A highly popular buffet-style restaurant chain is making multiple changes as it prepares to reopen – but it’s unclear if and when the location in The Villages might start serving customers again.
Popular self-serve buffet chain Golden Corral announced on its website that it is prepared to temporarily offer customers a cafeteria-style service, where staff members serve them on the buffet line. Another option listed on the website is the consideration of family-style service, where staff members bring an endless buffet of food to tables.
It’s unclear when that kind of service might start in The Villages because the restaurant at 3950 Wedgewood Ln. isn’t yet on a long list of eateries scheduled to reopen. There are 13 Florida locations on the list, with the closet being in Zephyrhills.
Other Florida locations already scheduled to reopen are in Jacksonville, Lakeland, Fort Pierce, Fort Walton Beach, Lakeland, Brandon, Bradenton, Port St. Lucie, Tamarac, Fort Myers, Winter Haven and Panama City.
On Monday, a sign on the door of The Villages location said the eatery was temporarily closed because of COVID-19. It said the health and well-being of employees is “more valuable to us than anything else.” The sign also promised the restaurant would reopen as soon as possible and offered prayers for their customers and their families.
Last week, Sweet Tomatoes, another popular buffet-style restaurant near The Villages, announced that it was closing its doors for good due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The CEO of the eatery’s parent company, Garden Fresh, said the massive closure will affect 97 restaurants and 4,400 workers nationwide.
