Golden Corral All You Can Eat Butterfly Shrimp & Chicken Tenders

[Alpha8472]

How are buffets doing these days? It has been a long time since I've visited one of these. Are the prices too high to be worth it?

https://www.brandeating.com/2024/02/gol ... nders.html

[storewanderer]

Casino buffets are few and far between and doubled in price since 2020.

I thought Golden Corral would always have shrimp and chicken strips. I wonder what exactly they sell normally. I have never been to one.

[Super S]

About a year or two before COVID hit, a Golden Corral opened in Vancouver, WA. It is still open, but I have never been to that location. I have been wondering if they are a traditional buffet still, or if they dish out the food you want like a cafeteria, or if they bring you refills on items like they do with Endless shrimp at Red Lobster.

Washington is a state where most buffets in general have disappeared. I can't think of any mainstream buffet near me, although I do know of an Asian Buffet of some sort moving in to the old Izzy's Pizza near me (a buffet chain which no longer exists) I don't like Asian food though...

[ClownLoach]

Apparently Soupplantation/Sweet Tomatoes is legitimately reopening, starting in Tucson in March. I hope they are successful and can quickly reopen other locations that haven't already been converted to other uses. I think that is the key to successful reopening as it will be minimal startup cost, fix the equipment remaining, paint and clean then open the doors. Reopening building from scratch would be costly. The only reason they closed down was debt, they were effectively a "paycheck to paycheck" type company barely holding on and being closed down just over a week was enough to bankrupt the company. If the debt wasn't there I'm sure they'd still be here. Damned private equity vultures.

A new concept is starting up in Rancho Cucamonga that is a Soupplantation knock off called SoupNFresh and it's also opening soon.

Neither are related to the unauthorized trademark troll that tried to reopen in San Diego last year.

My wife and some friends ate at Golden Corral last week and said it's regular buffet service.

The Vegas buffets still haven't all reopened full hours, which is odd. For example Bellagio which is one of the formerly top rated is only open for breakfast and lunch. Makes no sense. Caesars Palace Bacchanal Buffet is open for dinner. They can't raise the price high enough to reduce the line to less than a 3 hour wait without a reservation. $75 a person on the weekend. It is jam packed, it is regular buffet service although most dishes are plated tapas style, and it was absolutely delicious when I had it last month with the family. There wasn't a dish I didn't love. They keep that buffet line sparkling clean and fresh. Many entrees that are of the same quality as a good sit down restaurant. Prime rib was outstanding.

Random Asian seafood buffets still seem plentiful. My wife found one near us and we've eaten there twice in the last couple of months. Jam packed with people, clean, and less than $20. Food turns over fast so it is fresh and decent quality, a tad over say a Panda Express type outfit plus some more expensive seafood she liked along with a very high quality AYCE sushi counter that she said was totally legitimate and fresh. (I don't eat seafood)

[storewanderer]

The Mandalay Bay buffet made some changes since COVID. Price is still low-ish there by edge of strip standards (better with a buy 1 get 1 free, at lunch). Drinks became self serve and they don't even have brewed iced tea (just fountain one). I think even the coffee may have been from a concentrate, I don't quite recall. You also go in with a self checkout which seemed to have been expanded from before (they used to have more). I think since I had a coupon I had to go to the register or thought I did.

I haven't noticed any Asian buffets close and many of them did to go/by the pound the entire COVID.

The reopening in AZ is interesting, how many units do they plan to reopen? Hopefully they can staff it and food cost doesn't kill them. From some people I know involved in fast food I heard Tucson was one of the better markets for staffing throughout this whole COVID thing, as in locations there didn't have the staffing problems that Phoenix area had (and nothing even close to the staffing mess in Reno that is slowly getting better).

[Brian Lutz]

In Washington buffets seemed to be living on borrowed time before COVID, and pretty much all folded quickly afterward. By now I think all the tribal casinos in the area that had buffets before 2020 have eliminated them and repurposed the spaces (shortly after COVID Washington legalized sports betting in tribal casinos, so several of the former buffet spaces got repurposed into sports books during 2021 and 2022.) One casino we would visit occasionally (Angel of the Winds on the Stillaguamish reservation) brought in a local Mexican restaurant as a "temporary" placeholder to fill the buffet space, but nearly four years later they're still there and apparently not going anywhere. I think a portion of that buffet space has also been repurposed into the casino's sports book.

