The simple answer why it declined is because I stopped working there in 2005.

@j3dwin

27 күн бұрын

You were the glue that held the place together.

@romacarrasco5835

27 күн бұрын

😂😂😂 dangit!

@nomadbynature8811

27 күн бұрын

I was wondering where you were.

@anonymousYTviewer69

27 күн бұрын

hmmm.ni started going in 05 BECAUSE you specifically left... just kidding, have a nice day

@mayonotes9849

27 күн бұрын

The most valuable asset that they lost forever.

This was one of my favorite places as a kid. My ice cream machine creations were unparalleled. RIP

@opalwisdom9780

27 күн бұрын

Hey fancy seeing you here.

@gedaman

27 күн бұрын

“Do you like hot fudge sundaes?”

@nunion12

27 күн бұрын

Wow two documentarians together?

@thorpeaaron1110

27 күн бұрын

Lol.

@Laz3rCat95

26 күн бұрын

Yes making sundaes with the ice cream machine was one of the highlights of my experience as a kid too!

The old country buffet where i grew up in upstate NY has since been changed to a Chinese buffet. But one thing they've kept since changing is the Norman Rockwell paintings. I always appreciated that, keeping that bit of OCB still around.

@erickrobertson7089

21 күн бұрын

Yes! I remember those prints too.

@dlxmarks

18 күн бұрын

That's like the all you can eat Mongolian BBQ near my home. It took over the space from a fish and chips shop 30 years ago but never redecorated. It still has the faux English decor including the glass lampshades with a playing card suit theme.

@erickrobertson7089

18 күн бұрын

@@dlxmarks Must have been a former Arthur Treachers restaurant.

@bryanherrin6276

16 күн бұрын

Schenectady? My coworker was the regional manager there. Also said some of the downfall internally was changes in conpensation plan for the team.

@lancasterritzyescargotdine2602

15 күн бұрын

Arizona boasts the highest percentage of truly nasty restaurants of anywhere in the US. Asian buffets head the list.

I used to work at OCB let me tell you a story and you can make assumptions as to why it failed. Back in the year 2000 I was wheeling a rack of trayed baked fish through the kitchen when the wheels caught a hole in a drainage grate and the cart spilled all the fish into this pinkish puddle of murk so I threw it away. The head manager Paul B asked what happened, I told him and I was instructed to quote take it out of the garbage, wash it off, respice it on the trays to cook. So somebody in Greece NY ate some tainted ass shit that night. Theres more stories but that was by far the worst

@TheAbstract35

23 күн бұрын

Gross 🤮 lol

@Kamakazy0789

23 күн бұрын

You should get ahold of that Paul guy, and ask if he was proud of those choices back then 😂

@philmabarak5421

23 күн бұрын

Should have called he health dept. Should have called the police. Should have shouted it too all the guests..."Don't it the fish."

@littlesmallworld123

22 күн бұрын

I like how you said the word quote instead of just using quotations (for dramatic effect, I presume)

@SeverancePay500

20 күн бұрын

From Rochester 😂 that’s rough

My grandma got bored during retirement and went back to work at Ryan's. She had her regulars that would come in at least once a week and specifically sit in her section. She retired once again when her and grandpas health was starting to decline. The restaurant she worked at closed not long after. Years later after she passed many of her regulars came to her funeral. Everyone loved her for her great service and firecracker attitude.

@realleon2328

27 күн бұрын

she sounds like she was a very lovely woman

@athisio836

27 күн бұрын

Ryan's was great but just like any other restaurant the quality varies depending on who is managing and running it. A good example is a wendys in flushing MI is absolutely terrible but if you drive 45mins south to hartland mi the wendy's is great.

@ispoilers9535

27 күн бұрын

I heart your grandma.

@fulcrumsee5968

27 күн бұрын

​@@athisio836so true.

@donchoq

27 күн бұрын

THAT is what is gone from modern life. The personal interactions. I miss those days!

Country Buffet is like the Blockbuster of the restaurant biz. R.I.P.

@mirzaahmed6589

28 күн бұрын

What did it get replaced by? Desserts mailed directly to you?

@Jay-jb2vr

28 күн бұрын

Remember Lone Star Steak House?

@valdenv

28 күн бұрын

@@mirzaahmed6589 You pretty much described Uber Eats, so, yeah, in a way.

@Cooljohn760

27 күн бұрын

Idk Ryans Buffet might be more like Blockbuster.

@dcooper86

27 күн бұрын

@@Cooljohn760 Ryan's Buffet is definitely the Hollywood Video equivalent to Old Country Buffet's Blockbuster. BTW we had Ryan's near us in Akron, OH growing up and eating there was an EVENT for me as a kid lol.

My favorite Ryan's memory (that I can talk about) was taking a friend from Uganda to the La Fayette, Indiana location. He was on his first visit to the USA. He finished his food and was just sitting there. I told him he could go again. He exclaimed "sure?" And he shot out of his chair for a second run. Kind of adorable.

@24kgoldplatedvermeil

17 күн бұрын

Who is ryan

@bettyconfettii

15 күн бұрын

Thanks for sharing this memory it made me smile

@GamingYoshi64

8 күн бұрын

​@@24kgoldplatedvermeilThe restaurant Ryans

@24kgoldplatedvermeil

8 күн бұрын

@@GamingYoshi64 ooooo interesting, dont got em in LA i guess

My most fond memories are going there with my grandmother who passed away last year. RIP mommom.

"I'm from a private equity firm and I'm here to help," said no one ever.

@richardmeyersmeyers8123

17 күн бұрын

Yeah, you beat me to it. Any time you hear "private equity firm" where you work, it's time to look for a new job.

@brianshaker1885

13 күн бұрын

How do they get so much business from people, I have no idea?!? It's the equivalent to your parents racking up too much credit card debt and then telling you, "Make sure you pay those credit cards first and foremost!" So how do people KEEP using these businesses?!?

@piggy310

13 күн бұрын

More generalities and platitudes please .

Every time Company Man says "Leveraged Buyout" that one Spongebob Meme appears in my head screaming "how many times do we have to teach you this lesson, old man?!?"

@VinceLyle2161

27 күн бұрын

"It's okay if we accumulate a massive amount of debt. This restaurant chain will be popular forever! What could possibly go wrong?"

@MOBMJ

26 күн бұрын

"out of my way, out of my way, can't you see he's going to kick my butt" 🤣 love that episode

@shanekeenaNYC

26 күн бұрын

I love the young people. *blink*

@295g295

25 күн бұрын

​@@VinceLyle2161 Golden Corral is lasting longer. ...

@295g295

25 күн бұрын

​​@@VinceLyle2161 Golden Corral is lasting longer. ... .. and my local Chinese buffet & hibachi stir-fried.

OCB will always have a special place in my heart, being the place we always went when my Grandfather would take my brothers and I out. We would first go see a movie at Multiplex Cinemas in Merrifield, VA, followed by Zany Brainey toy store, and then to Old Country Buffet. We'd get home and my mom would complain about bringing more toys in. Gramps would always respond "What else is a Grandfather for?!" Love you OCB, thanks for everything!

@fydennis

21 күн бұрын

The OCB in Fairfax?

@lauratroxel24

8 күн бұрын

That's a beautiful story. Your grampa sounds like a nice one! 💞

@JustinTime5222

8 күн бұрын

@@fydennis yep!

My late wife and I used to stop by the OCB in Kent, Washington. A few years after she passed away I thought I would visit that OCB for a memory tour, but it was closed! I was very disappointed.

@weedragonauts4729

21 сағат бұрын

my condolences on your wife

“Did you catch the game last night?”

@zonkar

28 күн бұрын

“Alright”

@trenttuttle603

28 күн бұрын

Do you like hot fudge sundaes?

@antifugazi

28 күн бұрын

"have you tried the lasagna? It's my favourite"

@monolyth421

28 күн бұрын

Is it still hot out there?

@kingpolo1920

28 күн бұрын

“ Give me that“

At some point the food went from "fresh made in small batches" to "comes in a bag of powder, just add water". That was probably post-2000, the new owners needed to cut costs.

@jokuakinyele6502

26 күн бұрын

🤣🤣🤣

@littlesongbird1

23 күн бұрын

Yeah my sister used to work there when she was in high school and honestly the food was pretty good back then.

@davemccage7918

23 күн бұрын

Hometown Buffet FTW!

@Matt_bechillin

23 күн бұрын

My ex at the time swore by old country buffet, I completely rejected the idea of going for over a year because I don’t like it. We went, she didn’t realize they change entirely and was so disappointed 😂 she was expecting home cooking but got TV dinner quality

@TheGreatSalsaMan

22 күн бұрын

Funny how cutting costs looks good on paper BUT when the lower quality product turns people away CEOs can’t comprehend what went wrong…🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

Before she passed away, my grandma used to take my cousin and I here when I was little. We used to write prayers on napkins and tie them to balloons. (to send them to heaven lol) I remembered really liking this place when I was a kid.

Let me set the mood. Friday night mom gets home from work. Tells you and your sister to get your shoes on. Get in the car. Go uptown and arrive to hometown buffet. Go in. Your mom pays. Ask for orange soda and grab your plate. First ribs. Twice mac and cheese and third pizza. THAT WAS MY CHILDHOOD!!!!!

@worldforger9225

25 күн бұрын

Never forget

@LeesReviews69

24 күн бұрын

“Now I have diabetes”

@chichou7

24 күн бұрын

@@LeesReviews69from one meal? cmon😂

@MaterialGworlKodi

23 күн бұрын

Man you just brought back so many memories!

@CulturalProspect

19 күн бұрын

That's a great memory. I used to love it.

My school gave me free Old Country Buffet vouchers for perfect attendance in the 90s

@StarlightEater

22 күн бұрын

Dang. All I got was a sparkly folder anna sticker pack. I was 16

@homehere9817

22 күн бұрын

❤

@Theodiorr

21 күн бұрын

Nerd

@TheGreatSalsaMan

16 күн бұрын

I vaguely remember that. Think they stopped doing it in the 2000’s

@Zipperskull_

15 күн бұрын

That's pretty cool :p

My grandma took me to old country buffet 23 years ago today for my birthday lunch. She told me and I quote "you're in the double digits now and that means certain responsibilities" but it also meant I could sit in the front seat of the car. I'll always love them for that birthday lunch even tho I never went there again.

