History

11 Popular Buffets That Disappeared By Brian Boone Dec. 12, 2025 9:40 am EST

For an individual or family used to cooking their own meals at home, going out to eat is a delightful treat. But while it's lovely to leave the cooking to someone else, a traditional restaurant can feel restricting: You're pretty much relegated to just one entree, a couple of sides, and maybe a dessert. Enter the great all-you-can-eat American buffet restaurant .

For about the price of a meal at a typical fast casual restaurant, at a buffet, one can stack a plate high with all kinds of food — and they can return to the hot stations, salad bar, and dessert area as many times as they'd like, or until they just can't eat another bite. Buffets are cathedrals dedicated to abundance, variety, and

See Full Page