BUFFETS, INC. IN BANKRUPTCY AGAIN

On Wednesday, January 18, 2012, Buffets, Inc. the parent corporation of Old Country Buffet, Ryans, Hometown Buffet, Fire Mountain,Grannie's Buffet, and Tahoe Joe's voluntarily filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 in the Federal Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. This is the second bankruptcy filed by this corporation in four years - the first in 2008. They stated that their intention was a reorganization that they worked out with "senior lenders" who hold 83% of the corporation's debt.

On Thursday, January 19th, on the Old Country Buffet Facebook page the corporation posted the following statement:

"The decision to close a restaurant and leave one of our communities is always a tough one for us. We know there is an impact not only for our own associates, but also for the guests who have supported us. Unfortunately, the realities of today's economy mean that we have to make hard decisions, and we sincerely regret that we won't be able to continue to serve our loyal guests in some locations. Thank you for being part of our family."

The comments that followed were all focused on what does this mean - what locations are you closing. It was soon discovered through web search that Buffets, Inc. would close 81 of their 494 restaurants spread across all of the chains that they own. It was also discovered that the corporation would not disclose the list of restaurants that they would be closing in respect of the employees to be affected who they wanted to inform first. Sounds nice, doesn't it. Here is what happened.

On Friday, January 20, 2012, representatives of Buffets, Inc. walked through the doors of 81 restaurants and informed managers and employees that this would be their last day of employment. This was their idea of personal and advanced notice. Customers were shocked to visit these restaurants and find a closed sign on the door.

Many of you who read this site regularly will recall when the the same Buffets, Inc. bought the Ryan's chain several years ago and then walked in to many, many of those restaurants the same way and announced that the location was closed - no advanced notice to anyone. You read here the reaction of employees and location managers who told their stories in comments made to articles on this site about the closing - and articles were devoted just to them.

Of course, this is not the first, or second time that Buffets, Inc. has done this. When the first bankruptcy was declared by them in 2008, they closed 50 restaurants.

The CEO of the corporation, Mike Andrews, states that a store by store examination was made of "financial performance occupancy costs, market conditions and long-term strategy" and that stores that were closed were "under-performing". If you go by customer, employee, and manager reports this was not the case - and a number of the restaurants closed were busy and making money. They also announced that they "need to gain more favorable lease terms with the rest of the landlords, and Buffets said additional closings could be required if leases cannot be modified on acceptable terms" ( quotes from GlobeSt.com). So there is a good chance you may still travel to your nearest OCB and find it closed.

Restaurants were closed across the country. There still is no complete list from Buffets, Inc. that has been made public. There are reports on OCB's Facebook from customers of some of the stores that they have seen closed. Buffets sent emails to those on their email offers list in areas where stores were closed that included a coupon to take to the next closest OCB which was named in the email - some more than fifty miles away. Those with gift cards would have to find another OCB to use them at - and in some areas there just were not any to be found. Thanks to a reader - here is a list of those locations closed last week:

BROOKFIELD, WI - OCB, ANDERSON #1, SC - RYAN,TAYLOR, MI - OCB, COLUMBIA #2, SC - RYAN, RACINE, WI - OCB, GREENVILLE #2, SC - RYAN, FLINT #2, MI - OCB, MARTINEZ, GA - RYAN, LOMBARD, IL - OCB, WARNER-ROBINS, GA - RYAN, WESTFIELD, IN (T) - OCB, CALHOUN, GA - RYAN, WESTLAND, MI - OCB, NORTH CHARLESTON, SC - RYAN, NORRISTOWN, PA - OCB, CANTON, GA - RYAN, INDIANAPOLIS #2, IN - OCB, JOHNSON CITY, TN - RYAN, WEST SPRINGFIELD, MA - HTB, FAYETTEVILLE, NC - RYAN,
FLORISSANT, MO - HTB, SLIDELL, LA - RYAN, GOSHEN/ELKHART, IN - OCB, BEAUMONT, TX - RYAN, FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS, IL - HTB, WHITE SETTLEMENT, TX - RYAN, WEST DUNDEE, IL - OCB, BATON ROUGE #2, LA - RYAN, SOUTHGATE, MI - OCB, GASTONIA, NC - RYAN, SPRINGFIELD, PA - OCB, TULSA #2, OK - RYAN, ANN ARBOR, MI - OCB, CONWAY, AR - RYAN, COUNTRYSIDE, IL (T) - OCB, CLARKSVILLE, TN - RYAN, NAPERVILLE, IL - OCB, JACKSON, TN - RYAN, MOUNT CLEMENS, MI - OCB, NEW BRAUNSFELS, TX - RYAN,
BENSALEM, PA - OCB, SENECA, SC - RYAN, SPOKANE #2, WA - OCB, MURFREESBORO, TN - RYAN, VESTAL, NY - OCB, AUSTIN, TX - RYAN, KENOSHA, WI - OCB, CARTERSVILLE, GA - RYAN, MECHANICSBURG, PA - OCB, OAKRIDGE, TN - RYAN, O'FALLON, MO - HTB, CLEVELAND, TN - RYAN, GREENSBURG, PA - OCB, STOCKBRIDGE, GA - RYAN, BUTLER, PA - OCB, WILKESBORO, NC - FMTN, LONG BEACH, CA - HTB, GEORGETOWN, SC - RYAN, LOUISVILLE #3, KY - HTB, MARIETTA, OH - RYAN, WYNCOTE, PA - OCB, THOMASVILLE, GA - RYAN, BRADLEY, IL - OCB, HOT SPRINGS, AR - RYAN, NORTHLAKE, IL - OCB, SPRINGFIELD #2, MO - RYAN, MACON #2, GA - RYAN, SPOKANE #1, WA - OCB, OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - RYAN, MORRISTOWN, TN - RYAN, LANCASTER, CA - HTB, TILLMANS CORNER, AL - RYAN, CONCORD MILLS, NC - RYAN, UNION CITY, CA - HTB, AUBURN, IN - RYAN, SPANISH FORT, AL - RYAN, WEST HARTFORD, CT - HTB, ARLINGTON, TX - RYAN, WARWICK, RI - HTB, CANTON, OH - HTB, JOLIET #2, IL - OCB

