Tin Tin Buffet

So grateful that decent buffets still exist. I love the chicken and broccoli, cabbage, Bok choy, and fresh fruits and veggies!! There is a ramp for access, but you do have to go up a very steep hill to get there if you need it. Otherwise there are stairs. They have self-serve Chinese tea too which is so tasty!! I really like this place

For the price, the food available cpuld not be beat. There was some western options, lots of great East Asian options, a surprising amount of dessert options, and it all tasted superb. The General Tso's chicken was especially good. The service was exceptional too. The waitress took our plates as we finished and often asked if we wanted water refills. This place deserves a higher rating!

I think this is my second review for this restaurant worth to give 5 start rating. Highly recommend if you are looking for a buffet with tasty Chinese foods. Plenty seating and parkings are available. Amazing price for what you get!

They already know me hehe which makes it really good and funny. The FOOD IS SICK like the best I’ve tried. Ofc it can get a little cold but they will put fresh food out. I come a lot with my dad so they tell me “oh you grow so fast” it’s funny, they are really kind. Everyone it’s so nice and it’s actually a pretty good cost 💲. I really love it so I recommend it to everyone to come and enjoy 😊

This was the worst buffet I’ve ever been to. If I could give zero stars I would. The customer service was terrible. A waitress demanded me to give her a good tip, when I did not have a good experience. The waitress assumed I tipped five dollars, but soon to realize I tipped her eleven. I think her name was Linda. The food was also stale and cold. I found a dead cockroach in the bathroom stall, and there was mold on the food. If anything this place needs a health inspection. I wouldn’t recommend of anyone to go here.

In my life, there has been two kinds of restaurants: restaurants that charge more than their food is worth and restaurants that charge just about what their food is worth, the former being much more common. Tin Tin Buffet established a category in it's own right by becoming the first restaurant where I would be happy to pay *more* than they charge. Going in, I was expecting sloppy food with minimal variety given the price--$8 for all you can eat--but from the moment I opened the door I was met with a symphony of smells followed by a shocking amount of food: there were 8 whole rows of food, more than even most fancy restaurants provide! The quality of the food was also much better than expected. I strongly recommend it to anyone looking for a hearty meal for a reasonable price!

I highly recommend this buffet to anyone visiting the area! It offers a welcoming environment and impressively attentive service (i.e., staff were proactive in clearing plates and making sure we were comfortable throughout our meal). The food was well-prepared and met expectations, though I do wish there had been a bit more variety. Still, it's a great spot for a relaxed meal with excellent service.

I have eaten at Tin Tin Buffet in February, March, April, July twice, and August 2025. I do appreciate when tour buses are in the parking lot because you know that the food will be plentiful and hot. But even without tour buses, the food is consistently good. This is my go to place for everyday Chinese and Chinese-American food in the Allston-Brighton area. There are a variety of chicken dishes including Chinese American Kung Pao Chicken and/or General Tso's Chicken, sometimes salt and pepper chicken, or other breaded chicken. The American traditional Fried Chicken is very good, crispy and never greasy. I only remember one or two beef dishes, Beef & green beans, beef with mixed vegetables. But I am a seafood fan and I counted three or four shrimp dishes, including an amazing one with crawfish, huge mussels, and shrimp. They always will have two or more fish dishes, I had salmon, steamed whitefish with lemon, and fried battered fish. The variety of desserts are good. sometimes they will have custard and or tapioca pudding. They will always have citrus fruits that is the traditional Asian dessert. once I spotted a day 5 gallon container of ice cream in the freezer next to the entryway to the bathrooms. but the ice cream had melted and it was more like soup. When I went in August 2025 they had no ice cream, so I think the freezer was broken. Review from February 2025: In February 2025 I was fortunate enough to be there as 3 tour buses were pulling in which means that all the food will be very freshly cooked and not sitting around in the steamer trays for long. There was more than enough room for them and the usual crowd. They must have been expecting the buses because the food because the food was coming out fresh, fast, and furious. I actually tried the fried chicken and it was very good, on par with KFC, not greasy at all but the pieces were small but it was a buffet so who cares? I also had the onion rings which were crunchy. I had the steamed fish, shrimp and veggies, noodles, Shanghai baby bok choy, General Tao's chicken, dumplings, and egg rolls. All very good! I did notice the lack of seafood besides shrimp and fish. In the past they used to have steamed mussels in sauce and small clams but that was years ago, before Covid-19.

