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It’s 1995 and life is pretty sweet. You’ve just
gone ‘back-to-school’ shopping at the mall,
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stopped at the arcade to play
a few rounds of Street Fighter,
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and now… you’re going for dinner with your parents
and your little brother at your favorite place.
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So what’s on the menu? How about…everything?
You’re going to the town’s big buffet! For
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one low price, your entire family can eat
as much as they want from everything on
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offer. You can’t wait to fill your plate up
with fried chicken, rice pilaf, baked ham,
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and more. And for dessert, you’re going
to build your own ice cream sundae!
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Sounds like a little slice of heaven, right?
But why does it seem like buffets are rarer
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and rarer these days - and why have some of
the most popular buffets gone out of business
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entirely? Find out on this episode of The
Infographics Show - “Why Buffets Failed”.
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The buffet isn’t a new innovation - centuries ago,
kings were bellying up to massive smorgasbords of
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everything the castle cook could serve up. But it
is fairly new for the average joe to be able to
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just walk in, pony up a reasonable fee and have
access to an all-you-can-eat feast. The first
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restaurant buffets opened in the 20th century,
and were going strong into the new millennium.
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For a while, it seemed like every town had its
own Chinese and Indian buffets. The massive
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chains like Golden Corral, Hometown Buffet,
and Cici’s Pizza were opening new locations
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all the time. No matter where you turned, there
was a bottomless pit of food waiting for you.
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But slowly but surely, the tide started to change.
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Many of the biggest chains have seen huge declines
in the number of restaurants available. Some have
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gone from expanding rapidly to shrinking just as
fast. Others have gone extinct entirely. While
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buffets aren’t a thing of the past by any means,
it’s getting harder and harder to find them.
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Many restaurants that used to offer
all-you-can-eat options have shifted
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to a standard menu. And there are many possible
culprits - with the most obvious being, well,
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it’s expensive to run a buffet. They run on
excess, and that means that as food costs rise,
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the business can become unsustainable.
Since the 2000s, the United States has
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weathered one massive recession, and
worries are building for another.
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But a bigger factor might be
found in what people want to eat.
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It’s not a coincidence that the buffet restaurant
started gaining popularity in the back half of
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the 20th century - which was considered a time of
abundance. But eventually, people started looking
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at what all that abundance was doing to their
waistlines. American tastes started to shift,
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companies like Waist Watchers and Lean
Cuisine built empires around healthier food,
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and people started paying attention to the calorie
content of their favorite foods. And at a buffet,
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not thinking about nutrition is part of the
appeal. So people who were watching their
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weight started considering their options - and
buffet chains felt the pinch in their pocketbooks.
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And so many of the most famous
chains saw their fortunes change.
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One of the models that saw a lot of success in the
1980s was restaurants offering “Bonus buffets”.
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These were full-service restaurants that
also offered a buffet for free or for a
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small add-on to your meal. Sizzler, Ponderosa
Steakhouse, and its sister restaurant Bonanza
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Steakhouse all specialized in this model.
While the buffets weren’t the most elaborate,
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you could usually get pasta, tacos,
chicken wings, and a huge salad bar,
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plus dessert - a great add-on to a meal of
steak or fried fish. Sizzler at its peak had
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over 270 restaurants throughout the US, but
now it’s primarily concentrated on the West
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Coast where it has 74 restaurants open. Ponderosa
and Bonanza have fared worse - while the chain
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originally had over 150 locations, today it has
only 15, and closures have continued to ramp up.
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But the biggest factor is that many people
unfortunately just find buffets… gross.
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Most buffet restaurants, especially the chains,
have passed health inspections regularly and are
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considered reputable places to eat. But there’s
an added element that you won’t find at the
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Olive Garden - you’re at the mercy of your fellow
guests. Everyone is going up to the same buffet,
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which means that you’re sharing your food with
the most ill-mannered guests out there. Maybe
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someone has a cold and is adding a side of
snot to the mac and cheese - you don’t know
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if that sneeze guard is going to hold up. Or
maybe someone isn’t sure if they’ll like the
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chocolate putting - and just sticks their
finger in to give it a taste. And then,
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of course, there’s the kids - who may
just decide it’s time for a food fight.
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Um, yummy? And some foods just
don’t do all that well at a buffet.
