All-You-Can-Eat Buffet Restaurants Coming Back In America
While the pandemic put many buffet restaurants out of business in America, some of them are coming back to life in 2023. This is odd, given that the pandemic is infecting and maiming more people today than it did in early 2020, but we’re not allowed to talk about that, of course, because we must protect the sacred “economy” at all costs. Via CNN:
In March, visits to three leading buffets — Golden Corral, Cicis, and Pizza Ranch — were up 125% from January of 2021, according to data from Placer.ai, which tracks foot traffic at restaurants and stores. That figure outpaced the growth of visits to fast-casual chains and full-service restaurants during the period, according to Placer. Golden Corral’s sales grew 14% last year from pre-pandemic levels, according to Nation’s Restaurant News. Buffets are growing again in part due to financial strains on consumers. The median household income of Golden Corral, Cicis and Pizza Ranch customers is below the national average, according to Placer. Inflation has pushed more middle-class and lower-income customers to buffets, analysts say. “It shows that people are looking for value,” said R.J. Hottovy, the head of analytical research at Placer.
[CNN]
If there’s one thing this country is good at doing, it’s making obese Americans remain as obese as possible, keeping them eternally dependent upon overpriced medications and a non-existent “health care” system run by pharmaceutical companies. And what better way to do this than by offering them endless troughs of toxic sludge to pour down their bulging and diseased gullets? Or, as it’s called in America, offering them “value.”
Side note: The gif above is from a 1991 promotional video for the chain restaurant Sizzler. This was an internal video made for employees and investors, and I believe it would’ve come out right around the time of the illegal Iraq war (the first illegal Iraq war from the first Bush, not to be confused with the second illegal Iraq war from the second Bush), which might explain all the nauseating jingosim juxtaposed with the Stepford-esque women circling the salad bar. The company filed for bankruptcy in 1996 (there are still a few dozen restaurants left today), so this propaganda didn’t really accomplish much, but it’s still one of the most surreal early 90’s relics I’ve ever seen, complete with its own insane theme song:
