My landlord passed away a couple of months ago, and his widow is suffering from dementia that includes memory problems, and hasn’t really cooked much in the past year.
So her daughter suggested that rather than subject Cherie and myself to the stress of cooking a Thanksgiving meal for us this year, that she would take us out to the Golden Corral buffet instead.
And I like Golden Corral, but still - end of an era, man.
Sorry for your lost, but a hooray for Golden Corral! I recently was taken the after not having been for over 10 years and was pleasantly surprised that they came back from Covid strong.
I’ve never been to Golden Corral, but I’m in favor of restaurant meals for all possible holidays.
I’ve never been sure whether the name “Golden Corral” was meant to describe the food or the clientele.
Regardless, hope you have a good time.
Depends on the time you go. My cousin just took me there and we waited until 1:00 for the senior special ($10.99 all-out can eat with a drink), there was a line out the door waiting for 1:00.
Later on it rolls into the family dinner crowd with kids and adults. Again, I was surprised to see a buffet doing it so well after Covid, as I had thought all buffet style places (except a few Chinese ones) had thrown in the towel.
Golden Corral sounds like a nice alternative to cooking. Ever since my Mother-in-law died we’ve been going to Cracker Barrel on Thanksgiving. The meal is good and I don’t have to clean up or watch football
Golden Corral makes a special effort on Thanksgiving. I’ve always enjoyed holiday meals there.
I have been to GC exactly once, in 2010, in Davenport IA.
This is a happy thread, so I won’t threadshit with the story, but it was not a good experience.
I’m bringing it up because, given my experience, I’m surprised at all the love and may need to rethink my conclusions.
We used to have a GC in my town but I think it was on its last legs before Covid and then by 2021 the building was completely demolished. There’s a bank and a Panda Express where it stood.
In my old age I find myself wishing buffets were still a thing. I mean, obviously they still are a thing being that @ekedolphin is going to one and @Si_Amigo ‘s is hoppin’. But they are few and far between by me. We also used to have a Home Town Buffet.
Oooh, I just remembered the casino near me has a buffet. I gotta go there!
I just watched a short documentary on the Shady Maple Smorgasboard in Pennsylvania. That buffet doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere!
Anyway, I’ll put my tongue back in my mouth and say to @ekedolphin that I’m sorry it’s the end of an era for you. But also, as someone who is really over making Thanksgiving dinner from scratch (or even from reheated) I hope you and your friends have a wonderful and relaxing Thanksgiving and a great buffet meal!
I’ve only been to one as well, up in Massachusetts. That was neither bad nor good, “interesting” is about right.
It’s possible that your location was having a bad day. I’ve heard of other buffets (i.e.: not GC) being unable to control their patrons on a bad day; think Animal House.
Our Sizzler closed and reopened as Barnhills Steak and Buffet. The buffet is pretty good.
Both of the casinos here had buffets (one, IIRC, was on the verge of opening a second buffet), but they closed them for covid and haven’t reopened them. 
The Golden Corral here closed around twenty years ago. And I don’t remember when the Chinese buffet closed, but it was around fifteen years ago.
If you’re concerned about “end of an era”, what if you (and other tenants? Don’t know your exact situation) offer to cook Thanksgiving Dinner?
Our Thanksgiving plans will be changing from past years due to a move. Have no clue what we’re doing yet.
I’ve never cooked Thanksgiving dinner all by myself before, and it would be all by myself.
My sister doesn’t cook at home or do much of anything but walk the dog and do her leg treatment and occasionally wash the dishes when she comes home from work at Taco Bell. She cooks all day and doesn’t want to come home and cook for us too, and it sucks, but I can understand that. (There is definitely an unfair division of labor, though, but that’s just, like, my opinion, man. On the other hand, I’m the only one of us three who doesn’t drive.)
My mother is disabled, overweight and incapable of standing for long periods of time. She can’t cook anymore. Besides, she cooked for me for the first 30 years of my life.
And our co-tenant, Big Steve, is a single-leg amputee who uses a wheelchair and not an artificial leg. He cooks simple meals for himself but we can’t both occupy the kitchen at the same time.
And Andrea, the landlady’s daughter, refuses to ever cook anything more complicated than a microwave meal, and only ever washes her own dishes and not anyone else’s. But she works 12-hour days five days a week, and on top of that, she’s making sure her mother survives on a daily basis, and also that we don’t get the house foreclosed on.
If there is to be an at-home Thanksgiving dinner, it would fall to me and me alone. And I’ve never done it before. I’ve only ever made mashed potatoes, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. I know nothing about how long it takes to cook a turkey, or making pumpkin pie or pecan pie, or green bean casserole, or sweet potatoes.
I cook all the other meals, and shop for a lot of the groceries.
No. I can’t do it. I can’t spend 12 hours cooking and then be the only one cleaning up afterwards. I would cut a bitch.
So I’ll let Golden Corral do it this year. I’m not even paying for it. My biggest responsibility will be keeping Mom’s buffet plate full.
For as long as I could remember, my mom made Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings, pretty much by herself except for laying and clearing the table. My sister would offer to help with cooking and the dishes but mom always declined.
Then when my dad died and mom sold the house, we decided that the family Thanksgiving would be in a restaurant. Her condo actually had a nicer kitchen than our 1920s bungalow (I think every room except the kitchen was remodeled), but I think we realized it was just too much. Mom doesn’t have the least nostalgia for home Thanksgivings, it seems, and we’ve eaten in a restaurant every Thanksgiving since.
THIS is the best reason to make this choice. Which I do applaud. Because you deserve not to be stressed and tortured by this event.
Enjoy the buffet !!
Here we tend to eat with some relatives (who do all the cooking because they have the time) before the day, and then go out for the big day. So we get a bit of both.
I don’t think I’ve ever been to Golden Corral itself, and I’m not sure offhand if there are any around here, but there have been a number of other all-you-can-eat buffet restaurants around, which were a real godsend to families of teenage boys.