My most sincere wishes and condolences to those employees and managers who now find themselves out of work. If you are reading this and wish to comment, please do so (please keep the language as civil as possible as this is a family site and I want to include what all of you have to say). In these difficult economic times this is a tragic. There are employees who have worked for this company for twenty years who are now out on the street without a job. I have to wonder what cut in salary Mr. Andrews has taken and what cuts of the corporate level management and employees. It is easy,Mr. Andrews, to sit in a large office building and play with the lives of people who depend on you for the livelihood of themselves and their families off in your distant locations. You are not the one who has to look at them as they walk out the door for the last time.

Sad times, and becoming just too commonplace.

BUFFET EUROPA UNDER NEW OWNERSHIP

I have been informed by one of our readers that on a very recent visit to Buffet Europa, he discovered the restaurant was sold. The restaurant remains in business but the original owners are gone, and apparently have moved to Jersey City, New Jersey.

This reader reports that they went into the restaurant, immediately learned that there were new owners and then they looked around at the buffet to decide if they wanted to stay and try it. They had been to Buffet Europa before and saw nothing of what they expected. As the reader put it to me, they did not like what they saw and left.

For all of you have been to Buffet Europa - the restaurant that this site chose as the "Best Small Buffet of 2oo9" - this is a real tragedy. I say this because it was the two people who ran this restaurant all on their own who made this the unique and wonderful place that it was.

I cannot judge the new owners or their cooking or the food that they are serving. It may be very nice - though as I say, I reported above what a reader encountered when he and his wife went their. I have been told that the ethnicity of the new owner is not the same as the original owners who were Italian and Polish - and the reason why this European cuisine featuring buffet was so good. Whether that should make any difference remains to be seen.

I have looked at the website and it remains exactly the same as it always has - the site shows the same hours, days, and menu items on the buffet. There is no mention of new owners and the links to all of the reviews remain from various media including ours. Of course, that review no longer holds true without the people who made this restaurant so special.

I look upon this is just one more notch in this bad economy's belt. We have speculated for a few months now how they could remain in business with the few customers that would be there on nights that several of our readers and I have been there in 2010. A month or so ago we learned that they had closed for renovations - and from the description of the person who spoke to our reader that time and the person who spoke to the reader who informed us of the new owner - well, that had to be the same person.

For now, I can no longer recommend Buffet Europa until some of our readers report back to me - if they try it - how the food is now. Maybe they will be pleasantly surprised. I hope so. Whether I will return any time soon remains to be seen - and if I do, I, too, would go in prepared to walk right back out if I don't see what I think is a quality meal being served. If you go to Buffet Europa after you see this article please leave a comment. If you have been there before - even within the last few months it was likely you were there with the original owners - so to be current with this restaurant - only comment on the food if you are there from here on.

Buffet Europa is located at 1000 Arron Road, North Brunswick, New Jersey 08902.

Farewell, Buffet Europa. Maybe the nice couple who started this restaurant will open another just as good in a location deserving of the food that they serve and they get the business that they should.

