Storytellers Cafe is one of my favorite restaurants for breakfast, but based on prior visits, I haven't been particularly fond of lunch or dinner there. Since it had been quite some time since we'd had a non-breakfast meal there, we decided to give it a try.

After perusing the menu, a few of us decided to have the dinner buffet while others chose to order off the menu.

The dinner buffet, which includes a non-alcoholic drink, is $25.99 for adults and $10.99 for children 3-11, and this evening's offerings included the following:

All American Potato Salad
Market Field Greens
Tossed Caesar Salad
Corn Chowder
Mickey Chicken Nuggets
Macaroni and Cheese
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Vegetables of the Day (broccoli and carrots)
Cheese Tortellini with Sundried Tomatoes
Blackened Salmon
Grilled Chicken
Hand Carved Prime Rib
Lemon Tart
Chocolate Mousse Cake
Cheesecake
Fruit Tart
Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries
Cookies (chocolate chip, sugar, chocolate chocolate chip)
Brownies
Bread Pudding

I found the buffet to be OK, but nothing spectacular. I found it really only worth the price if you're interested in the vast dessert selection. There seemed to be as many desserts as entrees available, which I find to be odd in a buffet. I was most disappointed in the salad selection, with very few offerings, and I wish they'd had a few crudite items as well. I was also a bit disappointed with the vegetable of the day selection, but I think that was partly because stalks of asparagus were being used as "decorations" in the buffet area, and I kept wanting to ask if they couldn't just cook some of that for the vegetables instead, as I love asparagus. They have asparagus in the breakfast buffet, but apparently, not necessarily the dinner buffet.

I tried the salmon, which was ok, and I really liked the macaroni and cheese, and my husband particularly enjoyed the cheese tortellini but found the grilled chicken to be just ok. The major offering of the buffet, though, is the prime rib. I've heard differing opinions on the prime rib, so I wanted to try it for myself. The slice I got was a bit more cooked than I normally prefer, and I found it to be just ok - not great, not horrible, just ok. Later on in the meal, I decided to try another slice, and when I went up to the chef, I asked for a slice that was a bit more rare, more along the lines of medium rare. The chef opened a drawer underneath, pulled out another full cooked prime rib, cut it in half, and then cut me a slice from the middle of one of the halves. I found this slice to be much tastier, more like what you'd expect to get from a regular restaurant, and it was nice that they actually accommodate your requests.

If you like prime rib and can get a slice to your liking and are interested in the dessert offerings as well, then I'd recommend getting the buffet. You can also peruse the buffet bar before deciding on your order. Otherwise, I'd recommend just ordering off the menu. Unless the buffet is different, I doubt I'd have it again.

One other person in our group ordered the salmon, and she really liked it. Two others ordered burgers and found them to be ok, though one was not cooked to order. Included in the bread for the table is corn bread, which everyone said was very good. I don't care for corn bread myself, so I didn't try it.

The entrees did take quite a bit longer than one would expect to arrive at our table, but the server was very good, pleasant and helpful.

Two of the people in our group decided to order the fondue for dessert, and they very much enjoyed that, though they found a few of the items included in the fondue to be a bit odd. Specifically, the pound cake and banana nut bread were very hard to spear and dip in the chocolate without having them crumble.

I did enjoy this dinner more than previous dinners at Storytellers Cafe, so I'm not as reticent to return as I had been.

For the current dinner menu offerings, please click here.

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