Friday, October 04, 2013

Return to a KFC Buffet

There are not many KFC buffets  - Kentucky Fried Chicken. These are KFC eat in and take out restaurants that in addition to the regular take out/eat in menu on the wall, offer a buffet at the front counter of select KFC items. These KFC restaurants will say "Buffet" on the sign in front of the restaurant. If it does not say "buffet" there is no buffet inside - and that is the majority of KFC locations. KFC will now identify KFC buffets on their restaurant location page of their website IF you check the "BUFFET" box on the location locator, but no where else on KFC's website is buffet mentioned. Here is the website for the chain. The buffet is served only from 4 pm to 8 pm, 7 days a week. The restaurants are open past 8, but the buffet will be closed down - and when it was being closed down one of the employees came over to us to inform us that it was about to be and if we wanted more we had to go up then to get it.

We went for the first time a year ago and were in that location again - Williamsburg, Virginia - and decided to go back. The food was good but the selection was not as good as it had been a year ago.

The buffet includes all you care to eat from the buffet counter and an unlimited refill soda or ice tea. The buffet is one price and you you are given a cup and one large and one small foam plate when you pay at the counter. When you are ready to go back for more, you go up to the counter at the registers and ask for another plate. If there is a line at the register you wait at the side and hope to be noticed or make yourself politely known and you are given the plate.

On the buffet this year there was fried chicken - original recipe and extra crispy, mashed potatoes, green beans and an assortment of other vegetables, macaroni and cheese, stewed tomatoes, a sweet potato casserole, rolls, potato salad, macaroni salad, cole slaw, pickles, hot pickled peppers, more side dishes and desserts that included banana pudding, jello, and other puddings.  Missing from the buffet this time was the chicken and biscuits (chicken pot pie) that is still on the menu board but now, not on the buffet. None of the grilled chicken or new boneless chicken was on the buffet, however, when we were on the line first going up to the register a man in front of us ordered the buffet and asked to have the grilled chicken that was not on the buffet. He was handed a plate full of grilled chicken - at least four pieces. So if you ask, it MAY BE possible to get something not on the buffet that they have on the menu.

On this visit, all of the pieces of chicken regardless of crispy or original were chicken breasts. You can't really complain about that unless you like drumsticks and thighs. We do. At the end of our visit which was almost the time the buffet was to be shut down, some chicken thighs appeared mixed in.  I would have liked to have taken a variety of chicken pieces just to vary the meal, especially as the chicken and biscuit dish was not there and fried chicken breasts were the only meat to be had.

This is KFC food. It is just the same food that is coming from the kitchen behind the counter and going into the buckets and orders that everyone else is getting. If you don't like KFC food then you will not like eating at a KFC buffet. We don't regularly go to KFCs to eat but we both like the food and the buffet is well worth the price - I am not going to say the price as it will vary by location but it is well under $10, includes the drink, and is cheaper than ordering off the menu board for a combination of some items that are on the buffet, even if you were just taking a one portion size and no more.

We certainly had all we wanted and we were very satisfied after the meal. I will definitely go back. And as it was different this time from last, it may be different again next time.

The KFC Buffet that we went to is located at 1545 Richmond Road, Williamsburg, VA 23185. Their phone number is(757) 229 - 7212.




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