@hugovazquez7533

27 күн бұрын

i hope you ate like a king that day bro

@larryisntmynamebutyoucanca9625

27 күн бұрын

Happy birthday!

@SnowBunneh

27 күн бұрын

That is so sweet

@DUKEzors

27 күн бұрын

Hope you had a good birthday!

@OswegoWriter

27 күн бұрын

Happy birthday!

We had some OCBs here in the Seattle area. The quality, freshness, nutritional value and bang-for-buck economic value for a single mom like me mad3 it a favorite for us. Plus, with my daughter’s hypoglycemia it was great that food was hot, and ready when we walked in.

I grew up in the suburbs outside Minneapolis and we used to love that place. For a few years it was a regular dining spot when my dad took me out running errands and stuff on the weekend. They started going downhill in the mid 90's and we gave up on them eventually. Figured McDonalds was better and cheaper. But I still have some good memories.

As a 90s teen, buffets spoiled us. This, Ryans, Maverick, a Shakey's franchise, and SEVERAL Chinese buffets existed where I lived, plus others I know I forgotten. Today only one Chinese buffet is here (with terrible food) and lost everyone else. When Shakey’s stop being a buffet, the owner became an independent restaurant to keep the buffet style alive but closed down. We did gain a Golden Corral and Pizza Ranch. As one in his mid 40s, I want to go out, sit down, and take my time eating. Instead we got the rush and take out of today.

@gedaman

27 күн бұрын

99% of Chinese buffets I’ve been to have been awful. The only good Chinese buffet I’ve ever been to had outrageous prices. It seems to be a trend to serve the lowest quality foods at every Chinese buffet including weird pizza and bananas covered in red syrup inexplicably.

@terranceramirez4816

27 күн бұрын

@@gedamanthere is one amazing Chinese buffet in Redmond, WA that I always used to love to go to when I still lived in the PNW. But, just as you said, the price was stratospheric.

@Laz3rCat95

26 күн бұрын

Yeah a Chinese buffet with bad quality food is all I have in my immediate area too. Golden Corral is more than an hour away.

@robertfrancois6064

26 күн бұрын

We had a shakys but I never liked their food

@DurpenHeimer

26 күн бұрын

Shakeys...now THATS a place i havent heard about in 20+ years

My best friend and I used to go there all the time in our 20s. When you were relatively broke, had a huge appetite, and could never decide what you wanted, it was a great way to spend an afternoon.

@ericmikuta

23 күн бұрын

Good times, good times. We used to catch a buzz and take my buddies Dodge Spirit, and eat ourselves into a food coma.

@tobznoobs

21 күн бұрын

yeah i dont know why people nowadays would grubhub for 22 instead of going to old country for 6 bucks. then they'll complain they're broke.

@amandanichole8648

17 күн бұрын

​@@tobznoobsdo you... Do you live in real life? You do know you can't get anything at a gas station for 6 bucks anymore right? Like not even a single serve of ho hos. It hasn't been like that for several years even before the stupid Covid shutdown.

I have very fond memories of the Old County Buffet. In the mid-90s I traveled a lot for work, especially in the mid west. A co-worker of mine told me about this place, and we went there for lunch. After that I was hooked. Wherever the job took us, we looked for an Old Country Buffet. What I loved the most was the pay one price, help yourself to everything we have: soup, salad, buffet, dessert, and even the drinks were included in the price. They had soft drinks, iced tea, and coffee! I want to say lunch was no more than $6.00 at the time. We would plan our day so that we could spend a good 2 hours for our lunch break. We unfortunately didn't feel much like working after gorging ourselves at the buffet. I am so very sorry to hear they all closed down.

I still remember the commercial that started with “Old Country Buffettt!!!!! You better be hungry!!!!”

I used to LOVE this place. I don’t even know where ANY buffet is anymore. There may be a Golden Corral about 30 miles away.

@deecee2174

28 күн бұрын

Buffets are very expensive to manage. As a teen I worked at the only KFC buffet in Canada (I think the US has less than a dozen KFC buffets left). The owner of our KFC had to FIGHT with Corporate on his right to own a buffet. Legal threats and media outbursts helped save the buffet. He doesn't make as much from the buffet compared to bucket sales, that's why Corporate wants his buffet to shut down... But naw, Larry is a Legend and will fight for his right to own a KFC buffet. I swear he is one step away from literally scrapping the Board of Directors hahahaha

@RT-qd8yl

28 күн бұрын

@@deecee2174 Now _that_ sounds like a business owner with the customer in mind.

@jackjohnson833

28 күн бұрын

Golden Corral is 🔥I go at the breakfast/lunch time (cheat code)

@Woozlewuzzleable

28 күн бұрын

I miss Sizzler and the all-you-can eat ice cream bar when I was a kid.

@jxchamb

28 күн бұрын

Would you like a dime size thickness piece of beef? I've watched the carving station training video so I think I can do the job.

I think the pandemic was the final knock out punch to a dying industry. Most restaurants were already struggling due to the perception of lower food quality and hygiene. Once the pandemic started and people started being hyper-vigilant about these things, there was no way the company could compensate

@jmill3147

26 күн бұрын

Hyper-vigilant...more like hyper sheep

@lindah6954

26 күн бұрын

I went there after the restaurant banned lifted. Every other table was Xed out from sitting there. 2 weeks later they shut down for good.

