It’s strange that something in the same business court as Starbucks and Jimmy John’s could have food that’s just so average.

Located just off of the I-70 business loop and 25 road, Grand International Buffet has the second-best questionably prepared Asian food in town.

GIB is what Golden Corral would be if it weren’t specifically targeting fluffy southern people. It has a smorgasbord of international food choices, taking a little bit of its pallet from each corner of the globe, but mostly sticking to Asian cuisine (I use that word loosely).

The food isn’t bad, but it isn’t great, and it doesn’t offer the same level of disgusting comfort food that a place like Golden Corral does. It’s hard to imagine stuffing your face with chicken-on-a-stick.

But the menu does offer most things you’d expect at a Golden Corral. It has an ice cream machine, a fairly long dessert table, and even serves the same super cheesy, rock-hard pizza you find at Golden Corral. No chocolate fountain, thank goodness.

That being said, GIB faces all the normal downfalls of a buffet. How long has the food been sitting out? Why is this bread dry? And I am not suggesting this is the case with GIB, but the odds of getting some kind of food poisoning are incredibly high at buffets. GIB is kept clean, but by its nature the potential is still there. Why anyone would eat buffet sushi is beyond me.

Service wasn’t an issue. The group I was with was fairly small, and we were seated quickly. The staff was polite, and food on the buffet was replaced extremely quickly.

The bang for your buck, especially for a college student, is hard to pass up. The buffet is $8-11 depending on the time of day, and that makes it sound amazing to a hungry college student.

I hate to say it, because I once lived in the dorms, but the cafeteria might be a better choice in this situation. Even if you don’t have a meal plan. For roughly the same price, you can get mediocre food served to you, with better pizza and someone easily accessible to complain to if you get sick.

Or better still, walk over to Chopstix Express across North Avenue. from campus. If you’re going to risk food poisoning to eat incredibly cheap Asian food, the restaurant fondly referred to as Buck-a-Scoop is easily the best choice. It’s absolutely delicious.

There’s just no excuse, with the number of middle-of-the-road food options at your fingertips, to make a trip to GIB. The price is solid, the staff is nice, but the food just doesn’t cut it.