TWO RYAN'S RESTAURANTS CLOSE

BREAKING NEWS -

I have heard from a former Ryans employee in Georgia who has just lost his job when the Ryan's Buffet closed in Buford, Georgia on November 18, 2008. He said that he also learned that another Ryan's was closed in Athens, Georgia on the same day.

This distraught former employee could not understand the closing of his restaurant as this Ryan's recently hired a new manager and business was beginning to improve. The statement by Buffets, Inc. initially was that the Ryan's stores were not making money. Here is a store that has started to make money again and it is closed. Several of the Ryan's managers who have commented on this site have said that their restaurants were threatened and their restaurants were high income producers. The saddest thing is that another company approached Buffets, Inc. and the Bankruptcy Court to take over these Ryan's Restaurants and keep them open - with a generous offer made to Buffets, Inc. As I have formerly reported, Buffets, Inc. turned down the offer.

Is this the beginning of the closings of the restaurants in this chain that Buffets, Inc. was directed by the Federal Bankruptcy Court to keep open? For a number of weeks I have not heard from Ryans employees and managers who had been commenting on the several articles regarding the problems at Ryan's restaurants and Buffets Inc. who had intended to close them (but were stopped by the Court). I had assumed that things had somewhat settled down and that the restaurants and their employees were no longer living under a threat. Perhaps that was a wrong assumtion to make, as this new news is most distressing.

As this former Ryan's worker stated (you can read his comment in Breaking News - OCB Wants to Close 127 Ryans" article) - this is a terrible economic time to be out of work and have to look for a job. With the Holidays upon us it is even more terrible.

My heart goes out to all those who lost thier jobs at these two Ryan's restaurants. I would like to hope that these would be the only Ryan's closed but I, sadly, hate to say that probably will not be.

If any of my Ryan's employees readers are reading this, please comment and let us know how your location is doing and what the most recent news is in the Bankruptcy/Closing proceedings.

A Good Old Country Buffet

A number of those who read my articles think that I do not like Old Country Buffet. That is not true. I have been to a number of Old Country Buffets that I have enjoyed. Unfortunately - for me - my local OCB is not good and it is this location that gets much of my attention. I have recently been contacted by a reader who had a great experience at an Old Country Buffet and he has given me permission to pass his experience along to all of you.

Before I begin his tale, I would like to make some OCB news known. It is not relevant to the review of this restaurant but it is important to know about OCB. The parent company of Old Country Buffets (and Hometown Buffets, Ryans, and Fire Mountain) has filed Chapter 11 for bankruptcy. It is just about a year or so since the take over by this company of the Ryans restaurants group and now has filed bankruptcy. I am told that the move has been to avoid debts to its creditors and that the chains will not go out of business. I have been told that some local restaurants have held back on payment to vendors and creditors. It has also been said that over 50 restaurants will be closed in the reorganization. I am told that some have closed already. I have been told that effects have already been seen on changes in middle management and restaurant management. Locations that do good business will remain open. All of this is hearsay and I do not claim these statements as fact - with the exception of the fact that Buffets, Inc. has filed for bankruptcy. Some readers have spoken to their local restaurants and have told me that those restaurants are expected to remain in business because they do good busines for the company. All Old Country Buffets are company owned. The Hometown Buffet restaurants are franchised.

Now, let me let one of our readers, Brett, tell you about a great experience that he had at an Old Country Buffet in Erie, Pennsylvania -

"We normally buffet for lunch (opposite for you) but tonight I found myself at OCB around 8:15pm for dinner.

I was expecting to pay the $12.49 for dinner as I had seen on the blog as  the new weekend price, but it was only $10.59, the normal dinner price,which was a pleasant surprise. 

Throughout the evening, items were constantly replenished with the same item, with nothing running out. There was lots of seafood, and the fried 
popcorn shrimp were nothing short of delicious. 

Tonight at the grill they had steak, plus the usual carved ham, beef roast, and the BBQ beef ribs. The grill chef, who constantly grills steak and cuts and serves them to order a la Golden Corral, was (as always) 
attentive with the carved items.

The steak I had was medium rare, thick, and juicy. I enjoy the spices of the Ranchers Select steak, and the Erie OCB steak always pleases.

They also had a feature I had never seen, which was the standard baked fish with a breadcrumb crust on top - very tasty.

Even as I departed at 9:15, everything was still hot and fresh. Half-sized batches of items began appearing, which I appreciate as it avoids 
unnecessary waste. But, as always, the food was fresh and tasty, and the staff was great. Without a doubt, this is one of the, if not the best OCB out there."


