Get Latest Business News from All Over the World 24/7 throughout the Year: I tried Golden Corral's to-go buffet and while I think the chain is poised for huge success, I won't be back

Traditionally sit-down buffet chain Golden Corral launched a new to-go option.
I was shocked at how busy the restaurant was with dine-in customers midday on a Wednesday.
I'm convinced fears of the Delta variant can't stop people's desire to get back out to their favorite restaurants.
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Golden Corral locations in New York were closed for much of the last year.

Golden Corral sign — Golden Corral now has to-go options.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

When it reopened this summer, it had a to-go option that I was excited to try out.

Source: Insider

"Our business model was virtually outlawed overnight," Golden Corral CEO Lance Trenary told Insider.

Source: Insider

None of Golden Corral's nearly 500 locations were allowed to open dining rooms in the early days of the pandemic, and "there were some dark days," he said.

Source: Insider

Though I went at about 11:30 am on a Wednesday, I was surprised to see how busy the restaurant was. The parking lot was at least half full.

Golden Corral parking lot — Golden Corral now has to-go options.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

I've been to Golden Corral's buffet before, but I wasn't sure how it would work with a to-go model.

Golden Corral to-go — Golden Corral now has to-go options.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

I was pleasantly surprised to see a sign requesting masks on the door when I walked in. New York state has no mask requirement, but the county the restaurant is in has "substantial" COVID transmission, and the CDC recommends masking indoors.

Golden Corral masks — Golden Corral now has to-go options.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

Source: Democrat and Chronicle

Inside, there were signs advertising the to-go option, though I didn't see anyone else taking advantage of it during my trip.

The cashier handed me a plastic takeout container, which I could fill with food and then weigh to find out how much my meal would cost.

Dine-in customers could grab plates from the display here.

Golden Corral serving station — Golden Corral now has to-go options.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

Some sections of the restaurant were closed off to customers.

Golden Corral interior — Golden Corral now has to-go options.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

The closed areas didn't seem to be in service of social distancing, though. People were packed fairly closely together in the seating areas.

Golden Corral busy — Golden Corral now has to-go options.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

For the most part, the serving stations looked mostly unchanged from pre-COVID times.

Golden Corral serving station salad — Golden Corral now has to-go options.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

The salad bar, like other sections, was still open and self-serve.

There are sneeze guards over all the serving stations, although they felt very small and not that protective.

I did a round of the entire store to sample a bit of everything for the real Golden Corral experience.

The chain has a decent variety of food, including breakfast, pasta, pizza, and fried chicken.

I could see cooks working behind the stations, and some areas like the mashed potatoes looked freshly refilled.

Parts of the restaurant felt a bit unsanitary given the highly contagious Delta variant, but there were some efforts to minimize transmission.

Signs throughout the food stations asked customers to use a clean plate on each buffet trip.

There were disposable gloves available for customers who wanted to wear them when touching the communal serving utensils, but I didn't see anyone use them. Admittedly, I also did not use them, they felt like more trouble than they were worth.

The dessert area was probably the most COVID-friendly. Cookies and cakes were in individual bowls, so customers didn't need to touch the same spoon or dish.

Golden Corral chocolate fountain — Golden Corral now has to-go options.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

The chocolate fountain was the only station that wasn't self serve - customers had to ask for help from a worker and could not touch the fountain themselves.

There were also two hand sanitizer stations, one at either end of the restaurant.

Golden Corral hand sanitizer — Golden Corral now has to-go options.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

No other customers seemed to be wearing masks. Some workers wore masks, but most didn't or had them down around their chins.

The hostess stand had a small shelf of cleaning supplies.

After seeing how many customers were inside, I was glad that I could take my food to go and eat it in my apartment.

To checkout and pay, the cashier weighed the containers. It worked similarly to a hot bar at a place like Wegmans.

We got the food packed up in a Golden Corral bag, and we were good to go.

Golden Corral to-go boxes — Golden Corral now has to-go options.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

I wasn't sure how well the food would travel, but I was excited to try it.

Our verdict was that the food didn't look particularly good, but it was definitely tasty. We mostly went for the fried foods, the vegetables didn't look very appetizing.

Two moderately-full takeout containers cost $26 total.

Ultimately eating at Golden Corral did not feel very safe right now, even though I'm vaccinated. However, I think the number of customers during my visit shows that there's still major demand for the buffet chain, and COVID-19 isn't slowing that down.

Do you have a story to share about a retail or restaurant chain? Email this reporter at mmeisenzahl@businessinsider.com.

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