'A piece that ran in Eater yesterday jogged a memory from the bottom reaches of my brain and sent it floating up through the layers of my subconscious: I am about eight years old or thereabouts. I am in a Wendy's. This was the era when Wendy's embraced an old-timey aesthetic and the tables were covered in what looked like a collage of old newspapers. In the back of the Wendy's, there is a buffet table that looks like a salad bar. But it's not just salad—which, at that time, I never would have eaten. There are baked potatoes! With vats of bright orange gooey cheese! And bacon bits! And there is chocolate pudding, as much of it as an eight-year-old can jam down her gullet as soon as she's finished with her potato. I remember it vividly now. Oh, those were good times!

The Eater piece, by MM Carrigan (who also happens to be the editor of The Taco Bell Quarterly), explores the history of fast food buffets, including the Wendy's Superbar. The Wendy's Superbar, as it happens, is the most thoroughly documented of all the fast food buffets. (It lasted for a decade and also included pasta and nachos.) But Carrigan is more interested rumors of other buffets, particularly those at Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and KFC, and the most legendary of all: the McDonald's Breakfast Buffet. Carrigan finds a few people who claim to have memories of this great innovation in fast food, but their recollections are hazy. (We're talking buffets in American locations here, not Asian extravaganzas.)…'

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COVID-19 has killed this stone dead.

Hmmm, never remember buffets from most of those places, other than Pizza Hut, way back in the day.

Roundtable Pizza had them (pizza and salad bar), up until the recent 'troubles', and Long John Silver's had an 'All You Can Eat' option on Sundays too, but just for their fish.

Yes the best deals in our town was the Chinese buffet at $7.99 USD. Now you can only get one maybe two items for $10. USD
Seeing the business plans that major fast food restaurants are planning to shift to Checkers and Sonic style set ups is also sad.

Yeah this is one of the most insidious affects of COVID … Hurting buffets and dinning in overall.

Used to love the Wendy's buffet, you could make your own tacos.

A salad bar was still available in Scotland a few weeks ago. Coronavirus meant that you were served by a staff member, rather than helping yourself. Pizza Hut ?

You know nothing of the golden age of buffets Tango, I grew up in Las Vegas and when the mob ran the casinos buffets were something else, cheap and every kind of good food imaginable. It's a miracle more people did not simply explode from too much good stuff. In those days even the motels had buffets.

Wendy's tacos???

Shudder with fear.

I certainly hope they were better than those Burger King ones, which I can honestly say, ARE the WORST tacos I've ever had. Had to try one just to see if the reviews of them were correct, and they were. I should have heeded their warnings.

I really don't see why the buffets have to die though, once they permit dining inside again, since people should just be able to walk back up to the counter again to order seconds.

I miss the Chinese buffet we used to go to at the Tyson's Corner Mall back in the day, 50 years or so ago. It was quite good.

One of our Chinese buffets has reopened. You have to wear a mask and plastic gloves when you get your food, but that's all that's changed.

What I worry about more than the people are the staff not cleaning the tables, and/or adequately washing the dishes, glasses, and utensils.

All of that was scary enough before the virus, and now it really bears being cautious about.