nice nice nice！我认为这是波士顿最符合大陆人口味的餐馆，很多美国人也来吃。比某些贵的中餐厅味道都要好！推荐！it is taste goodthere is lots of delicious foods here

Food tastes good, service was perfectly fine. My only issue was that some selections were mislabeled and we came at an odd time so not all selections were available

TLDR: the Chinese buffet of your dreams. Everyone has had the classic Chinese buffet experience of American Chinese classics plus slightly weird western/Italian food with classic buffet decor. Yeah this is it. Tin tin is its own slice of history and I'm sure in the next ten years this spot will be torn down for a new apartment complex but until then enjoy this relic of the past.

This felt kind of in the middle of nowhere so location isn't great, but we went for lunch on a Saturday and it wasn't bad. The price was $16.95/person which isn't as cheap as it used to be, but it wasn't terrible. If it was $2 cheaper, I might have actually given it 4 stars. There were 4 islands set up, so there was a fair variety of food. We were happy to see that they had seafood for lunch and that there were a good amount of customers, which ended up meaning that the food got turned over at least once per dish while we were there. While it didn't look great at first, the quality of some of the items actually was pretty good. Dumplings - These are great - the skin is nice and thin and the meat is large and chunky. The skin is almost a bit chewy and crispy and has a really good texture. Crab Rangoons - I didn't actually eat one of these, but we get takeout from here a lot and these are pretty good. Nice and crispy with a good ratio of filling. Cajun Seafood - This was surprisingly very good. I had shrimp, crawfish, and mussels from here. Halfway through our meal, they refilled this dish and the shrimp and mussels that they added were huge. It didn't taste off at all which is a fear at buffets, and it was actually quite nice. Shrimp (cold, boiled) - This also got refilled halfway through our meal. The meat was firm and flavored nicely with lemon. I love cold shrimp so this was a nice addition to the buffet. Shrimp (stir fried) - These were peeled and in a clear sauce. They weren't the most amazing, but it was nice to have another type of shrimp to choose from. Black Bean Clams - These were amazing. They were also refilled halfway through our meal and I ate a LOT of them. They had a nice blend of black bean and spice, and the clams themselves were nice and sweet. Sesame Balls - These might not be homemade, but they tasted just as good as a dim sum place, and they weren't huge so they didn't fill us up too much. Salt and Pepper Shrimp - These were fried nicely so they weren't too greasy but they were fried enough that you could eat the shell with the meat since it was nice and crispy. Good flavor. All in all, if we had a car, we'd definitely be back, and if it were a tad bit cheaper, I'd give it 4 stars. Still, it was a solid buffet for an area that doesn't have a lot of cheap Chinese buffet options. We actually walked about 40 minutes each way to get here and we have no regrets.

This place is a sham, on weekends they charge you $18 each person but there's not even such a wide selection, the muscles were so dry and so was the shrimp I think it was sitting under the lighting too long. The fried rice is really good, they don't have too many options a lot of it was pork which I do not eat so I was very limited to a few things. They do have Fried Chicken which is really delicious, the Sprite tastes a little weird like it's more Seltzer than it is syrup. I also didn't like that when I was signing my bill and tipping I was calculating the tip and the woman was just standing over me and telling me what to put as my tip. That was very uncomfortable and very strange. All in all I would say it would be great for the price when it's 13 bucks.

Delicious offers fantastic cuisine and comes highly recommended. classic Chinese buffet experience

Is delicious has great food and would definitely recommend if you are on a budget. They are very nice to you and welcome you in, they refill your drink even if you don't ask.

