I've got to shill for yet another all you can eat Polish buffet in Chicagoland that has been open for 40+ years. Warsaw Inn. That buffet is really amazing. So good! Go there. Eat all the different kinds of pierogies.
But also, they mostly just serve polish food, and I don't remember much if any seafood around either. It seems like for different types of buffets you'd have different food costs. Like a sushi buffet probably takes more than a taco buffet.
But the article says they think delivery food options killed the buffet. I'm not so sure, I think fast casual chains were around a lot earlier and did a lot of damage. You had the same labor savings with not needing dedicated wait-staff, and you could get a lot of people through the doors. While you can't cook in huge quantities, I'm sure they do a huge amount of all the prep in batches, which is how they can get the food out relatively quickly.
But also, they mostly just serve polish food, and I don't remember much if any seafood around either. It seems like for different types of buffets you'd have different food costs. Like a sushi buffet probably takes more than a taco buffet.
But the article says they think delivery food options killed the buffet. I'm not so sure, I think fast casual chains were around a lot earlier and did a lot of damage. You had the same labor savings with not needing dedicated wait-staff, and you could get a lot of people through the doors. While you can't cook in huge quantities, I'm sure they do a huge amount of all the prep in batches, which is how they can get the food out relatively quickly.