My wife and I went to a Golden Corral here in Greensboro back in August. Although I've never been to a Golden Corral before this it seemed to be operating normally. They do seem to have some "premium" items on the menu there like steak (decent for a buffet, otherwise pretty average) that you might not have found at a place like Old Country Buffet, but for the most part the menu was about what you'd expect, and it was rather pricey for what you get. One thing a lot of the buffets have done is to start charging for drinks, and those can get expensive. There's also a Cici's Pizza here in town which seems to do a decent business (although they also do a fair bit of takeout business in addition to buffet) and generally has decent pizza for a buffet. Lately they've been frequently running specials through social media with coupons for a $4.99 buffet on Mondays and Tuesdays, and that seems to bring plenty of people in.

One of the better buffet operators I've seen is Chuck-a-Rama, which is found in various locations across the Wasatch Front in Utah. They seem not to have as much on the menu as some of the other current and former buffets I've been to, but most of it seems to be pretty well done, and they always seem busy when we go (in particular, the one in Murray near Fashion Place has been so busy we've passed on it a couple of times when we tried to go.)

Also, the former Sweet Tomatoes location in Sandy UT reopened under a different name last year (Dollie's Soup and Salad) and as far as I can tell it is basically a Sweet Tomatoes in all but name. It's quite expensive for soup and salad (dinner pricing is nearly $18 per person plus tax) but every time I drove by the place the parking lot seemed to be full, and the one time we visited while we were temporarily living there it was pretty busy during lunch on a Friday.

[SamSpade]

Off Topic

In Washington buffets seemed to be living on borrowed time before COVID, and pretty much all folded quickly afterward. By now I think all the tribal casinos in the area that had buffets before 2020 have eliminated them and repurposed the spaces (shortly after COVID Washington legalized sports betting in tribal casinos, so several of the former buffet spaces got repurposed into sports books during 2021 and 2022.) One casino we would visit occasionally (Angel of the Winds on the Stillaguamish reservation) brought in a local Mexican restaurant as a "temporary" placeholder to fill the buffet space, but nearly four years later they're still there and apparently not going anywhere. I think a portion of that buffet space has also been repurposed into the casino's sports book.

Snoqualmie still has a buffet (The Falls) and the quality is quite delicious. I would compare it to "The Palms" in Las Vegas, but a step below the Bacchanal at Caesars (now $88/pp +tax + grat) or the Wicked Spoon at Cosmopolitan (brunch/lunch only).

Last time I was in Tacoma, I tried the buffet at the Fife location of the Emerald Queen Casino. It was very much average but the staff were better at their job and friendlier than most full-service restaurants. Their other location looks like it is set up for a buffet in their recent expansion, but at this time is operating as a table-service restaurant.

In Oregon, there are a few "Asian focused" buffets in the Portland, Ore. area and one more soon to open in Beaverton. The one in Vancouver, Wash. is probably the best quality. There is one casino buffet at Chinook Winds in Lincoln City, Ore. but it comes with terrible online ratings.

One of the better buffet operators I've seen is Chuck-a-Rama, which is found in various locations across the Wasatch Front in Utah. They seem not to have as much on the menu as some of the other current and former buffets I've been to, but most of it seems to be pretty well done, and they always seem busy when we go (in particular, the one in Murray near Fashion Place has been so busy we've passed on it a couple of times when we tried to go.)

Also, the former Sweet Tomatoes location in Sandy UT reopened under a different name last year (Dollie's Soup and Salad) and as far as I can tell it is basically a Sweet Tomatoes in all but name. It's quite expensive for soup and salad (dinner pricing is nearly $18 per person plus tax) but every time I drove by the place the parking lot seemed to be full, and the one time we visited while we were temporarily living there it was pretty busy during lunch on a Friday.

When I lived in Utah I always liked Chuck-a-Rama, despite us sometimes making somewhat unpleasant plays on the name. (even easier with North's Chuck Wagon, especially for the quality decline). That Sandy S.T. was tasty, I'm glad to see the building reopened as a similar concept. Here, one remains empty (as far as I know) as it is in a somewhat odd location but visible from the interstate, the other is being repurposed into other retail.

[Brian Lutz]

I'm pretty sure everyone in Utah has some vomitous variation on the Chuck-a-Rama name (In our family it was "Upchuck-a-Rama", my wife called it the "Barf-o-Rama") but the same is probably true for a lot of buffet places.

[Super S]

One thing a lot of the buffets have done is to start charging for drinks, and those can get expensive.

Old Country Buffet/Hometown Buffet was doing this at the end also. I always wondered what happens if you do NOT purchase a beverage...are you allowed to at least get water? Do they give you a different cup? Or do they really watch this since at most buffets you pay first and then serve yourself from glasses & cups nearby.

This additional charge screams "RIP-OFF" to me, and should be included in the cost of the buffet.

[Brian Lutz]

At the Golden Corral we went to drinks are not self serve, you have to get them from your server. Cici's pizza has a soda machine, but if you want water you have to buy bottled water (although it's not overly expensive, I think something like 50 cents per bottle.)