@rabidgoon

26 күн бұрын

@@jmill3147yes, someone is a “sheep” for not wanting to eat a tray of lukewarm food that an 8 year old just sneezed into.

@DurpenHeimer

26 күн бұрын

@@jmill3147 found the NPC

@jmill3147

26 күн бұрын

@@rabidgoon No, you're a sheep for falling for the hoax of 2020.

I loved Old Country Buffet, and so did my cousin who was in her 90s. I used to pick her up and take her out to eat. She would pack away an amazing amount of food, ending with cherry pie and ice cream. I think I only went back once or twice after she died.

I'm in/from Western Washington. Lakewood near Tacoma. We had a few Old Country Buffets but the one I grew up with was in Lakewood near where the mall was and where the towns centre is now. I have so many nostalgic memories of dining with family there...especially my late grandparents. Thank you for this episode!

@Meridianvlly

21 күн бұрын

I’m from the Kent area, we had one in a lower income area. I remember going there a lot as a kid, since it was cheap food back then. I don’t think it could ever survive now, because it would probably be overpriced for the same crap food.

@keithlatimer4433

17 күн бұрын

I also visited the Lakewood location with my grandparents many times. I have fantastic memories eating there.

@Jon0387

10 күн бұрын

I used to go to that location all the time with my grandpa. We used to go to Breakfast on Saturday - it seemed like all the seniors lined up at the door waiting for it to open. He’s pretty disappointed they all closed down.

@PhantomCookie87

2 күн бұрын

@@keithlatimer4433 and that building still remains vacant. It's sad because everytime I walk/drive by it, I get major nostalgia with a hint of sadness.

It will probably seem strange to younger viewers. But before the mid 80's buffets were extremely rare. Not just in the restaurant world, but also hotels, weddings, catering, etc. It'd be a great topic for a documentary or an extended Company Man segment.

@mirzaahmed6589

28 күн бұрын

It was common in casinos going back to the 1940s.

@qbertq1

27 күн бұрын

I remember buffets and smorgasbord restaurants being all the rage in the early 1970s, at least in the Northeast.

@roberts3993

27 күн бұрын

in the detroit area we had several buffets in the late 70's and early 80's sveden house was a swedish themed smorgasboard type of place and duffs which had a rotating buffet gimmick where you stood in one place as all the food would rotate around and come to you. several hotels would offer buffet breakfasts on the weekends as well.

@beckigreen

27 күн бұрын

I’m 50 years old and buffet restaurants were around before the mid eighties. Shoney’s, Ponderosa, etc.

@beckigreen

27 күн бұрын

Buffets were around before the mid eighties. Shoney’s and Ponderosa were popular.

Nahhh this one boutta hit different. old country buffet was like THE PLACE for my lower middle class family hahaha. Every bday

Used to go to hometown with my whole family throughout the 2000s. They didnt have the variety Old Country seemed to have, but for a teenager it was just enough to stuff yourself full for the whole day. We stopped going because the prices kept rising and eventually we were priced out due to our big groups. We've been to Golden Corral a few times after all the Hometowns abruptly shut down here but its definitely a very different experience. It seems...messier for lack of a better word. The food is alright but as an adult its very hard to eat so many fried or greasy foods in one sitting. Not a big fan of no drink fountain either.

I worked as a delivery driver for a produce company out of Newport News, Va from '96 to '07. I delivered to the OCBs in Lynchburg, Roanoke, and Charlottesville. Later, I did Midlothian, which was a Hometown Buffet if my memory 's right, and Colonial Heights, and Fredericksburg. My wife and I frequented the Newport News store, which was less than a quarter mile away, and we had company meetings at the Hampton store. They always impressed me as having a clean kitchen. The staff and managers were always, across the board, among the better people I had to deal with on a delivery route. We delivered produce and chicken to them, and the chicken cooler always smelled like it had been freshly scrubbed, no off odors. They ordered tons of kale-it was decoration for the bar, you can see some of that in your video. I was sad to see them go. I felt ok eating there since I knew they kept clean. When they went, it was smoke in the wind. Fredericksburg hung on a little longer. Most became Asian buffets. Yeah, sad to see them go. More victims of corporate b. s.

My dad and his side of the family were huge fans of Old Country Buffet. I couldn't get enough of their cinnamon rolls!

@bettyconfettii

15 күн бұрын

Yummy

As a kid we went to a Kings Buffet many times. As a teen and young adult I took my girlfriend, eventually wife and kids, to Old Country Buffet. Which, eventually turned into a Hometown Buffet. Almost weirdly, we noticed during the last few years the quality kept going down. The food was less quality, cleanliness went downhill, prices skyrocketed and service became non-existent. The last time we went the food was bland and nasty, we were charged separately for drinks and everyone got a mild case of food poisoning. That was at least 5 years before the pandemic. What shame too because it used to be such a great place.

