We Think One Failed Buffet Restaurant Deserves A Second Chance

The pandemic hugely changed the way we dine, from introducing the use of QR code menus to trying to limit how pathogens can potentially spread in restaurants. That meant that certain formats of dining really took a hit as we inspected every aspect of communal eating — especially buffets. One brand casualty was Old Country Buffet, the last location of which closed in 2020 in my home state of Illinois. It's one of those restaurants we wish would come back for nostalgic reasons.

Part of why I'm saying this is purely selfish, because I have good memories of the chain. We didn't go to buffets often when I was growing up, but when we did, we sometimes went to an Old Country Buffet in the northern suburbs of Chicago. Even as a kid I knew that the food was admittedly only okay, but there were a lot of choices that I didn't get at home (soft serve machine, anyone?). Eating at a buffet just feels empowering, and, for better or for worse, captures that American dining experience where quantity rules over quality.

Let's face it, going out to eat is expensive, and it's only getting more expensive as time goes on. A buffet is a good way to enjoy the dining out experience without paying an excessive amount per person. Old Country Buffet will never cross the gourmet threshold — it's not like you'll ever see "truffled" anything show up on the hot line, nor will you get lobster at the carving table — but that's okay! Its reasonable pricing opens the possibility of going out for a casual dinner on a weeknight without needing a special occasion.

American diners like to weigh cost against what they're getting, and who's to say Old Country Buffet couldn't make us feel good about that again? If times get even tighter (let's hope they don't), and dining out becomes less of an option for many of us, a crowd-pleasing buffet is somewhere that you can bring the whole family without much complaining. (The kids can feast on chicken tenders to their hearts content.)

Some investors are banking on nostalgia as an entire business strategy. Recently, there has been news regarding an imminent revival of Chi-Chi's, a shuttered restaurant chain which once served Tex-Mex and Mexican-inspired food. Michael McDermott, the son of Chi-Chi's co-founder Marno McDermott, has opened up a crowdfunding effort to raise $3.5 million to open a restaurant location in Minnesota later this year. (Now's your chance to acquire an ownership stake in Chi-Chi's, if just for the bragging rights.)

A similar return is already underway for a once-defunct chain called Steak and Ale. After closing its doors in 2008, the chain is now slowly rebuilding its brick-and-mortar locations, beginning with opening its first location in Minnesota in 2024. So who's to say that Old Country Buffet couldn't make a comeback? 

Maybe we'll need to bring back that viral Old Country Buffet employee training video again someday. That might secretly be the best gift of bringing the chain back — aside from the all-you-can-eat mashed potatoes, of course. Everyone loves mountains of self-served mashed potatoes.