Buffet buster: Golden Corral rounded up

Golden Corral's famous steak serving station.
PHOTO FROM GOLDEN CORRAL WEBSITE

After 15 years the Golden Corral Buffet & Grill restaurant on Route 29 North headed for the big round up in the sky last Sunday, joining Ponderosa as the latest buffet-style feed barn to close shop. Indeed, the familiar sign along the road has already been removed.

The chain is owned by Frisch’s Restaurants, Inc., which also operates Big Boy. Golden Corral was characterized by its all-you-can eat buffet for under $10, a cooking station where steaks were grilled to order, and the hard-working drink servers and plate clearers who probably made very little in tips. It was a favorite among C-ville’s working-class folks.

Sources who had family and friends working at the restaurant say the closure announcement was a surprise for many employees, some of whom had been working there since the restaurant opened. Severance packages were offered, but the sources say they didn’t amount to much.

Apparently, the closure isn’t the result of any problems on the corporate end, but with the lease agreement with building owner Irving Brownfield. Brownfield could not be reached by the time of this post, but he recently told the Daily Progress that the space has already been re-leased; however, he declined to say who was leasing it. Sources suspect that Golden Corral closed because Brownfield simply got a better lease offer from another chain, which they suspect is Denny’s.