Haven't been recently but inexpensive and when you don't eat a lot they think you're unhappy

Worst Chinese Food I've every eaten. Highly recommend saving yourself your money. The wings were dry. There were flies all over the food. The water tasted like hose water. Who goes to a Chinese restaurant to eat chicken wings and fries? It was terrible. Do not waste your money.

The food selection was bad :( I was excited to eat shrimp but they didn't have any and the fish was awful tasting. It was drenched in water. The service was okay because at least they cleared the table. I would rather eat at a school dining hall. I had to spit out the desert it was so bad. Overall pretty disappointing. I wish I hadn't wasted gas coming here .

This restaurant has just renovated, the place looks nice & clean. The food was delicious, I enjoyed the main courses, dessert & fresh fruit there. The waiter & waitress were nice. I gonna be back.

I've never been to a restaurant where they tell you how much you have to tip. Gave a good tip, then the waitress came back to tell me that it wasn't right, needed to put more. Have more than 12% of the amount of the ticket, and this was a buffet at that. Horrible experience.

The food wasn't good. I went at dinner time and the seafood was bland. It's good for when you're broke but outside of that, I would not recommend.

If you respect your self don't go here food is horrible place is nasty dirty, and barely any selection. Go somewhere else save your money.

This is a pretty tough review, because everything will kind of it is, but it isn't Not a particularly glamorous restaurant, but clean. Service is somewhat indifferent, but effective. Some food items are good, some aren't. So let me begin, on the good side, the peel and eat shrimp were large, and cold. They were pretty good, only if there's just a bit of horseradish in the dipping sauce. The salt and pepper shrimp were also large, and very tasty. The only downside was that they were in the steam tray for perhaps a little too long. The Cajun seafood, the black bean clams, and the shrimp and veggies were all good. The black bean clams were probably in the very good category. The pepper steak was OK but past it's throwaway time as was the stirfried chicken. The fried chicken was crispy and good but the fried rice, lo mein, Singapore noodles, generals chicken were all not very good. lots of MSG in the preparation as my allergies let me know. I believe the dinner buffet was 1495 and worth it if you focus on the few good things. Don't know if I'll be back again, but don't regret the trip.

Food is ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING. And in the middle of my groups eating, an employee came to my table and stared at us with no words. And when I went to go wash my hands in the bathroom, the soap dispenser was filled with chopped up pieces of soap bars mixed with water. And when we were done eating and ready for the check, they put a 5 dollar tip without us knowing. And lastly, the place was very worn down, it had ants crawling around the walls and centipedes on the floor, just disgusting. I wish I couldve never experience this

Haven't been here in many years. Food is warm/hot and refreshed frequently. Their fried shrimp was really good compared to other places. Beef broccoli and chicken with broccoli w also tasty. There is also a semi seafood boil (mussels, shrimp and crawfish). I tried it this time around and it wasn't my thing. It needs some more spicier sauce!! I was hoping they still had the raw bar.sushi but none so that was a little disappointing but for $15.95 for dinner don't so bad. On par with some other places but just not as many options as others.

Dry no flavor food , you can smell the bacteria from the carpet flowing through the air. Bad service.

Inexpensive, and worth the price, but no more. Standard array of dishes, mostly passable, but nothing great. But if you want quantity over quality, this is your place. Like a Chinese Old Country Buffet.

There is a lot of hate for this place on Yelp, but it is a perfectly adequate Chinese buffet. And it's a GREAT value! Only $11 for the dinner buffet. I liked the roasted chicken and the teriyaki chicken. And the pizza is surprisingly good. This is a large space so it'd be great for a group event. Very clean. It's a shame that the soft serve ice cream was out of order, but at least they had Jell-O. I do wish there were more veggies. If you have realistic expectations, you will be very pleased. But don't expect a Gourmet meal. I'd be back for the value.

