10 Times Restaurants Regretted Their 'All You Can Eat' Promos

The food industry has a lot of flaws, but the concept of all-you-can-eat promos has never been one of them. Nothing satiates the most ravenous state quite like stumbling across a deal for endless food. While not all buffets are built equal, a part of our brain (or maybe our stomach) sometimes struggles to comprehend that unlimited mediocre fare isn't always better than eating a higher quality dish à la carte.

From the restaurant's perspective, these deals aren't always a good thing. In fact, in some instances, all-you-can-eat offers have proven outright catastrophic. The reality is that while these promotions can bring in more customers who wouldn't normally eat at the restaurant, the business itself needs to be tactical to still turn a profit. Some customers may end up eating little more than if they'd ordered off the standard menu, but there will always be those who are strategic with their approach to a buffet and dine to their heart's content. Pricing a deal wrong — or making high-value foods unlimited — can have disastrous consequences for a restaurant's profits, with some even citing all-you-can-eat deals as the catalyst for their undoing.

Even those who haven't totally collapsed under the weight of this kind of deal have faced issues in the past. From Red Lobster's calamitous shrimp promotion to Pizza Hut's long-lost buffet, here are some of the restaurants that we're confident harbor some regret over their misguided all-you-can-eat promos.

Priced at just $20 a head, there's a reason why Red Lobster's Endless Shrimp deal seemed too good to be true. Once a limited-time promotion, the offer was made permanent in May 2023. Customers flocked to prove just how many shrimp a person could eat in one sitting, with one TikToker claiming to have devoured a total of 108. Unsurprisingly, this kind of appetite wasn't the most cost-effective thing in the world, with the price increasing to $22 and then $25 to try to regain control of profit margins.

But the damage was already done. Not only did Red Lobster face shrimp shortages, it also axed two breaded shrimp suppliers, which meant that Thai Union was left as the exclusive shrimp provider, driving up costs even higher. In May 2024, Red Lobster filed for bankruptcy, going on to close restaurants en masse as it struggled with over $1 billion of debt and less than $30 million in cash. While Endless Shrimp wasn't the sole cause of Red Lobster's struggles, it certainly didn't help. As per the filing, making Endless Shrimp a permanent deal cost the chain a whopping $11 million.

Red Lobster has since launched an investigation into the role Thai Union played in these losses. As for whether we'll ever again be blessed with unlimited shrimp, we wouldn't count on it. As current CEO Damola Adamolekun told TODAY, "I know how to do math."

When it comes to disastrous deals, Endless Shrimp wasn't Red Lobster's first rodeo. Two decades prior, a similarly misguided promo cost the seafood chain millions. The offer in question was Endless Crab, which offered customers all-you-can-eat snow crab for roughly $22.99.

Costly though that may have seemed in 2003 (when $22.99 was the equivalent of just over $39 today), it turns out that this wasn't enough to justify soaring prices for snow crab. The U.S. was in short supply of snow crab in the early 2000s, causing wholesale prices to peak as high as $4.75 per pound. As per Darden Restaurants — Red Lobster's owner at the time — the restaurant had misjudged just how much crab its customers could eat in one sitting. That was great news for ravenous Red Lobster patrons but not-so-good news for the restaurant itself, with profit margins growing slimmer and slimmer with every serving.

In the words of the then-CEO of Darden Restaurants, Joe Lee, "It wasn't the second helping, it was the third that hurt." Some customers even went back for a fourth (via USA TODAY). This was no minor misjudgment. Darden Restaurants saw a $3.3 million drop in first-quarter profits in 2003, with the crab drama also blamed for eliminating $405.9 million of its stock value in one session. Red Lobster's CEO, Edna Morris, also left the company. Moral of the story? Never underestimate a hungry seafood fan.

The TGI Fridays of today is undeniably a shadow of its former self. Back in the 1960s, the chain was, dare we say it, cool. Over the decades, it's evolved from a bar hosting sociable twenty-somethings to a family-oriented joint, experiencing a decline in sales and closing restaurants along the way. Seven years before it filed for bankruptcy, one of many attempts to reignite interest came in the form of making its Endless Apps promotion a permanent fixture.

