Cooks Cafe Express - DeLand

The exterior is nice walking in. You get the 'Old Florida ' restaurant feel complete with beautiful flowers. They have great salad bar, meat selections and veggies. The offerings do change. They are cooking all day and are serving fresh food. We were told most is from scratch and the cakes and desserts are made by the owner. They bring bread and beverages to the table, you visit the buffet. You choose one meat and get unlimited salad and veggies. The meat serving is a large portion and served by a carver. There is a $5 upcharge for additional meat servings. There is an extra charge for soups and desserts. We always get plenty to eat with the basic buffet. The basic (1 meat) buffet and a drink costs about $15 per person plus tip. There various ways to configure your buffet experience to suit your desires. The only reason I give 4 and not 5 stars is the manager and some of the people working there are not the friendliest, most helpful sort but I am there for a great meal not to make friends so I can overlook this aspect. If they are a little too extra I have the option to go elsewhere. All in all it is a great meal and a good experience.

Food had great quality and tasted amazing. However for the price and only being offered one meat with the buffet and if you want a second meat it costs extra. The portion size for the meat didn't seem worth the price. I feel if they charge 25 for their buffet with all you can eat meat they would see an increase in sales. However if you're okay with eating more sides than meat, this is your place to go. Salad bar was also the freshest salad bar I've ever seen. The desserts tasted awesome.

Let’s get to the main point: the food was outstanding! The staff were incredibly polite, embodying a modern take on Southern hospitality. I had the parmesan-crusted fish, which was delightful, while my companion enjoyed the lamb—both dishes were cooked to perfection. You get to choose your sides from a wide selection, along with a generous salad bar. I can’t emphasize enough how enjoyable our lunch was, and since we had prepaid for dessert, they offered us to-go options since we were already full. Overall, it was a fantastic experience that I highly recommend!

Fantastic old-school buffet! The prices are great, and you get unlimited access to the salad bar along with a choice of one meat serving. The lamb and roast beef were exceptional. All the desserts were homemade and very generous in size. Definitely worth the price! We loved our meal and even had some leftovers to take home.

The waitress Kim provided outstanding service, and the food was truly home-cooked and delicious. The only reason I didn't give it a five-star rating is that they didn't use real butter. Additionally, their salad bar was missing chopped celery and hard-boiled eggs. The type of butter they used didn’t really complement the mashed potatoes and vegetables. I'm accustomed to using Land O'Lakes butter. To whoever is reading this, please consider using real butter; I wouldn't mind paying extra for high-quality butter.