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It was the best day of the week in
elementary school - pizza day! Sure,
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that square loaf of french bread topped with
melted industrial cheese and mass-produced
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tomato sauce might have been the furthest thing
from authentic - but it hit the spot after long
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division. And the closest thing to that experience
today might just be the pizza buffet. Two chains,
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CiCi’s Pizza and Pizza Ranch, dominate this
sector - offering well over a dozen varieties
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of pizza sitting under heat lamps. There’s
also a small menu of chicken, pasta, salad,
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and dessert to supplement it. These are often
the cheapest all-you-can-eat buffets - because
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you’re mostly eating pizza dough and
they assume it’ll fill you up quickly.
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What could be wrong with that? Blame Little Italy.
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Pizza is one of the worst foods to put
under a heat lamp for a length of time.
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The cheese will get leathery and the pizza dough
will get hard. Most of the toppings will crisp up
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and taste more like pepperoni jerky. And so,
while it’s still a popular low-cost choice,
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the chains have been heavily hurt by the
increase in artisanal pizzerias around the
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country. For many people, once they go
brick oven, they won’t go back. Cici’s,
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which had more than 500 restaurants at its peak,
filed for bankruptcy in 2021, although it still
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has 234 locations open today. Pizza Ranch never
got as big, but currently has 217 locations and
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continues to have a loyal following. Guess some
people remember that french bread pizza fondly.
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But no chain has had the PR struggles
of the self-proclaimed king of buffets.
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Golden Corral proudly declares itself the
“Endless Buffet”, and the massive pay-one-price
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country-style restaurant is still the first
name in buffets. It’s located in 43 US states
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currently and has 373 locations - although this
is down from over 500 at its peak. The majority
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are franchisees, and the company frequently
tries to attract new visitors with seasonal
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additions to the buffets. It has all the standard
buffet classics, like fried chicken and pot roast,
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but it also offers a grill stand where you can get
cooked-to-order steaks and burgers. And it gets
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high marks for its desserts, especially its banana
bread - which is also sold in loaves to take home.
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But it’s often in the news for the wrong reason.
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Golden Corral seems to attract bad PR, with
frequent articles about just how crazy the place
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can get. There are constant rumors about people
being kicked out of the place for eating too much.
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Then there’s the restaurant’s signature chocolate
fountain - designed for dipping marshmallows and
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strawberries - which has reportedly been the
sight of some seriously unsavory behavior,
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like children dipping their fingers or tongues
in the fountain. These are usually viral stories,
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but no doubt played a role in the disappearance
of the fountain from most locations.
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But one incident was all too
real - and captured on video.
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The Golden Corral in Bensalem, Pennsylvania
was packed on a Friday night when suddenly,
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the always lively buffet became a little too
lively. There were people brawling on the floor,
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and eventually more than 40 people
were involved. Police were called,
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and it turned out that it stemmed from
an argument over the buffet running out
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of steak. Steak is the high money item, man!
But it seems that the buffet was never out of
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steak - one person was just upset that someone
else cut in line, things got out of control,
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and chaos ensued. The footage went viral, and
many people were no doubt wondering if they
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wanted to risk a brawl for their next dinner
out. This would never happen at Bonefish Grill!
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The decline in buffets was already happening - but
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the all-you-can-eat world was
about to be hit by a meteor.
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In early 2020, the buffet market was in
shrink mode, with many chains closing
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locations or filing for bankruptcy. But no
one in the industry was prepared for Covid-19,
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the mysterious and deadly virus that upended the
world and took all the pre-existing concerns and
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magnified them. Suddenly, food safety was a much
bigger concern - and crowding up to the buffet
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with dozens of other random people sounded
terrifying to many people. All restaurants
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were closed for a certain time across the country,
ranging from a month to the better part of a year,
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and when they were allowed to reopen,
many had to abide by strict distancing
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and capacity rules. This was difficult for most
restaurants - and near-impossible for buffets.
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It spelled an immediate
end for some buffet chains.
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Ovation Brands might sound like a generic name,
but it was the subsidiary that operated several
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of the most famous buffet chains
in the country - Ryan’s, Furr’s,
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Hometown Buffet, and Old Country Buffet.
They had similar offerings to Golden Corral,
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but were in steep decline for years. By 2020,
they were down to only a handful of locations of
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each brand. After the pandemic hit, they filed for
bankruptcy for the latest and last time, closing
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down the few remaining locations and leaving many
a millennial nostalgic for the carving station.
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And in the case of one chain, it didn’t
even wait for the bad financial news.
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Souplantation, also known as Sweet Tomatoes,
wasn’t your ordinary buffet chain. Based in
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California, it was known for a massive
salad bar and a huge soup selection,
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making it a perfect choice for lighter
appetites. But in 2020, as the pandemic hit,
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the company knew they were in trouble. Not only
did the chain mostly appeal to health-conscious
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West Coast customers - the exact kind of
crowd likely to be extra cautious during
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a pandemic - but they were also based in a state
that took COVID regulations seriously. So by May
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2020, they made the decision to close all their
locations permanently and liquidate the company.
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The company isn’t 100% dead, because it
was bought at auction and the new owners
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have opened one new restaurant in Tuscon
- but it’s about as close as it can get.
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So is it all bad news for buffet lovers?
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In a word, no. Get ready to salivate, because fans
of all-you-can-eat feasts do have some things to
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celebrate. While all the big buffets have been
struggling for years, many smaller chains and
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individual restaurants have been pivoting to new
offerings to cater to existing and new customers.
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They range from restaurants trying new
serving techniques to eliminate the
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worries about sanitation, to restaurants offering
cuisines you can’t find so easily anywhere else.
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And for some, the best approach
seems to be to go as big as possible.
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One area that seems to be thriving is the brunch
buffet. These are usually among the highest-end
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buffets, with price tags possibly reaching above
$100 for the most elite locations. You won’t be
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having to contend with hyper kids at these. These
brunch spots - usually offered only on Sundays at
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hotel restaurants or cozy local venues - aren’t
just about pancakes and eggs. Some go all out with
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high-end dishes like lobster and caviar, and
often offer bottomless brunch cocktails. And
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if you’re worried this will lead to brawls, the
cocktails are usually mimosas, as mild as it gets.
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But sometimes, a few elite items is all it takes.
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A small but popular buffet chain that’s been
thriving recently is Captain George’s Seafood
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Restaurant. Located in Virginia, North Carolina,
and South Carolina, primarily in tourist areas,
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this bottomless restaurant specializes
in the bounty of the sea . It serves up
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a huge array of fish, clams, shrimp,
scallops, and the signature item,
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all-you-can-eat crab legs - a rarity these days.
The chain only has four locations right now,
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but has a loyal fanbase. Its price tag of
$50 for an adult buffet makes it more of a
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special-occasion destination - exactly as
the nautical-themed restaurant wants it.
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And of course, if we’re
talking about high-end buffets,
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we have to look at the king of the high rollers.
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Several casinos in Vegas and Atlantic City
closed their buffets during the pandemic and
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some chose to replace them with food halls. That
move may have actually worked out well for the
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remaining ones. They were able to pivot to making
their buffets truly elite dining experiences.
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Locations like the Bacchanal Buffet and the
Wicked Spoon in Vegas and the Borgata Buffet
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in Atlantic City have gained a good reputation
for unique offerings - with stations at these
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buffets offering dim sum, fresh-made pasta,
and roast meats. The price tag has gone up too,
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of course - but that just makes it a perfect
place to visit after a win at the slots.
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And to find the most buffets
in a concentrated area,
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you might just want to visit
the happiest place on Earth.
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Disney World brings millions of visitors to
its parks each year, and they work up quite the
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appetite. That makes it the perfect place for
all-you-can-eat buffets. All four of the main
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Disney World parks offer buffets, ranging from
all-American locations like The Crystal Palace
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and Hollywood & Vine, to more unique German
or African buffets at Biergarten and Tusker
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House. The hotels also have their own buffets,
including the seafood-focused Cape May Cafe.
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Disney has also pioneered their own style of
all-you-can-eat dining, focused on refillable
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skillets of grilled meats and sides brought to
your table. Want more of a specific item? Just
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ask and it’s brought to your table. This style of
pseudo-buffet is available in barbecue, Caribbean,
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Scandinavian - and the most popular option
at the parks, the Polynesian feast at ‘Ohana.
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And maybe the appeal of those
restaurants is the best of both worlds.
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In recent years, an old-fashioned style
of all-you-can-eat dining is making a
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comeback - family-style, where everything is
bottomless but you don’t have to get up from
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your table. One of the most popular restaurants
of this style, Mama’s Farmhouse, is found in the
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tourist haven of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. There,
a country-style feast is brought to your table for
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breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Each day for dinner,
three meats are offered, along with your choice of
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four sides and a dessert. This format has become
such a fan favorite that a similar restaurant,
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Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen - owned by the
controversial TV chef - is able to coexist with
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it in the same town. Paula’s looking to expand,
too - her restaurant is a fast-growing chain.