"No more 'limited-time only' fine print," TGI Fridays vowed in a press release in 2017 (via Nation's Restaurant News). "Endless Apps are here to stay." Priced at $10 per person, customers could secure unlimited refills on appetizers such as loaded potato skins and chicken wings. While "permanent" means, well, "permanent" in our books, TGI Fridays must have another definition as Endless Apps soon disappeared completely. It's not clear when the deal was scrapped, but by 2018, customers were complaining about price increases and menu limitations. A year later, they noted that Endless Apps had been axed for good.

TGI Fridays has never openly commented on its regret over Endless Apps, but for the chain to quietly ditch a promotion it brought back so loudly and proudly isn't indicative of a rousing success. Interestingly, when Endless Apps first launched, experts had nothing good to say about its prospects. As analyst Aaron Allen told Huffington Post, "It's the signal of a desperate brand."

You're guaranteed a hefty dose of carbohydrates at Olive Garden no matter what you order, but the Never Ending Pasta Bowl takes things to the next level. As the name suggests, the chain's promotion promises all-you-can-eat pasta, with customers given the freedom to design and customize their own dishes. As of 2024, this starts at $13.99 per person, meaning it's more than easy to get your money's worth if you go in with an open mind, empty stomach, and plenty of passion for pasta.

It may be an Olive Garden staple — and the chain may continue to bring it back on a regular basis — but not all of the bigwigs behind the scenes are quite as positive about the deal. Back in 2021, the then-new president and CEO of Olive Garden's parent company, Darden Restaurants, shared his doubts about the Never Ending Pasta Bowl's future. "We don't know if or when we'll bring it back," Ricardo Cardenas said while announcing Darden's quarterly results (via Business Insider). He also confirmed plans to reduce reliance on deals of this kind and acknowledged that there's a "negative impact" to the Never Ending Pasta Bowl.

Considering that the Never Ending Pasta Bowl has popped up periodically in the years since Cardenas' comments, the impact can't be terrible enough to totally scrap the concept. Whether this will ring true forever remains to be seen.

Pasta isn't the only thing available in abundance at Olive Garden. The chain has a long history of serving unlimited breadsticks, which are typically brought out once you've actually ordered your meal (which means that, no, sadly, you can't just sit, chow down on free breadsticks, then bounce). Inspired by the Italian filone — a type of bread similar to the baguette — they're brushed with margarine, served hot, and restocked upon request.

Some have taken issue with this generosity in the past. In 2014, the activist hedge fund group Starboard Value set out to transform Olive Garden's unlimited breadsticks and salad. Part of its 294-slide presentation (yes, 294) to Darden Restaurants claimed that Olive Garden would save a whopping $5 million per year if it altered the concept. The gist of this lengthy argument was that while it's technically Olive Garden policy to only serve one breadstick at a time per customer, plus a bonus one for the table, the training standards had lapsed. Instead of waiting until customers asked for more breadsticks, Starboard Value argued that restaurants were increasing food waste and, in turn, narrowing Darden's profit margins.

As it turns out, this presentation was pretty convincing. After months of back and forth, Starboard Value went on to replace the entire board of directors at Darden Restaurants that same year. Fortunately, unlimited breadsticks survived the handover. Long may they reign.

There was a time when you could find over 1,800 Shoney's restaurants across the U.S. Sadly, those days are long gone, with the iconic red sign adorning less than 60 restaurants at the time of writing. The good news is that Shoney's still boasts its All You Care To Eat Fresh Food Bar — an overflowing buffet featuring everything from seafood to soup — and, in the early hours, its Legendary Breakfast Bar.

This bar has undergone its fair share of changes over the years, but at this point, we're just grateful it's still around. Back in the 1990s, this bar was on shaky ground. Stock prices dropped so low that the value of each share could barely cover a trip to said breakfast bar. Shoney's COO at the time, Robert Langford, claimed that while low prices had succeeded in pulling in more customers, it had, in turn, devalued the bar. "It's worth a lot more than what we charge but we've told the customer it isn't by the way we've priced it," Langford said (via Restaurant Business Online).

Part of Shoney's turnaround plan included weaning itself off the bar business (which, at that point, was responsible for 60% of every dollar spent at the chain) to "become more menu-driven." As for the bar itself, it focused on offering higher quality items at higher quality prices. Clearly, the strategy worked, with the bar still booming to this day.

Pairing a warm, gooey, freshly-baked cookie with generous scoops of ice cream, BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse was clearly thinking with its sweet tooth when it invented the Pizookie. Unfortunately, dessert fiends were also thinking with their sweet tooth when the chain announced a Pizookie subscription service in 2024.

