear to be the same business, as suggested by their logo, and similar hours and prices, though the overall experience may differ. Their websites (East Providence and Warwick) are also similar, with minor variations in layout and in claims about the size of their food selections (150 vs. 200, respectively).
The buffet prices are fairly low, some of the cheapest buffets in Rhode Island, and rival similar Chinese-American buffets such as Royal Buffet. Further, they offer coupons and discounts on their websites. And lastly, on weekends, both locations close later and charge a small upcharge due to the addition of seafood at the East Providence location and crab at the Warwick location, according to employees.
Given the low buffet price, how does their food and overall experience compare with those of their competitors?
First, Hibachi Grill & Supreme Buffet offers your traditional Chinese-American Buffet fare. It has a salad station, a sushi bar, a hibachi area, desserts, and rows of Asian- and American-based foods. Unfortunately, despite being typical, the size isn’t.
Maybe the websites didn’t lie about the amount they offer vs. the Warwick location (150 vs. 200) because, here in East Providence, the buffet was a little smaller. In fact, the only “normal” offerings they had were sushi (they excel at it) and the hibachi bar. For example, hot foods like American fare were mostly limited to chicken nuggets, fries, and pizza, and Chinese-American dishes were generally less available—where were overwhelming varieties of rice, meats, etc.? Sure, there were some of the foods of everything I mentioned, but it felt limiting at times.
The overall quality is great, with the food generally tasting fresh and reasonably seasoned. And while they offer some similar dishes to the Warwick location, several dishes differ across all their stations, just enough to be considered a different buffet altogether.
To start, as a seafood connoisseur, I found the selection pretty good overall. Despite being a tad smaller than your average go-to, they still have a good number of buffet seafood staples, including clams, mussels, crawfish, rangoons, calamari, shrimp dishes, and baby octopus. Most of all, their sushi rivals that of their Warwick location, besting most other buffets by offering around a dozen fresh-tasting rolls and a variety of sauces and toppings.
Dessert selection is also amazing. It has your typical puddings and fruits, as well as sheet cakes, palmiers, and other basic items. Notably, they also feature Chinese bow ties and occasional desserts not found elsewhere (see visit summaries below). Lastly, their ice cream is just — wow!
First, they serve, well, you serve yourself, hard-serve ice cream from large freezer tubs. Several flavors are included, primarily from Hood: vanilla cherry, cotton candy, strawberry, butterscotch, chocolate chip cookie dough, coffee, vanilla, black raspberry, and chocolate. However, there are no cones or toppings. Still, the ice cream quality is above average, and many flavors feature plenty of mix-ins! The vanilla cherry, chocolate chip cookie dough, and butterscotch are chunky standouts!
The salad bar is decent, featuring iceberg lettuce and toppings such as olives, peppers, kimchi, seaweed salad, pickles, dressings, and seeds. It could have used items like tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, leafy greens, etc.—although you could probably steal a few of these from the hibachi area. Basically, not the biggest selection I’ve seen, nor the smallest.
A lot of the problems stem from staff and service, which is often questionable.
The atmosphere, due to its inner-city location, often features large, loud families with too many children running amok, and staff sprinting back and forth to attend to everyone. It can feel rushed, chaotic, and overstimulating. Critically, there doesn’t always seem to be enough staff to service the tables and buffet area, so expect to ask for parts of the buffet and your drink to be refilled. Also, annoyingly, the entire restaurant is very dark; you can barely see the food in front of you!
Like many other buffets, expect a buffet breakdown around 30-45 minutes before close. Pleasantly surprisingly, however, even at close, there are still a good number of leftovers, and employees don’t explicitly rush you out aside from sometimes giving you the check early and the occasional loud clanging of dishware and tables being cleaned.
In a way, employees can be too lax; buffets and refills often need attention, but they’re chill enough to let you stay a few minutes past close.
Overall, this is your typical Chinese American buffet, but a smidge smaller, and it suffers from issues with service and atmosphere. If employees can keep critical parts of the buffet stocked, be less aggressive during cleanup, be more attentive, and implement a policy on rowdy families, Hibachi Grill & Supreme Buffet would be near perfect.
Visit Notes
June 12, 2026: We promised we wouldn’t go here again after this experience.
Parts of the buffet were left empty, including critical salad parts and ginger for the sushi. Weirdly, even the serving spoons for the ice cream, which an employee claimed were broken during service, were absent, yet were seen being replaced during closing time. Even some of the ice cream tubs themselves were left empty, but again, they were replaced when everyone started to leave.
A frustrating incident occurred when, around 30 minutes before close, employees began throwing chairs around to clean under nearby tables and stacking them in our back corner, essentially trapping us for some time (see the photo below). All the while, children jumped across the furniture! Incredibly loud and chaotic!
Lastly, table service was mostly attentive until they began cleaning ~30 minutes before close. This doesn’t discount their inability to adequately service the buffet areas, though.
September 18, 2026: We reluctantly visited again, and the experience was surprisingly mostly perfect!
Several unique standouts: phyllo-flaky apple pie, Cosmic Brownie-looking mini brownies, coffee sheet cakes, caramel coconut macaroons, and a sweet and creamy sushi sauce. The Cosmic Brownie mini brownies were rich and dense, nearly tasting and feeling like the real thing! The coffee sheet cake was a bit dry, though the flavor was bold and reasonably sweet. Lastly, there was a very creamy, thick, tannish, and seasoned-looking sauce near the sushi that rivaled the sweetness of the eel sauce but was extraordinarily more milky and creamy–maybe it was Yum Yum sauce?
Unlike some previous visits, families weren’t too loud, and the buffet breakdown was quieter than usual, though our server was completely inattentive, letting us refill our own drinks while he sat on his phone! We also had to ask several times for certain parts of the buffet to be refilled because employees were slacking off. They let us stay past close, and after 10 minutes past the time, they gently approached us and the nearby family, asking if we wanted more and saying they’d leave out the ice cream. Also, much of the food was still left out during this period.
In a way, employees were too lax, letting families stick around but not adequately servicing tables and the buffet area. We definitely need to go here again.
Media from June 12, 2026
Media from September 18, 2026