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And another chain is gaining momentum
because it’s offering something hard to find.
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One of the hottest trends of the 90s was Mongolian
Barbecue, where you assembled a stir-fry raw
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and watched it cook in front of you on a massive
grill. The trend declined, both due to sanitation
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worries and due to people realizing that, well,
this wasn’t really Mongolian food at all. But
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it’s making a comeback, with HuHot Mongolian
Grill having over 52 locations primarily based
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in the midwest. This reinvention of the unique
cuisine sets itself apart by being all-you-can-eat
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and offering a much larger array of proteins -
including marinated meats - to add to your bowl.
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And sometimes, the key is knowing when
to be satisfied with what you have.
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Chuck-a-Rama only has 11 locations in
Utah and Idaho, but the small chain has
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a dedicated fanbase. Catering to the local Mormon
population, the chain specializes in a humble,
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affordable buffet featuring carved meats,
fried chicken and daily specials including
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barbecue and Mexican food. It also offers unique
sides like the cheesy potato casserole commonly
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known as “Funeral Potatoes”. Despite being
a success, the company doesn’t seem eager
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to expand outside its little corner -
because it knows who its audience is,
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and what they want. Would funeral potatoes play in
Poughkeepsie? Chuck-a-Rama doesn’t need to know!
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But the biggest surprise hit in buffets
might be in the most unlikely of locations.
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When people think about the Amish, they probably
think about a horse and buggy. They don’t think
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about the most indulgent buffet on the east
coast - but that’s exactly what they’ll find
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in the tiny town of East Earl, Pennsylvania.
Shady Maple Smorgasbord is actually the largest
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buffet in the United States, and the massive
barn-like restaurant is open three meals a day,
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six days a week. It specializes in all-American
classics combined with traditional Amish dishes.
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Breakfast features scrapple and corn meal
cakes along with eggs and bacon. Dinner
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offers up buttered noodles and Harvard beets
along with some of the best fried chicken in
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the state. Along with the all-you-can-eat buffet,
the restaurant features a huge grill where you can
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have cooked-to-order specialties like pancakes,
omelettes, burgers, and steaks. The place has
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gone viral for its size and tasty food - as
well as the fact that it’s truly all-inclusive,
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with drink, tax, and tip being paid up
front and prices being highly reasonable.
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And maybe the surest sign
of buffets trying to make
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a comeback - they’re showing up in hotels again.
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The free breakfast buffet used to be a staple of
mid-range chain hotels, but most replaced them
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with either grab-and-go options or…nothing
during the pandemic. But that’s changing,
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as the popular Homewood Suites and Embassy Suites
chains by Hilton have brought back their morning
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spreads. The buffets are usually pretty modest,
offering eggs, pancakes or waffles, a breakfast
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potato, and a breakfast meat along with cold
options. Embassy Suites adds a cooked-to-order
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omelet station. It’s not a huge spread - but
it’s free and hits the spot in the morning.
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Which raises the question - is
a new age of buffets beginning?
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While these individual locations and small chains
may be looking up, problems are likely to continue
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for the bigger chains. Many are either dead or
dying, and the surviving chains are struggling
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with how to recalibrate to different tastes and
dining customs. Maybe the most ominous sign for
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Golden Corral yet? They’re starting to pivot to a
non-buffet model! A spin-off restaurant, initially
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called Homeward Kitchen but now rebranded as
Golden Corral Favorites, offers a fast-casual
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take on the popular buffet chain - you order an
entree and sides in a bowl format, perfect for a
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quick lunch like Chipotle. The concept only has
one location now, but is hoping to expand soon.
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So for those who can’t get enough of the
all-you-can-eat buffet, we recommend going now
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- you’ll either get it while you’re still here, or
you’ll help keep them in business. And remember,
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if they kick you out of the all-you-can-eat
seafood buffet, you can always go fishing.
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Do you think buffets are gone for good,
or will they make a comeback? What’s your
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take - a convenient feast or hygiene
nightmare? Drop your thoughts below.
00:17:20
Want to know more about the demise
of an American dining icon? Check
00:17:24
out “The Real Reason Why McDonald’s Is
Failing”, or watch this video instead!