BJ's Pizookie Pass — which allowed customers to claim a free Pizookie every single day from June through October — proved almost too popular. Priced at just $4.99 a month, it did an impressive job at boosting footfall to BJ's 218 locations, causing traffic to hit its best numbers since 2018. However, one thing the company failed to consider was how many people would take full advantage of the scheme and drop by solely to get their Pizookie fix, which triggered a decline in check averages.

While this wasn't the first time BJ's offered the Pizookie Pass, it may very well be the last — at least in its current form. "I would characterize this program as effective, but not efficient," BJ's president and chief concept officer Lyle Tick said in an earnings call (via Restaurant Business Online). "Going forward, this program will need structural re-evaluation if it will continue, and all of our programs will go through a similar filter." The end of a sweet, sweet era.

Wendy's in the 1980s wasn't totally dissimilar to the Wendy's we know and love today — except for the fact that you could get a burger for $1.49, solariums were being added to dining rooms, and some restaurants came equipped with a SuperBar. Considered a key part of the golden age of fast food buffets, this was split into three stations: Italian, Mexican, and Garden Spot Salads. The latter also came equipped with a dessert section, including sweet treats such as fruit and butterscotch pudding.

The SuperBar proved to be a huge hit, with sales increasing by 15%. Adults could pay just $3.69 for an all-you-can-eat feast, plus a drink, while children were charged $2.69. Some reports claim that it cost less, with various discounts and promotions introduced to bring down the price even further. But at some point in the 1990s, Wendy's seemed to start losing interest in the SuperBar.

As it turns out, despite customer enthusiasm, the SuperBar wasn't exactly the easiest thing in the world to operate, with the unlimited supply of food requiring a lot of employee labor to maintain. Those who frequented the SuperBar also claim that it could get pretty rowdy, with teenagers flocking en masse to take advantage of the copious amounts of food. While some Wendy's transformed their SuperBars into salad bars, they gradually disappeared throughout the late 1990s, with salad bars also phased out in 2006.

Every '90s kid has fond memories of the Pizza Hut buffet. Starting in 1992, the Hut would plate up the best of its pies for an all-you-can-eat feast — complete with trimmings like garlic bread and salad — for just $2.99 a head at 2,000 restaurants nationwide. The goal was to boost its in-store sales amid increasing success with delivery. Whether or not it succeeded, Pizza Hut has never made completely clear. However, judging by the fact that it started phasing them out in 2014, we're going to lean towards "no."

We can only speculate on what triggered its downfall, but a widely acknowledged truth is that buffets rarely have the best profit margins. Pizza Hut employees have claimed as much for restaurants with a buffet. "As far as I understand it restaurants that had buffets either broke even barely or made a loss," alleged one user on Reddit. The COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing also didn't do much to improve the prognosis of the industry's buffet scene.

Yet somehow, against the odds, it seems like Pizza Hut's buffet is primed to make a comeback. While some Pizza Hut restaurants have retained their buffets throughout the years — and some countries, such as the U.K., never got rid of them in the first place — more have restored their all-you-can-eat deals in recent times. Fingers crossed it sticks around this time.

At its height, Sizzler boasted 270 restaurants, all specializing in steak and salad. Sizzler's struggles have chipped away at this number over the years, including one all-you-can-eat misstep. Determined to keep up with the growing number of competitors, Sizzler decided to expand its salad bar into a full-on buffet in the late 1980s. This went down well with customers, but, as is often the case, it perhaps proved too popular. As Sizzler realized that diners were making the buffet the main event of their visit instead of using it to supplement a traditional entrée, it started cutting the quality of other menu items.

This approach didn't end well. In 1996, Sizzler's bankruptcy filing was accompanied by the closure of 136 restaurants and the admission that the buffet came with a few downsides. These included the sheer amount of labor involved in trying to replenish and maintain a buffet all day long, as well as the lower profit margins versus regular entrées and the fact that adding in the necessary equipment eats into a restaurant's seating capacity. While the unlimited salad bar remains a Sizzler staple, the buffet was mostly phased out by the early 2000s. Sizzler later filed for bankruptcy again in 2020, but unlike the 1990s, this had more to do with a global pandemic than a misjudged buffet.