GLOBAL BUFFET AND GRILL, Levittown, NY - UPDATE!

Global Buffet and Grill has not yet opened. The sign is still on the building saying it is "Coming Soon". From outside it is clear that work is continually being done - so we sent scouts out to go there and tell us what could be seen inside.

It is very obvious from what could be seen - it it that was considerable - that this is going to be an Asian buffet - or perhaps a combination Asian and international buffet. The rear wall of the restaurant could be seen fairly well through the windows (though it was very dark inside) and there are large backlit painted or stained glass art pictures lining that wall. Since they are backlit, they could been clearly seen. They seem to be framed in chrome or polished steel.

There seemed to be a lot of polished steel or chrome and/or brass in the decor. The buffet tables are set up and plentiful and they line up in rows front to back taking up about half the main dining room of what once was Old Country Buffet. These were seen from a distance through an open door. It was not possible to see anything of the grill.

This does not seem to be in anyway a "simple" or "everyday" buffet restaurant. From the decor that could be seen, it will be a surprise if this turns out to be what for this location an "affordable" buffet.

As to one of our readers who somehow was convinced that this will be a "Halal"  restaurant - highly unlikely - and in fact - the restaurant this reader came across or found out about is an catering hall/restaurant with the same name - Global Buffet and Grill - that is located in Canada and can be seen with a simple Google search.  This nothing like that - and it is extremely highly unlikely that there is any connection.

To lend more to that, looking up the corporation information on the new to come restaurant in Levittown, the corporate name has been modified to "Master Grill and Global Buffet, Inc.".  When I saw that ("Master Grill") before we knew what the interior is looking like, I was pretty certain that this is a name for an Asian Buffet company.


So - this is all conjecture based on what could be seen in a dimly lit room under construction through partially closed blinds and one half open side door. It is more than we knew before.

I was hopeful that we were getting an affordable "home-style/country" buffet. From what has been seen - it will not be. The one thing we don't need in this area is another Asian buffet. With one directly across the street, another in the next village that went out of business thinking that this area could support an Asian buffet at upscale prices that despite one time great food and even an attempt at lowering prices could not remain in business, and an upscale priced "international" buffet in the town north west of that.  Maybe we all will be surprised. The decor of Flaming Grill in Baldwin is similar in style to this - chandeliers and fancy decor, and is one of the most reasonably priced Asian buffets on Long Island - but they are part of a chain. There is no chain involved here that we can uncover.

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Don't hold your breath for a Golden Corral to come to Long Island. The company has emphatically said no - not unless a franchiser wants to put up the money and take the risk. The two new Golden Corrals - Newburgh, NY and West Milford, CT - both in former OCB locations are having problems and we have been advised by readers to not go until they get themselves straightened out.