Beloved buffet chain Golden Corral is eyeing opening smaller restaurants, with locations in travel plazas, airports and college campuses, according to a report.
While Golden Corral’s all-you-can-eat buffets aren’t going anywhere, the chain is looking for new ways to continue to grow, CEO Lance Trenary told FSR Magazine.
The brand finished 2025 with 348 restaurants nationwide, down only three eateries year-over-year, but is looking for new ways to attract and retain customers. A recent foray into fast-casual restaurants resulted in the creation of Golden Corral Favorites. But a test location for the concept in North Carolina opened and closed within a year.
“When people hear Golden Corral, they think buffet,” Trenary said. “And so when we put Golden Corral in the name, people came in — even though they loved the food and we got very high marks on the food quality — they were disappointed that it was not an all-you-can-eat buffet.”
The company hasn’t abandoned the idea of opening a fast-casual chain — but says the new version they’re workshopping wouldn’t cause the same confusion — it wouldn’t have Golden Corral in the name.
Meanwhile, the chain is also looking into ways to lower the cost and physical footprint needed to build its traditional buffets.
Golden Corral restaurants typically are about 10,500 square feet, but the chain is currently constructing a 7,500-square-foot location in Baytown, Texas.
The chain is also mulling ways to convert former locations of other chains, such as Red Lobster and TGI Fridays, into Golden Corrals. In Knoxville, Tennessee, a former Party City is even being converted into a Golden Corral, according to the report.
Golden Corral is also looking into moving into more travel plazas, after testing locations in Elkton, Maryland and Ruther Glen, Virginia.
Trenary told the magazine that despite these locations having a smaller physical footprint, they each generate more than $5 million in annual sales.
In addition to more travel plazas, the chain is discussing opening locations near airports and on college campuses.
“What we’re basically trying to do is have the Golden Corral brand meet our guests wherever they want us to be,” Trenary said. “And so if we’re a buffet company, we ought to have a buffet of options for our franchisees and company stores to be able to, to choose from.”
The chain currently has six new locations either under development or in construction. Three are expected to open this year, while another three will likely open in January or February.
Golden Corral has long been known for its value and has been able to maintain relatively lower prices than its competitors, even given current inflation, the CEO said.
“Golden Corral still absolutely owns value by 10 points versus our competitive set, family dining, and so we like our position with value, but value and affordability are different,” Trenary said.
However, instead of lowering quality at the restaurant to protect margins, Trenary says the chain will stick to its path, offering 150 items made fresh daily — even pricer items such as sirloin steak.
“We’re not going to follow the path of some other buffet chains in the past that have tried to cheapen their menu during these high inflationary times,” Trenary said. “We’re still going all out with high quality and the things that our guests love.”
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