I'm rating Tin Tin Buffet as 3 stars and would recommend it for what it is: This is very cheap Chinese-American buffet with your run of the mill staples like lo-mein, chicken & broccoli, general Gaus/sesame chicken, chicken fingers, etc... I would characterize their selection as just adequate. They have most of the core dishes you'd see in most Chinese-American buffets, but no more. As a matter of fact they have a whole serving island in the back empty. One of their serving islands is a salad bar, but I don't think I've ever seen anyone actually help themselves to any of those items. They have a dessert section with mostly some kind of plain looking cracker and some unappetizing fruits. You can tell that they've probably cut corners in the operations but that's reflected in their price. I've found myself coming to Tin Tin Buffet when I want to stuff my face with mediocre Chinese-American food on a cheap dime (usually after hitting the gym). Prices are very cheap. Service is quick and efficient. And the food is mediocre - it's not disappointing but you're not going to be impressed either. So to come full circle, I'd recommend Tin Tin Buffet for exactly what it is: a cheap Chinese-American buffet on a dime.

Solid no frills does the job etc. I come here hung over for the variety and price its a good deal i only wish they would hqve different plates more often.

Just no. Absolutely no reason to go here unless you haven't a car. It is not the same place it was 10 years ago-not even close

Beware.. Extra tips were added on the receipt.. Get a receipt or take a picture before you leave. It is a must!!. Dont get ripoff.. Or pay by cash..

Read reviews and still went. I can agree that during slow times, the food will sit out and get cold as there is no high demand for replacing it. It's filling food for those on a budget. The staff are very friendly, and attentive to plates needing to be cleared and water needing to be refilled. I admit I was disappointed in the selection, being used to take-out with more options and my usual choices. The dumplings are really gyoza; thin skin and pretty lackluster to the thick-breaded dumplings I've come to love. Overall was an ehhh experience. I couldn't recommend them if asked but I can't really badmouth them either. It is what it is. Nothing fancy or amazing but affordable and a decent eating experience.

TOTAL FIVE STARS!! I have been going to this buffet with my family back-to-back for the last ten years and let me tell you this is the best thing that happened to my tastebuds since homemade food! And I love Ma'a cooking--that's saying a lot! Tin Tin Buffet is a lifestyle. Keep the business afloat. You'll always get my support. Ashley Calabasas

I challenge you to find another restaurant with better value in the Boston. Possibly Massachusetts. Potentially New England. Maybe the US? Maybe I went a little too far. The food:value ratio is over 9000. 8.50 for lunch. 11 for dinner. Favorites here are the soups, string beans, salt and pepper shrimp, crab rangoons, fried fish, seafood delight with shrimp, surimi, calamari. Plate with steam rice, topped with an ample portion of seafood delight. Sprinkle with some white pepper and a few fried shrimps. All will be good in the world. The soft serve is a cherry on top if it's working. +1 for childhood nostalgia. My restaurant of choice for my birthdays growing up as a chubby Chinese kid. I mentioned the value right. Take out is a great option for those on the go. If you are coming here expecting a Michelin Star meal, Godspeed amigo. If you are coming here for a comforting and filling meal, you're home.

Reading the reviews of this restaurant and you really question peoples expectations. Buffets are for the company more than the food, in my opinion. With that said, the food is solid. I haven't gone pre-Covid, so I can't speak on how it was. But it is good how it is now.

I really was hoping this place was going to be good but it just wasn't at all, very poor selection not a lot of entrées to choose from and the food did not seem fresh, plus the inside of the place is rather dirty. honestly the worst Chinese food I've had in a very long time very disappointing would not recommend

We have been on the lookout for a go-to Chinese buffet. While this is a buffet and serves Chinese food, it's not our first choice, but for an inexpensive meal, it's fine. Pro - Soft serve ice cream - Cheap food including only 70 cents per years old for kids at lunch - All you can eat - Very large dining area - Lots of parking Cons - Even my five year old didn't enjoy the fried rice. It was kind of bland - Not a huge selection including only 3 or 4 buffet lines. - Chairs and booths have seen better days

