The Boom, Bust, and Boom of Buffets

I'm bulking right now, and there's nothing better for my wallet and taste buds than an all-you-can-eat buffet. Endless hot food, a vast variety of options for my (occasionally) indecisive mind, and the satisfaction of getting the most bang for my buck. But I've been having a hard time finding buffets, especially compared to their heyday in the 1990s and early 2000s. Why are buffets declining in this post-COVID world? Do they have a promising future?

Success in the early 2000s

The iconic all-you-can-eat pizza at Cici's Pizza. Their desserts hit home

Golden Corral, Cici's Pizza, Old Country Buffet, HomeTown Buffet, Ryan's Restaurants. If you grew up in the 2000s, these buffet chains probably bring back the nostalgic childhood memories. Times were so simple: good food at good prices. Buffet restaurants offered average quality, simple foods that hit the right spots, and customers lined up because it was affordable and offered a good variety. Buffets and customers were both in harmony. Most of us didn't care as deeply about where the food was coming from, the food safety, or the nutritional quality. Buffets fit perfectly with this era of mass commercialization and scale, kind of like our earlier post on [mall food courts]. Buffets Inc. was a successful restaurant operating group that managed a few successful chains: Ryan's Restaurants, Old Country Buffet, and HomeTown Buffet.

The 2010s: the beginning of the end

Even by the late 2000s, the tides started turning against the buffet industry. Buffets Inc. filed for bankruptcy in 2008, again in 2012, and once more in 2016. What happened all of a sudden?

Buffets posed various health and safety risks in the 2010s

• Food poisoning: Food safety and health rose to the spotlight after two diners at an Old Country Buffet got salmonella poisoning in a Nebraska location. Buffets got more media attention and scrutiny for being a breeding ground for food poisoning. Hundreds of customers grabbing food with the same utensils, crowded lines to get food, and food trays sitting out in the open for hours at a time. The inherent food safety risks with buffets became more evident from the incident.
  

• Shift in societal values: The 2010s decade was a broader inflection point in the food and health sector. Customers were becoming more health-conscious after numerous studies and documentaries shed light on the importance of a more balanced, nutritious diet. Going to the gym and living an active style became more accessible than ever with the proliferation of gyms, content creation, and the fitness industry. The rapid growth in cell phones, tablets, and mobile devices equipped customers with access to more information than ever on personalized diets for their specific bodies and life values. The "one-size-fits-all" mass approach that buffets thrived on no longer fit with this growingly health-conscious and physically active consumer base.
  

• Health regulations: We had the chance to speak with a buffet operator in the Atlanta area, and he highlighted the health regulations that restrict the feasibility of buffets. For example, fermented foods have stricter restrictions than others. Additionally, hot foods need to be maintained within a certain "warm" temperature range, while cold foods need to be maintained within their temperature range as well. This can be an expensive and meticulous process for buffet operators to implement and maintain for the span of a few hours.

A post-COVID recovery

Needless to say, the COVID pandemic has brought safety to the spotlight in every sphere of life. Any remaining buffets were struggling during the pandemic to stay open because diners cautiously avoided going in-person. Concurrently, the fast casual markets (i.e., Chipotle, Blaze Pizza) and takeout markets were rapidly growing as restaurants reimagined their store layouts, downsized their physical footprints, and cut their workforce.

Leading the charge for the industry, Golden Corral is growing after a COVID recovery

Now that the pandemic is mostly behind us, it seems that buffets are starting to make a comeback. Buffets are hitting home in an inflationary environment that strains customers more than ever as they make their dining decisions. Golden Corral is leading the charge, poised to open 200-250 more locations in the US in the coming years. Its sales grew by 14% between 2020-2023. While buffets maintain their emphasis on affordability and bang for your buck, their go-to-market strategy has shifted and will need to continue to shift to accommodate a more health-conscious, plant-based, sustainability-focused, and active consumer base.

Spotlight for a promising future: Aachi's Indian Restaurant and Bakery (John's Creek, GA)

An exciting new take on the future of buffets

While I was in Atlanta, GA, I strolled upon this Tamil restaurant called Aachi's Indian Restaurant and Bakery in the metro Atlanta area. My family and I enjoyed a filling lunch together, and I saw signs for what they called a "Parotta Night." I asked the waiters about this.  Every Wednesday, Aachi's hosts a buffet-like dinner where customers can enjoy all-you-can-eat parottas, gravies (kormas), biryani, dessert, and tea. It's not as expansive of an assortment as most buffets that typically showcase 15-20 items, but it's a specially curated combination of foods that spotlights the essence of Tamil cuisine. Customers likely won't feel like they're missing much from this buffet-like night because it features intricate specialty dishes that go against the grain of the mass, commercialized American buffets.

When I went to the Parotta Night early on a Wednesday night, I was surprised to see a decently full venue. Freshly made parottas, aromatic biryani, savory korma, and iconic Tamil finger foods highlighted this select menu of themed items. The buffet hall even had a small stage for kids to play around and dance to Tamil hit songs playing in the background. It felt like a hybrid between eating at a restaurant and being at a community function for a special occasion, like a Diwali night. Safe to say, successful.

Themed buffet-like events like Aachi's Parotta Night could be a glimpse of a more immersive, engaging future for the buffet industry.