Fresh Harvest Buffet Pizza Hard Rock Casino Tampa
Slice Rating
Mrs. Pizza and I were at the Hard Rock Casino in Tampa on a recent Florida Road Trip. It was lunchtime so we headed to the Fresh Harvest Buffet, which we always enjoyed in the Seminole Coconut Creek Casino. When I go to a Buffet, I like to take my first look around with no plate, that way I don't have "Buyer's Remorse" if I see something better after my plate is piled on and stacked high.
As I passed the pizza station, I thought that the pie looked like a mess and I passed on by. However, I could not resist the siren song of Pizza and for dessert made this plate :).
The pizza display hadn't changed much through my entire meal, meaning the pizza that was there upon my initial survey was sitting around a long time by the time I got to it. Just from looking at the pizza, you can tell they came from different pies. They tasted the exact same however. A warm sweet sauce, bland cheese, and forgettable crust. My first reaction was it tasted like Barf :( Mrs. Pizza thought the lack of turnover of the food made the food taste and feel stale. They offered a meatball calzone at the pizza station, but it was $2 extra. I have never seen that at a buffet before. And there were 10 other items that had extra charges. $3 for General Tso's chicken at the Asian Station, $2 for a shrimp, scallop or piece of salmon. $5 for a steak. And even though there was a HUGE dessert display, they still charged $1 a scoop. All told, the price of the extras combined could be higher than the price of the buffet itself. Another thing that bothered us about the buffet was that every time they cleared the plates, they left the dirty silverware. Even when the silverware was on the plate, they would take it off and place the dirty silverware on the table.
When we first arrived at the Buffet it was 3:00. The line started getting very long. I was surprised that it as so crowded. I checked into Four Square, as is my habit, and saw a tip that explained it. If you get there before 4:00 you pay lunch prices, but get dinner. Smart. But I had to laugh when I saw a line forming around an empty station. I asked what the line was for, and the answer made a lot of sense: Crab legs :). Anyway, aside from the dirty silverware, stale food, up-charges and cheap customers, this was a nice buffet. Just don't go for the pizza. 3 of 8 slices.