Due to mixed (shall I say polarized?) reviews, I had to check this place out. Here is what I've concluded: 1. Value: INCREASED pricing since May 1, 2019. My weekday lunch came out to be slightly over $10 with tip and tax. 2. Food: I love fake Chinese food, but this stuff wasn't like that sweet mall food. I tried probably around 15 things, most things were a miss. If you're eating here, the best things were the orange chicken, fried chicken (like the crispy ones), soup, and orange slices. Stay away from the lo mein, seafood, and most of the other chicken stuffs, jello, cakes, like mostly everything else. It they upped the quality just a little bit, the deal would be worth it. Maybe dinner is better? But I'm not hopeful. 3. Environment: Large space, pretty popular with the elderly and blue collar community here, pretty clean 4. Service: Actually pretty great! OVERALL: Probably would not come back especially with better Asian food in Allston for around the same price. But it's a viable option for families who like to eat a lot, and don't have expectations for Chinese food.

I don't understand why people keep giving bad ratings just based on the looks of the restaurants. You can't expect every single AUTHENTIC restaurants to look fancy. This place is GREAT. The value is amazing and you get so much of delicious food for low price. How often do you find that? Let's be real here, people. I brought my class here and they're 8-10 years old, they were able to find what they would like to eat and was willing to try some new ones because they knew they can just put it away if they didn't like it. Great place for kids to taste different types of food instead of ordering one same plate and that's it. I highly recommend this place. Who cares about the ugly interior design? That's not the important part, the important part is FOOD. You don't pay to look at the interior design, you pay to eat the damn food. and the food were good!

This is EXACTLY the kind of Chinese buffet we were looking for. For 10.45$ at 9pm a night it was a steal. So much food. Good selection. We got there around 9pm and there was still a lot of food and it was all good and warm. It would be cool if drinks were included in the praise but it wasn't. The service was good too. For this area you won't find a buffet like this at this price.

Tin Tin Buffet was an unadulterated success. Great price, solid service, and bountiful selection. The sesame balls could have been better, but I still had 7. Ice cream machine was broken, but the honey-soaked fried wontons made up for it with me (Steve wasn't a fan). Where do they really shine? Their selection. That's right, Tin Tin's wide variety of options ensures there is something for everyone. Don't like rice? Get the scrambled eggs. Don't like the super-fried chicken? Get the pizza. And $8.45 for a lunch buffet? Come on people, let's friggin go-go. Overall, I give it 8.2 (out of 10) Crab Legs.

Awesome place!!! Affordable! Better to eat in tintin thn goin to dunkin donut/seven elevens eating at same price.

Great place to chat & eat with friends & family . The employees were also great . Good food & great price .

Are you debating whether or not to go here? Just don't. 'It can't be that bad' and 'maybe the reviews are wrong' are totally what I said before I went... but wow is this place bad. DO NOT EAT HERE. There was not a single quality dish in the whole buffet. It was laughably bad. Even dishes you can't really mess up (sweet and sour chicken, chicken and broccoli, etc) were bad. 3 of my 4 sweet and sour chicken pieces were just breading, and the chicken and broccoli turned out to be pork(which just tasted bad and wasn't cooked well). I resorted to having buffet pizza, because I at least needed some food in me for lunch, but I didn't even bite in after sinking my teeth in and tasting what can best be described as salty garlic oil water. If you're wondering if it might be better when it's busy, it was packed when I was there, my entire section was full. Somehow the food wasn't even fresh tasting though, room temp wontons and egg rolls, underdone rice, cold chicken. Ambiance was weird, but acceptable. Dirtier than most buffets, but not disgusting. A bunch of older people were there when I was there, which was kinda fun. The staff was not really attentive, but that may have been because it was busy. I wasn't sat, I was just gestured to a section to pick a spot. I ended up having to go to another restaraunt after leaving here because I couldn't conjure an entire edible meal with what was in front of me.

Good price and selection for average Chinese food. Plenty of parking. FYI - no liquor.

Quality has gone down. Less food options. Compared to pre-Covid: choices for hot food has been cut by a third, while the price has gone up 50%. Very disappointed. Most likely will not go back again.