@michelletheado

27 күн бұрын

Funnily enough, I've been to the exact Kings Table shown on that ad. The building is still there, but it's a liquor store now :\

@grayfiresoul

26 күн бұрын

You're absolutely correct about these two things: Aside from the quality of service and personability of the staff, which are significant hinge factors for any restaurant's success, ingredient/recipe quality and in-house cleanliness near-cratered by the mid-2010s. I remember seeing this change in Sweet Tomatoes over 8 years.

I also remember King's Table. It's probably not big enough to get a look on this channel, but it's nice to see it mentioned.

OCB was such a mainstay of my childhood. Barely ever wanted to eat anywhere else.

I was on my second tour in Iraq when I somehow heard about their first bankruptcy. I tried my backside off to win the war and get home before they closed down. I wasn’t all that successful as we all know, but I like to think it helped clean up our AO.

@infallibleblue

27 күн бұрын

I appreciate you and I hope you have many hot delicious meals.

@JusNoBS420

27 күн бұрын

Thank you for your service. 🇺🇸

Can wait for your video on Golden Corral in the future 😃.

@aday1637

28 күн бұрын

Golden Corral used to be sit down and be served with a salad bar you could use while waiting. Then the dive into all buffet and I quit them. I don't like people sneezing on my food, rubber steaks, fighting over meat being carved by slow hand luke. And none of them are ever clean with food/plates piled up on tables for quite a while after diners leave. Just gross. Gross and food don't mix.

@Sonny_McMacsson

28 күн бұрын

@@aday1637 Must've been your location. It certainly doesn't sound like mine. But, I guess if a chain can't maintain consistency, they'd better start or it will catch up to them.

@Sonny_McMacsson

28 күн бұрын

I can wait too. The one I typically go to is consistently busy. Keep the toxic private equity away and it might be okay.

@corruptedpoison1

28 күн бұрын

@@aday1637 I have lived in 3 seperate states and all the golden corrals I have ever been too have been fairly clean.

@Jay-jb2vr

28 күн бұрын

I never experienced these things at Golden Coral. I could understand if it was Old Country Buffet though..

Memories of staggering home and then clogging the John. Great times

We had a Saturday morning motorcycle breakfast group that regularly went to the OCB in Roseville MN. Those were some good times.

When I was a little kid, we used to go back to Omaha Nebraska to visit family. Every single time we went back there we take my great-grandmother out to Old Country Buffet. It was her favorite restaurant. The thing I remember the most is that she would bring a wax paper baggie so she could smuggle a chicken breast home for lunch the next day. The last time I saw her alive I laughed and she looked right at me and put one finger to her lip to tell me to be quiet. I will never forget those memories.

@burymeinjhenny918

26 күн бұрын

My friend’s grandma used to steal silverware from home town buffet everytime she went lol

@booqueefious2230

24 күн бұрын

Lol my grandma would sneak out rolls in her purse. Apparantly a lot of our grandmas were petty thieves 😅

I loved this place as a kid. I hate that they are gone now.

@jxchamb

28 күн бұрын

Did you like hot fudge Sundays?

@Jay-jb2vr

28 күн бұрын

Everything from the millennial childhood is going up in smoke as the digital age is ongoing.

@Mshi-

26 күн бұрын

​@@Jay-jb2vr sad

@thedude5295

26 күн бұрын

@@Jay-jb2vr Yeah. As a Gen-Xer, I can tell you that by the time you're 50 the only place most of your childhood is going to exist is in your memories and conversations with old friends. The neighborhood I grew up in isn't even recognizable. It just doesn't exist anymore.

I don’t know how I missed this one. Old Country Buffet was my favorite back when I was a kid. It was the cheesecake for me. Thank you Company Man for this video ❤

Very interesting as always!

There was an Old country buffet here in Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania. Use to go there all the time on my parents came from Jersey to visit. Over the years their food quality really went down. They closed in I believe in 2016 during their 3rd bankruptcy. They didn't even give employees notice they closed the one night and went to reopen the next day only to see the doors chained shut with a notice that it was now closed.

I am Canadian and went to the Old Country Buffet 15 years ago, when visiting North Dakota. Best buffet I've ever had. Americans are always treated well with the best food products in the world. Sad this glorious American feast is long-gone.

@BasedEngineer

28 күн бұрын

I used to go there all the time as a kid. I always thought the food was ass. I'm glad they went out of business.

@ducky19991

28 күн бұрын

If you thought buffet food was the “best products in the world” I would hate to know what kinds of things you’re serving yourself in Canada…? 😧

@thrasherx2k1

28 күн бұрын

@@ducky19991 to be fair old country buffet in the 1990s was like having grandma’s home-cooked meals

@olivercharles2930

28 күн бұрын

bruh what

@NoodlesExtraMSG

28 күн бұрын

if you end up in East Coast, Shady Maple Smorgasbord will reignite those memories

Something that was overlooked was how well buffets catered to families. Everyone in the family was going to be happy eating at an Old Country Buffet in the 80s to early 90s. I miss OCB. The lunch and dinners as a child with the family and the breakfasts as a young adult with friends after staying up all night are very fond memories. I remember standing in line to be seated. My two favorite chains from a lower middle class childhood, OCB and Red lobster, are dead and dying.

Remember this chain and all the memories it provided but over the years it didn’t progress and like you said it being outdated was a big part to its downfall.

