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Most Americans over the age of 20-years-old have fond memories of Old Country Buffett. The beloved buffet chain has been a part of the fabric of the United States since the mid-1980s. Unfortunately, it's time to say goodbye to the famous - or infamous depending on who you ask - food and small prices...
Old Country Buffet Is Not Coming Back
Eating With Bisby
Sadly for fans, Old Country Buffet will likely never come back. To be entirely honest, Old Country Buffet has been dead for a little while now. It all started when The Chicago Tribune reported that the restaurant brand had closed its final location in Illinois back in 2020. At one time, Old Country Buffet once boasted 650 locations around the world. Now, however, the cultural relic has become another casualty of the pandemic.
The next nail in the coffin came in May 2021, when the Old Country Buffet website went offline. Just a little while later, the brand's parent company, Fresh Acquisitions, LLC and Buffets LLC, filed for bankruptcy, essentially rending the chain non-existent. Along with Old Country Buffet, HomeTown Buffet, Tahoe Joe's, and Ryan's also all became a part of Fresh Acquisitions, LLC and Buffets LLC's bankruptcy.
Most recently, company BBQ Holdings paid a whopping $4.7 million for the entire Fresh Acquisitions brand. For a moment, Old Country Buffet fans believed they were in for some good news. Then, BBQ Holdings CEO Jeff Crivello confirmed the terrible news: "We have no immediate plans to reopen any of the buffet brands," he explained. "Those are just IP that came alongside the transaction."
Turning Into A Relic
Eating With Bisby
So, why did BBQ Holdings shell out nearly 5 million dollars for Fresh Acquisitions, LLC and Buffets LLC? Well, it all has to do with Tahoe Joe's, a once flagging steakhouse. Now, five brand-new Tahoe Joe's locations are open throughout California - that's right! That makes the restaurant the only brand acquired from Fresh Acquisitions that remains open.
You see, the Tahoe Joe's aesthetic and menu matched one of BBQ Holdings' other restaurants, the one that made them famous, Famous Dave's BBQ. So, it "just made sense" to combine two brands, Crivello. "The look and feel is very, very similar to the original Famous Dave's," he said, claiming Tahoe Joe's will be "a seamless fit" into their portfolio.
So, what will become of Old Country Buffet? Things don't look great. In fact, they look pretty bad for buffet chains overall. Even Golden Corral Buffet and Grill, America's most popular and successful buffet, has taken a serious hit during the pandemic. As of this writing, just over 290 of Golden Corral's pre-pandemic 490 restaurants remain open, according to Restaurant Business. Even worse, during the pandemic, the two largest Golden Corral franchisees filed for bankruptcy, and sales fell 62% last year. Hopefully, things will get better in the near future!
Sources: The Business Journals, The Takeout