2 to 2.5 stars. Run-of-the-mill American Chinese buffet with a lot of options of greatly varying quality. Much of the food does not have much flavor and needs a bit of salt. Crab rangoons, if you get them crispy, are good. Not Chinese but the pizza, if fresh, is much better than what is usual at a Chinese buffet. Fried rices (2 types) and noodles (lo mein & Singapore curry) have little flavor. Take care with seafood; some seemed fine but others tasted off. As with most buffets, don't expect great quality food. It's cheap, under $10 for lunch and $11 for dinner. Add $1 for a drink. Wait staff is not very attentive with clearing dishes or refilling drinks, so prepare to do the latter yourself.

Have fresh vegetables, shrimp, salmon, variety of chicken, main rice dishes, soup, deserts. Good place to go after a long day.

Even thought that place is not the best one, I do love the way they make chicken, and steamy shrimps are pretty testy and gorgeous!!! Hone dews are usually sweet, the bad thing, taxi drivers like to be digested here, do smell of their naked bodies are in the air.

Before covid my husband and I would run many errands in Brighton/Boston, any time we wanted good Chinese food we came to TinTin. When they had to close last year because of the pandemic I was craving their food! Ever since they reopened it has been better than ever! The crab rangoon and chicken teriyaki are my favorite. My husband loves their fried rice and spring rolls! So happy they are back open and very covid safe!

Most buffetts are designed to fill overly ambitious stomachs and cash registers. To this, decent prices are paired with bland fried food. This is what you get here. There is variety of heavily sauced items (chicken) and heavily fried food (chicken, shrimp pork) and an assortment of carbs. The fruit and salad offerings are limited. The desert offerings are well,inedible. Cost isn't bad but still not worth it unless you are starving.

How can this place get all these good review saying good food? I ate here with my wife and all I can say is...... The food isn't even good. Tried all 3 soup and it's just water with a little seasoning. The crab Rangoon is just cheap cream cheese. This is on my #1 list, Not for best food but the worst buffet food in MA. The price here is cheap but if you travel a bit and go maybe flaming grill, They offer better food and more selection for only $3 more. My wife is feeling sick from the food she ate her and I'm in the bathroom getting rid of their food.

Tin Tin is one of my favorite restaurants in Boston. I go once a week usually. This place is no frills but incredible value. Weekday lunch is $8.95 I believe. Dinner is around $11-12. You can get take out by-the-pound as well which is great value. Yes, the interior is a little dated and they play country music, but in a city rapidly becoming unaffordable, the sheer value of Tin Tin is unmatched. The food isn't but it's pretty good. I get crab Rangoon, General chx, spicy pepper chicken, roast pork, green beans, pizza, noodles or fried rice. They have around 20+ dishes at anytime. Thanks Tin Tin

This place is nothing nice. I read all the reviews online but still my friend who would been coming to this place for years convince me to go. It was nothing nice. When I came to the food, the staff, bathrooms, the ambience...it was one big mess. The bathrooms remind me of those that are at a T station. If anyone has ever been to a T station bathroom you'll know what I'm talking about. You avoid those bathrooms like the plague. The staff are pretty forgettable because that's exactly how they treat you. We had a waitress literally come up to our table take our soy sauce and condiments and put it on someone else's table, as we are using them! And forget about refills on the water. We were there for over an hour and not once got refills on water which we asked for numerous of times. When it comes to the food, that's one thing that's not forgettable. But not in a good way, because it stays in your stomach for the rest of the night. Either it was too much breading, way under cooked, soggy, or incredibly greasy the food here. I tried almost everything because I was super hungry, except the fish. Not one thing stood out as good. This place is so cheap but nothing nice.

They have good food but they don't have that much variety of foods, theirs more pork then greens/veggies or other meat and no sushi. Food choice wise they lack in variety and have limited choices of food

This is a restaurant where you can get full with a good price but there isn't any surprise for you. There are many selections. Most of the food taste not bad. The creamy corn soup is very nice. The fruits are not very fresh though. The service is good. The place is big and you don't have to wait even at lunch time. The price is pretty low.

Great food,all you can eat,nice people,$11 come on,try it. Ive been there 6 times, take all my smart friends.