Super China Buffet Reopens After Long Pandemic Closure
JOLIET, IL — A long-time Joliet restaurant is back in business after taking five months off amid the new coronavirus outbreak across Illinois. Super China Buffet returned to business on Saturday, Aug. 1. Since 1997, Super China Buffet has been on Joliet's West Jefferson Street next to the Rax Roast Beef, according to owner Steve Zheng.
The buffet at the long-time Joliet restaurant includes American, Chinese and Mexican cuisine, Zheng told Patch.
"We were always going to reopen," Zheng told Joliet Patch's editor on Monday morning. "Yesterday (Sunday) we had a lot of people."
He said the restaurant did not make any changes to its menu.
"It's the same as usual," Zheng said.
Super China Buffet is now open daily. Its hours are: 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 10:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Super China Buffet is carryout or dine-in. It does not do deliveries.
The restaurant's business card proclaims, "The Best Buffet in City. We are serving 100 percent fresh fruit smoothies!"
During Monday morning's interview, Zheng told Joliet Patch that no one is allowed inside the restaurant unless they are wearing a mask. He said that sanitizing and cleaning is a high priority for the staff.
Last week, Joliet Patch wrote about the recent reopening of another long-time buffet-style restaurant, Golden Corral, which is also on West Jefferson Street, a couple blocks east of Super China Buffet.
However, Golden Corral is not offering a buffet in wake of the pandemic. Instead, Golden Corral servers are delivering unlimited portions of family-style meals to customers at their table.
Super China Buffet, on the other hand, is remaining a buffet-style restaurant, its owner told Patch.
Zheng told Joliet Patch that Super China Buffet's lunch and dinner buffets are available at the following prices:
For lunch buffet: $9.91 (excludes sales tax) for adults, senior citizens are $9, children 6 to 8 are $5.99, children 9 and 10 are $7.15, children 3 to 5 are $3.99 and children who are 2 years old are $2.55.
For dinner buffet: $12.65 for adults (excludes sales tax), senior citizens are $11.74, children 6 to 8 are $6.99, children 9 and 10 are $8.99, children 3 to 5 are $6.99, children 3 to 5 are $4.99 and children who are 2 years old are $2.55
Zheng emphasized that the buffet offers all you can eat and soft drink refills are always free at Super China Buffet. Soft drinks are included in the meal price for buffets, he added.
For carryout orders, Super China Buffet's phone number is 815-741-8686.
The same family that owns Super China Buffet said they also operate the Tony's Wok restaurant at 550 East Cass St., on Joliet's east side. Tony's Wok told Patch on Monday that it has been re-open for about two months now.
This article originally appeared on the Joliet Patch
