Golden Corral Adds More Fountains

I have written before about Golden Corral's Chocolate Wonderfall - a chocolate fountain at the center of their dessert bar. Apparently, despite the, perhaps unrealized, drawbacks of melted chocolate fountains, they must feel that this is very popular - they have just added two more similar fountains to their restaurants.

Golden Corral buffets now have THREE "wonderfalls" - fountains - the original chocolate, and now, white chocolate, and sweet caramel. These are grouped together at the dessert bar next to the dip ins that go into the "falls" - fresh strawberries, fresh apple slices, marshmallows, and rice crispy treats squares.

The idea sounds great. It is the application that becomes the problem. A chocolate fountain (as I have written before) needs supervision to make sure that only food which has not been touched goes into the hot liquid which will be consumed back at the dining table. Not been touched means a wood skewer is used to pick up the dip item and that skewer is used to dip the food into the liquid. This usually does not happen. Lots of fingers go into the dip in containers and pick up the food. Lots of fingers that have been in mouths and who knows where else. Then there are the children - and adults - that just put their fingers in for a lick - and then back in for another. And, and for those allergic to anything beware that something you should not eat - even something on the buffet that is not part of the dip ins - most likely has gone into the chocolate, caramel, or white chocolate and has left remnants of itself behind (not including that which falls in and never is recovered until the fountain is cleaned that night. Well, I have said this all before and won't repeat the rant again. I am not sure why this is not a Board of Health violation in just about every state.

I am not sure where they are fitting these two other fountains into some of the Golden Corrals I have been to. There was barely room for the chocolate fountain, much less adding two more into the same space - and fitting in the first took dessert items away that had been in that space. It will be interesting to see on my next trip to Golden Corral what desserts have been removed to accommodate three "wonderfalls".

I like Golden Corral. I consider them currently the top buffet chain. They just don't always make the right decisions on what they bring in as a "feature". This includes the make it to order seafood stir fry which caused long lines that blocked other areas of the buffet - and at some small Golden Corrals, made parts of the buffet inaccessible, and it includes the "chocolate wonderful" which is now three "wonderfalls".