In the early 2010s, a Chinese buffet opened across the street from the Old Country Buffet location near my house. That buffet proved so popular that the Old Country Buffet location got closed in 2012, shortly before the company emerged from bankruptcy for the second time. Three years later, the Old Country Buffet was finally sold and it reopened as another locally owned buffet in 2016, which became more popular than the Chinese buffet, and this continued until mid-2021 when the Chinese buffet declared chapter 7 bankruptcy. Now the buffet that occupies the former Old Country Buffet location is in danger of closing itself due to economic issues.

@websoldier4576

27 күн бұрын

The War of the buffets...

@OffGridInvestor

26 күн бұрын

Buffet Wars of Somewhere Street

@thedude5295

26 күн бұрын

@@websoldier4576 Warren vs. Jimmy. FIGHT!

@rayelgatubelo

24 күн бұрын

I know an Old Country Buffet that got abandoned and the building reopened as a very popular hot pot/Korean BBQ restaurant.

@rctecopyright

24 күн бұрын

It's ironic seeing these buffets canalize each other

My family used to go to Home Town Buffet after church or whenever we had a big family gathering. I used to get cherry coke and add wedges of lemon thinking I created a new flavor. I only did it there, thinking it was a special drink at a special restaurant. When coke came out with all their crazy flavors, I just thought I did it first lol

@andrewhaywood1262

18 күн бұрын

I had quite the habit of getting orange Coke at Freestyle fountains before Orange Vanilla Coke came along. I still say that my version was better, only because I think orange CreamSicles are overrated.

I remember one summer night back in like 1998 me and my sister saw these two rotating spotlights in the sky miles away so we got our parents to drive out to them to see what it was and wouldn't you know it was a brand new opening of Old Country Buffet 😂 one of my earliest childhood memories

I used to go to hometown buffet in San Diego with all my family almost every other weekend after church on Sundays. Oh man was it an amazing experience always packed with a line out the door the service was good and everything was nice and clean. That was the ultimate spots for celebrations birthdays family reunions you name it. I still remember how much my sister loved that damn Mac and cheese they had I also really liked that they would partner up with local libraries to had out free passes if you read enough books. Hate to see it gone but those memories of waiting in line and eating as fast as I could to get my hands on them fresh warm chocolate chip cookies with a vanilla cone will always be in my heart :,(

I'm from San Diego and never knew Hometown Buffet was started here. Always learn something watching Company Man videos!

@stevewilson5749

27 күн бұрын

Work in the Chula Vista location for 20 years... miss everyone that I work with! 🤔😔😔 I was involved with the remolding if all the Hometown Buffet's locations (San Diego region)in 2010!

@robertewalt7789

23 күн бұрын

We used to OCB often, in NJ, sometimes Hometown Buffet and Golden Coral

@clvrswine

23 күн бұрын

@@stevewilson5749 *worked. You WORKED at the Chula Vista location, not work in... you miss everyone that you WORKED with, not work with. You were involved in the remodeling? Or was it remolding if all the locations? Dude. Spellcheck will probably not help you, but please try to have some level of pride.

My grandma would take my sister and I here usually 3 times a month back in the 90s and very early 2000s. My grandma passed away in August 2010 and I no longer found interest in going to any restaurants. But this place definitely brings back a lot of good memories.

I miss hometown buffet. I still taste the crab salad, the baked fish with tartar sauce, the Mac n cheese that nobody (except Luby’s) can match and the desert line with the ice cream machine and the butterscotch toppings. I’m 33. The restaurant in my area closed when I was 12.

I had some good memories as a kid going to Hometown Buffet, I remember everytime we would go up to the cashier to pay my mom would lie about my siblings age to get the kids cheap price ( I had 3 younger siblings) so the price for my younger sister, who was the second oldest, would've been significant. Then the self serve islands were always so fun to go to, our parents would always tell us to serve ourselves a healthy plate first ( salads, chicken, fish and/or veggies ) before moving on to whatever we wanted for our 2nd plate. We would usually have 3 plates before finishing off on desert which would either be Ice cream or a hot fudge brownie. My favorite go to dish will always be a spinach salad with ranch dressing, meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy with a side of crisscut french fries. RIP HomeTown Buffet gone but never forgotten.

I'm old enough to remember the King's Table from back in the '70s. Back then they called it a smorgasbord, rather than a buffet, but same thing.

I loved Old Country Buffet, I went back in 2010 every single Saturday morning for 3 months at a foster home I lived at. I ate countless strips of bacon, platters of pancakes, and an Olympic sized pool worth of their chocolate milk. Some of my best children memories happened there.

Never been to an old country buffet, but I’m from the south and we had our own Ryan’s Ryan’s disappearing kind of makes sense now used to love that place

The macaroni was so watery and delicious also the pizza and mashed potatoes were amazing. Everytime we went to town we’d either go there, Olive Garden, or Texas Roadhouse. That was our version of fancy eating out as a kid. And honestly we usually picked old country buffet. I miss them so much. I wish I could go back in time and go once more… Thank u soo much for making a vid on them we appreciate it so much!❤❤

Ryans was so awesome back in the day. Went there with my grandma every time I stayed with her and I got to eat anything I wanted. Such great memories.

used to go to hometown with my family after church every weekend. The fried chicken was incredible and all of the desserts and stuff were great too. We would always go home and fall into a food coma. I always miss that place when I drive by the building

@beedeepresents

28 күн бұрын

The chicken!!!

