
When did America’s heart turn cold on buffet chains? - JumpCrisscross
https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/4/3/18290479/buffet-chain-restaurants-decline-bankrupt-golden-corral
======
thrower123
I constantly see ads for Golden Corral. It's one of those baffling
advertisement campaigns that I just cannot understand; there are just two in
all of New England, and they are hundreds of miles from where I am. Restaurant
chains seem to do this a lot - while there are many chains that are present in
this area, there are almost no ads run for them, rather the airwaves are
saturated with Arbys and Carl's Jr and Popeye's and Sonic ads, none of which
have any more than the most token presence in one or two random mall food
courts or interstate rest stops, if there is any presence at all.

------
duxup
Like the author I always wanted to go to a buffet as a kid as that was my one
chance to decide what I would eat rather than mom and dad deciding.

But as I got older I never went back. I always thought of buffets as a sort of
weird corner of the restaurant industry for families with kids and indecisive
adults.

------
whenchamenia
Buffets are associated with:

1\. Low Income

2\. Old People

3\. Families with unruly kids

4\. Fights over the Lobster (or insert whatever the premium included course
is, steak, crab, etc)

5\. No or almost non existant service.

6\. Usually dirty because of 1-5.

While there will always be some good korean buffets in the cities, I say good
riddance to the Golden Corrals of this world. I suspect it is quite a wasteful
way to prepare already mediocre food as well. Nobody wants to be seen eating
at a buffet. I hope we can bring back the Basque style of communal eating to
fit the middle ground.

