But not everyone thinks that our beloved all-you-can-eat buffets are gone for good. Once the restaurant reopens, I know a lot of people will show up. A majority of Sizzler's restaurants are in California, where indoor dining has been restricted for weeks after a surge in coronavirus cases over the summer. For those guests that miss the salad bar, Sizzler is offering entre salads," the company told NRN in a statement. "Our current financial state is a direct consequence of the pandemics economic impact due to long-term indoor dining closures and landlords refusal to provide necessary rent abatements. With many customers wary of self-service options, he sees the potential for salad to become a service itemsimilar to sandwiches and other foods offered behind the deli counter. That's down from 2018, when the chain said it had 134 locations. navigator.sendBeacon('https://www.google-analytics.com/collect', payload); Forging a traditional buffet setup, Garden is already back to pre-pandemic levels. said its permanently closing its buffets.) Frischs continues to offer customers sanitizer and gloves. The chains bankruptcy petition listed $1 million to $10 million in liabilities and a similar amount in assets. Sally allowed us to do that by being a fully self-contained unit to protect the product, while allowing the use of a mobile app to minimize contact.. But as Benjamin Chapman, Ph.D., professor and food safety specialist in the department of Agricultural and Human Sciences at North Carolina State University pointed out, the main problem with buffets is not necessarily touching utensils as it is the close proximity of customers and shared air space. "The filing is a direct result of the financial impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the casual dining sector, particularly long-term indoor dining closures and landlords refusal to provide necessary rent abatement. Thanks for contacting us. Lines and paragraphs break automatically. The company's coronavirus statement doesn't specifically mention peanuts, but don't be surprised if an employee has to scoop them for you now, rather than the nuts being self-serve. Sign up for our newsletter to get daily recipes and food news in your inbox! Its hard, she said. Some of its locations also offer outdoor dining. Was this a harbinger of things to come? If there so happens to be a guest who happened to use one spoon for this dish but they used it for a different dish, we actually change out the two dishes and replace them completely, Duarte said. There will definitely be a lot of buffets that never come back, but our customers love our buffet and until that changes, our buffet will never die, Growney said. However, the lunchtime buffet, which highlighted dishes not offered on the regular menu, wont be returning then, or anytime soon. 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At the same time, we want to make guests happy with all the items they used to try from the buffet., The buffet used to be a traditional part of dining at some Indian restaurants, and, said it was a communal experience for her guests. First published on September 22, 2020 / 12:32 PM. Well try to block them from doing something that will create some friction in the crowd. Were going to have build-your-own salad. IE 11 is not supported. Instead of customers serving themselves at the buffet line, an attendant dishes out the food for them. coverage. which specializes in cuisine from the southern Indian state of Kerala, co-owner Padmini Aniyan had to shut down dine-in a few days before . Then theres certainly a chance. If that ever comes back, its a long time from now, Vaughn said. As such, last year the CDC stated: Avoid offering any self-serve food or drink options, such as buffets, salad bars and drink stations. In the past year, Old Town Buffet and HomeTown Buffet closed permanently, Golden Corral terminated locations, Sweet Tomatoes/Souplantation permanently closed all its locations and Sizzler filed for bankruptcy. We saw a pretty significant jump in sales in Indiana when we opened the bars back up to be self-serve, and then as Ohio opened up next [in February] and then Kentucky, we saw a very similar trend, Alison OKeefe, Frischs vice president of marketing, told HuffPost. 2020 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. In an effort to return to its roots, Sizzler emphasized steaks, seafood, and the salad bar. To weather the self-serve shutdowns, many grocery retailers stocked salad bars with premade grab-and-go salads or used salad stations as display cases for packaged goods from other areas of the store. In an effort to make our guests feel comfortable, we have implemented policies to frequently clean and sanitize components like countertops and utensils, notes Senior Deli Director Tom Droegkamp. Here are some restaurants that are likely to see major changes in the coming weeks and months. Well try to block them from doing something that will create some friction in the crowd. For me, I think health and sanitation is an absolute paramount and I think these practices should just stay in place so we can always serve the hottest, freshest and safest food possible for our guests. On Wednesday, Fresh Acquisitions, the parent company that owns Old Country Buffet, filed for bankruptcy, illustrating just how difficult it has been for restaurants whose concept centers around a communal dining experience. My friend is still raving about their crispy, Jessica W. said: Honestly best Subway I've ever been to. When buffets return, customers can expect to see staff enforcing social distancing policies and cleaning and sanitizing common utensils for months, if not years to come, said Chapman. Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically. Brands witih salad bars or buffet service have also been hit hard. For the fiscal yearended in April 2020, Sizzler reported U.S. system sales, excluding Puerto Rico, of $197.3 million, down13.7%compared to the prior fiscal year. That's according to data released by the U.S. Treasury Department. Meet women fighting to keep female-owned restaurants open in Chicago. ", Chapman said that masks requirements, social distancing and limiting line-ups are the best ways to reduce risk. Stroup says, "Pre-Covid, we would have a Bloody Mary bar set up. single A Sweet Tomatoes restaurant that was temporarily closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic is seen on the day that Garden Fresh Restaurants announced that it will not reopen its 97 Sweet Tomatoes and. Been coming here ever since I can remember Like you I'm hoping Sizzler will open again soon. As time goes by, we will continue to reevaluate different solutions based on the needs of our guests. As restaurants have pivoted to stay open during the pandemic, buffets are one of those things that are difficult to imagining continuing in a post-COVID world. New store updates are important to our readers, so were adding a monthly feature to highlight them and demonstrate supermarket growth trends around the country. The pandemic has prompted us to change the way we think, says Seth Maddox, associate creative director at King Retail Solutions in Eugene, Ore. Were even rethinking the equipment that were speccing for new-build stores and big renovations. Our guests appreciate the personalized service and the added sanitation measures weve put in place., When asked how long Golden Corral plans to continue this new type of service, President and CEO Lance Trenary told HuffPost that its still not clear what the new normal for all of us will be, promising the brand will adapt to meet [customers] needs and exceed their expectations., Sizzler, which is known for its steaks and its long-running Craft Salad Bar, has begun reopening dine-in service, beginning with Arizona. xhr.setRequestHeader('Content-Type', 'text/plain;charset=UTF-8'); Akin to Sizzler and Golden Corral, Frischs salad bar has a new iteration. Get todays need-to-know grocery industry intelligence. Golden Corral is also testing future concept innovations, which include individual entres and table service.". The company ended the fiscal year with101 U.S. locations, including 15 company and 86 franchised locations. Revenue at Sizzler has taken a hit as diners steer clear of buffet-style eateries during the COVID-19 . We are also sanitizing guest touch points at a minimum of every 30 minutes., The judge-free zone was one of the best things about salad bars. After the Thai government loosen COVID-19 dine-in restrictions in September 2021, Sizzler Thailand was able to reopen 54 out of a total of 60 restaurants for dine-in. With this new format, guests can choose their Sizzler favorites and one of our employees, who has been trained to follow additional safety techniques and precautions, will assemble guests selections and serve directly at their table, Forbes Collins, Sizzler USAs chief operations officer, told HuffPost. That ritualistic part of going up and getting as much as you want and how you want it now gets lost in translation., The representative said that so far, customers like the new approach. Geez. Here's what they're doing differently now. [36] Two months after reopening, the Thai franchise announced expansion plans of trying to open new 3-5 restaurants per year over the next three years. Market data provided by ICE Data Services. Get the best food tips and diet Its not good for anyone. A handful reopened last summer only to temporarily shutter again. Filing for Chapter 11 protection from its debts should give the company breathing room to renegotiate leases, Perkins indicated. News provided by The Associated Press. xhr.open('POST', 'https://www.google-analytics.com/collect', true); Ned Lamont issued an executive order pertaining to grocery stores,. Theyre a great way for guests to come in with a large group of people. 6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e. At this point, short of a little extra Plexiglas, the Garden Buffet looks the same as it did prior to the pandemic, Ryan Growney, general manager of South Point, told HuffPost. Ruby Tuesday's Garden Bar is an iconic feature at the chain. Theres probably a difference between taking 50 pieces of bacon versus asking someone to put 50 pieces of bacon on your plate., About 10 miles away from Wynn resides South Points Garden Buffet. U.S. consumers in 2022 were nothing if not channel surfers. Instead, we will focus the space on ready-to-eat, grab-and-go options.. So far, various iterations of the American buffet have weathered the most uncertain year in recent memory. While the all-you-can-eat buffet was phased out in some locations, it remained in many others. Thats why we decided not to start the buffet soon. During the pandemic, Sizzler has been selling takeout meals, including to-go versions of its popular salad bar. xhr.send(payload); But now, with the coronavirus threatening to contaminate buffet surfaces, the pandemic has upended salad bar chains, all-you-can-eat Indian and Chinese buffets, cruise ship and casino buffets, hotel breakfast bars and self-serve prepared food bars at grocery stores. Shoppers habits have obviously been altered by the pandemic, and we all have this heightened awareness of sanitation now, but I like to think that it will come back to some extent, he says. Shutterstock. Inspired by The New York Times best-selling book series, Eat This, Not That! Grand all-you-can-stuff-on-your-plate buffets have always been equated with Las Vegas, and last March, as many as 60 Vegas buffets temporarily closed. If you were to walk up to our salad bar and someone was in a mask and gloves, would you be OK with that? he said. The South Indian preparation entails 12-15 small portions of food set on a platter for individual servings. Founded in 1958, California-based Sizzler also sought bankruptcy protection in 1996. Created by Hayward, Calif.-based Chowbotics, Sally is finding a home in grocery stores nationwide. (Supplied) With the emergence of new COVID-19 protocols, the jewel in Sizzler's crown of its self-service buffet islands were at best forced to become different and at worst took the novelty out of eating at the chain. ICE Limitations. 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