@aday1637

28 күн бұрын

Haven't heard that expression (food coma) in years. Do people still have those after over-eating? Food is so expensive now that you'd have to save for a year to have a 'coma' from it.

@thrasherx2k1

28 күн бұрын

People these days don’t understand truly how good their food was in the 90s

7:15 I remember a Old Country Buffet on the west coast in Lynnwood Washington. I remember I ate so much that I barely had any or no room for dessert. I made sure I got my money's worth as a growing teenager. lol

I'm excited to hear you talk about Golden Corral in the future. I love that place!

We used to go there after Church every Sunday. My Mom, loved it. I used to like their stuffing...

I miss buffets. It was always so nice for when you wanted to go out, but you didn't know for sure what you wanted so here was a bit of everything.

@kennethscalir3092

27 күн бұрын

There are still plenty of buffets in the USA

@Jasonwolf1495

27 күн бұрын

@@kennethscalir3092 Not where I am. We had old country and that's it. We dont even have golden corral.

I loved OCB when I was a youngster! We would always prank our friends by having staff do happy birthday over the intercom.

Oh the that 2000 buyout, as a GM there I got a huge divided payout from that stock buyback. In 2002 when I was about to collect the first 50k GM retention bonus check, OCB closed my location....

I used to work at Hometown Buffet during the "Glory years" right outta high school between 2000-2002 as a Greeter/ Server. I must say you really see the worst that humanity has to offer working at a buffet, including piling up your plate 2 stories tall just to take one bite and leave it behind to people fighting over the last slice of carved roast beef...good times 😅 but i must say the Burbank, CA location was still doing ok but COVID really was the last nail in the coffin.

@panzerkorps2122

20 күн бұрын

I remember that location! Still doesn’t have a tenant to this day.

I have great memories of going to Old Country Buffet with my family in the late 80s and 90s. It was a place we went to about once or twice a month, usually on a Friday or Saturday night when my parents did not want to cook. It was somewhere where everyone could get something they liked at a decent price. Sadly, that location closed in the mid 2000s due to the rush of new construction, businesses, and restaurants on the other side of town that were happening then.

@jxchamb

28 күн бұрын

Was it hot out there?

I haven't been there in like 20 years at least. Maybe more I kinda forgot about it. Thanks for exploring this company .

Never been to a old country buffet, but we did have a local hometown buffet that closed a couple years ago. Loved going there.

Genuinely ive never been more sad over a business going under than Hometown Buffet. I had so many great memories there it was definitely the most nostalgic restaurant from my childhood. I remember eating at the last one before they shut down for good. I wish I knew it was going to be the last time.

Because of the scaling prices for kids, it was actually cheaper for my family to eat at OCB, so when my siblings and I were kids we went there a lot. Prices crept up over the years, but it was still affordable, even for multiple teenagers with big appetites that were paying full price. It's when they started charging extra and separately for drinks and desserts is when we stopped going. It got far more expensive and the food quality seemed to go down. I will say, OCB is the place that showed me I could have a salad that was delicious. So many options! The concoctions my brother would make from all the different drinks. Sneaking peas into my brother's ice cream, because he refused to eat veggies. Shooting the paper off the straws at my sisters. Good memories.

@zlinedavid

17 күн бұрын

I remember those “salads”. A sprinkling of lettuce, turkey, ham, bacon, two kinds of cheese, croutons and a gallon and a half of dressing 😂

This it in a nutshell. I miss old country buffet. I loved the fried chicken,mashed potatoes,roast beef and the deserts o m g i wish they would come back 😊

I found this episode to be fascinating! If I remember correctly (I was a kid at the time) Old Country Buffet opened first in our county. Its location wasn't horrible, but it was to far for my family so we only went there on special occasions. What I found interesting is when Old Country Buffet bought Hometown Buffet, a Hometown opened not too far down the road from the Old Country Buffet location. Hometown was closer to us and we went there nearly every Sunday after church. It was amazing! They had the best ranch dressing ever and their cheesecake was to die for! It seems like Old Country Buffet struggled to survive after Hometown opened and closed in the early 2000s. Hometown lasted until the mid 2010s before closing. Unfortunately for my county, we don't have a Golden Corral, so the only buffets we have now are Chinese buffets (one of them took over the Hometown location). They're good, but it's just not the same. I'd love for Hometown to come back! I miss their ranch! 💔 P.S. Can you tell I'm a Midwesterner? 🤣 #ranchdressingislife

I went to one back in the early 2000s as a kid, and I distinctly remember a chocolate milk dispenser that I was obsessed with.

This one hurt and hit home. A victim of changing times and a casualty of the pandemic. Old Country Buffet was one of my favorite parts of my childhood and their breakfast was top tier. I miss it so much.

Oh my God! Why you gotta bring me down nostalgia road?? Country Buffet was so good! Lil Harposhi would go there with his family on weekends usually, and that was the one time I would ever get to drink unlimited cups of chocolate milk. Now here you go again, spoiling my appetite (lol). We appreciate you for all the hard work you do on KZread!