Not too long after Brett went back to the Erie OCB and had this to say - 

"Ended up going back to OCB tonight on my way home from work. I do not 
remember the last time I visited OCB on a Sunday, it has been several 
years, and I have never visited the Erie OCB on a Sunday. I remember 
the Sunday horrors of the Hometown Buffet back in Ohio I used to 
frequent, but the Erie location has blown me away so many times with 
excellence, I figured I was safe.

Sure enough - the Erie PA OCB still delivers on an overflowing Sunday 
dinner crowd! Not once was any item empty, save for one of the soups 
which was replenished within 5 minutes. Contrary to your location, 
our OCB serves steak on Sunday evenings, as well as several specials 
from the week. Not sure if it was leftovers or if they purposely do 
it for Sundays, but there were specials from several weeknights 
available this evening."

As I told Brett, I am envious. I would love to try an OCB with a grill out on the serving floor. My local OCB recently got a grill but it is in the kitchen and nothing is cooked to order. The steak still comes out over done and then is plopped inside a steamer tray in the server, covered, to continue to cook. I am not near Erie, but if I ever get there I will certainly give this OCB a try. I recall a comment from a reader that there is an OCB in or near Alexandria, VA or Fairfax, VA with a grill in the serving area. I am going to find that OCB. (If anyone has the exact location, comment or email me.)

So you see, there are good OCBs. I have always like the OCB in Fredericksburg, Va. I was at a nice OCB near Monmouth, New Jersey. I know that there are many of them that are good. IN Erie there is a very good one!

Pay by Height - Controversy at a Buffet

Whenever buffets make the news it is generally about an issue involving price. An article appeared in New York Newsday recently reporting an incident that took place at a sushi buffet on Long Island.

The buffet has a policy to charge children's prices based upon height. This seems rather unusual, but the buffet claims that it is a common practice in restaurants in New York City. Consumer bureaus and restaurants in Manhattan that were contacted by the newspaper stated that they had never heard of such a practice. I have never been to this buffet and seen the giraffe ruler at the entrance at which they have kids measure up for what mom and dad are going to pay for their meal.

The news story reports that an 11 year old came in with her parents and measured four feet, eight inches tall - two inches over the limit for children's prices. The child was to be charged the full $19.95 adult price for the weeknight dinner. (Just aside - this is a very expensive buffet and that is the reason that I have not patronized it.) The parents, upon hearing what it was going to cost for their skinny, but tall, little girl to eat, complained to the manager who gave them no satisfaction and then left - and, evidently, alerted the "media". The manager had referred the parent to speak with the owner - but the owner does not speak English.

The restaurant's policy - which is posted and not hidden -is that children three and a half feet to four and a half feet pay half the adult price, children under three and a half feet eat for free, and children over four and a half feet pay the full adult price. There is no state law that prohibits basing price on height and this is not a human rights violation - as the parent tried to pursue. It is the right of the restaurant to base their pricing as they see fit.

The story was picked up by the Dr. Phil Show and they would like the child to come on the show. I am not sure why - though I am sure one can spin this into a major tragedy - "Tall child denied her sushi dinner!" Oh yeah! The girl has not accepted the invitation to go on the show - yet.

The complaint by the parent was that the restaurant made an incorrect assumption that a child's height will determine how much they will eat. The newspaper sought an explanation from the restaurant but they will not comment. Another neighboring restaurant - East Buffet - which I have reviewed on this site - also has the same pay by height for children policy. They state that they started this two years ago. I had not noticed when I was last there and perhaps it is not as obvious. East Buffet would comment to the Press as to why they have this policy and from a business point of view it actually makes some sense. They state that when you base the price by age you put the employees and the restaurant in the position of guessing or taking the not always so reliable parent's word about how hold the child is. They state that many parents would insist that a child was much younger than the child obviously was. One incident involved a "child" who was six feet tall and the parents insisted that the child was ten years old. They claim that with the height system there is absolutely no question. The child is measured and the price is established as you enter - no question, no guessing, no confabulating. They did say that this policy is flexible and if a parent insists that their tall child is much younger than the height would imply they will adjust the price down.

A number of restaurants were asked for their reaction to a pay by height policy and they all said that they had never heard of such a thing, but that it would be bad for business.

I must say - on a personal note - that my six year old niece who eats little more than a bowl of rice and some jello and was charged $9 recently when I took her to a Chinese buffet would be better to be charged based upon her height as she is small for her age - and even at half price would have been better than the fixed children's price that I was charged for her meal. I can also see how a tall child could eat much less than a little "round" child. (Pay by weight - wouldn't that be a controversial idea!)

The "Pay by Height" policy for children does make sense as a practical and non-disputable way to determine the price. Other than East, for all of the buffets that I have been to, no place is doing this. Perhaps you have seen this done? Let us know and let us know what you think about this!