I took my kids there in the early 2000's on Fridays or Saturdays, I missed Old Country Buffett so much 😢, I always went after the Fried battered shrimp and salads those were my favorite there, my kids loved the fried fish, French fries etc.. and we always got desserts smile 😊, my kids father introduced me to Old Country Buffet that was our 1st restaurant that we ate at together, he told me it was Ryans restaurant 1st, then they changed it to Old Country Buffet, that was my 1st time I ever ate at a all you can eat buffet in the late 80's, I will always have found family memories..

Now I miss Old Country Buffet and my grandpa.

" Do you like hot fudge sundaes?" 😂

@aday1637

28 күн бұрын

Where the kids hang around the chocolate lava fountain and stick their fingers in then lick them off over and over as a form of baby sitting by their parents and other adults nearby, ignoring them? I saw this first hand in a Golden Corral and haven't been back since.

@Sonny_McMacsson

28 күн бұрын

I prefer cryo-fudge sundaes.

@That_Lady_Charlie

27 күн бұрын

Did you try the lasagna? It's my favorite!

I worked at one in SW Michigan for two weeks. It was such a nightmare that I walked in holding my uniform neatly folded, headed towards the manager who asked “WHY aren’t you in uniform?” And I dropped it in his hands and said with a smile, “I quit.”

Me and my mom used to call the cake squares affectionately "Cheap Cake" :) Lots of memories at old country and hometown buffets.

Was a Hometown Buffet person (you used the signage of the one I went to, in Garden Grove, CA in the video). Anytime I visited my family while on leave, it was tradition that we visited Hometown Buffet before I went back to my unit. Great memories. Of note; that HTB location, after years of abandonment, is now a buffet again with more of Asian theme menu and busy.

I’m more of a golden coral sort of guy, but I’m curious to hear about this once beloved buffet

Nostalgia overload with this one!! I used to go to Old Country Buffet almost every single weekend with my dad until at least 2001-2002. Had to have the hiemlich maneuver done on me when I choked on the Mac n cheese one time. Great memories 😅😂

OCB was great we had one in Massachusetts right where i lived as a kid loved going there it was a treat lol

my mother worked as a marketer for OCB in the mid-2000s. she did everything from organizing the local events to redecorating the store to dressing up in the bee mascot costume and handing out free meal tickets. i ate there almost every night, since i got a free meal and she raised me alone, and i spent a lot of time there after school in my preadolescence. ours was going sharply downhill then, even with a partnership with the local schools to eat there on field trips, and tanked due to reputation issues. i had always known, after all, not to eat certain dry goods for fear of bugs. they shut down two years after they laid her off and cut the position.

@handsomeX

25 күн бұрын

Oh wow great memories! Yeah buffets are very tough to run. Probably the toughest in the entire restaurant business.

The old country buffet i used to go to as a kid in the 90's and early 2000's was next to a toys r us. The old counry buffet closed long before the toys r us, but every other store in that shopping center is now closed as well.

I'm from LI, NY and we had one that closed down several years ago. I'll always miss their fried chicken, it was so good. The desserts were also tasty, they had what I think is called an apple brown Betty that was one of my favorites. This location had a soft-serve ice cream machine and you could put it on basically anything. I'd get orange soda each visit and fill the top up with the ice cream. Good times that I'll never have again :(

YES!😂 Hahaha Company Man actually showed the Old Country Buffet Guy training video! I was wondering if any of it was gonna appear in this video when I seen it was about OCB. And yes I would love to see a separate video about Golden Corral please.

I’m so happy you did this one I’ve been went on for you to do it. I was born in 1992. This was the best place that me and my family used to love to go and eat. We had birthday parties, special occasions and holidays. We used to go there all the time I miss this place a lot. and we had a lot of great memories.😔

Been waiting all day for this, the little pick me up i need! Thanks for years of coming through every week

When my family was posted to the US, the only sit-down-style resteraunt we had close to us was an Old Country Buffet. In the 3 years we were down south, we probably went there at least 75 times. The food was average to great, but the prices were the best part. For roughly 50USD, our family of 4 could eat as much as we wanted, which we did, and even occasionally took leftovers home. We went there more than we used to drive thrus or fast food restaurants. I loved their Mac&Cheese, so it's sad to see what has happened over the years.

I miss Old Country Buffet, we used to have one in East Meadow NY and it was my favorite spot to go. I miss them days 😢

That training video is a Classic!! "Did you get a chance to watch the game last night?" "Have you tried the lasagna? It's my favorite" 🤩 😂

@stephenm8725

27 күн бұрын

alright

@plunksong

24 күн бұрын

where was that in the video?

Man did I love this place. It now lives on with an amazing training video!

Old Country Buffet as well Hometown Buffet were restaurants in the Midwest and western USA. Most of the food was good, but the business model was sketchy. The restaurants were run like a circus; get them in the door, feed them bland food, then get them out the door and repeat throughout the night. In Hometown Buffet's case, they had a separate restaurant called Tahoe Joe's, the food was similar to what was served in Hometown Buffet, but the prices were close to $10 more expensive. Very hard to justify when you setup a restaurant in a college town!

Recently I tried hunting down the one we had in St. Louis back in the 90s. I always loved going there as a kid