Once popular buffet chains were disappearing in the restaurant sector when the Covid-19 pandemic led food establishments to adopt stricter food safety guidelines.
Food safety awareness during the Covid-19 pandemic has also changed consumer attitudes towards food, leading to the demise of several buffet restaurant chains.
Among the buffet chains that will disappear due to the Covid-19 pandemic were buffet affiliates HomeTown Buffet, Old Country Buffet, and Ryan’s, which were owned by Fresh Acquisitions LLC.
The parent company was devastated by the pandemic and forced to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April 2021 to close and liquidate certain of its assets, Nation’s Restaurant News reported at the time.
Before the collapse of the buffet restaurant sector due to the pandemic, another concept of similar restaurants, Southern cafeteria restaurants, began to disappear in the 80s and 1990s as consumer restaurant preferences changed to dining in casual chains, such as Applebee’s or TGI Fridays.
The granddaddy of all cafeteria-style restaurants was Morrison’s, which opened in 1920 in Mobile, Ala., and grew to 151 locations at its peak. The chain’s popularity waned in the 1980s and 1990s, and the company was sold in 1998 to Piccadilly Cafeterias, according to AL.com.
Piccadilly rebranded many of the Morrison’s locations, and the original Mobile location is the last remaining restaurant after 105 years in business.
Another popular Southern comfort food restaurant chain, K&W Cafeterias LLC, has gone one step further than Morrison’s and closed all of its locations.
K&W Cafeterias, which filed for bankruptcy protection in 2020, has closed its nine remaining dining locations on Dec. 1, 2025, according to the company’s Facebook page.
The 88-year-old restaurant chain’s website included its greeting message posted on the front doors of its locations.
“We regret to announce that after proudly serving this and many other communities for years, K&W Holdings Group LLC will be closing permanently. All existing locations were closed effective 12/1/2025. We thank you for your support throughout our years in business. K&W Holdings Management.”
K&W Cafeterias closed eight locations in North Carolina and one in Virginia.
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K&W Cafeterias founded in 1937.
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Operate up to 35 locations before 2020.
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It operates 18 locations after the Covid-19 pandemic.
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It operates 11 locations in 2022.
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It will close the remaining 9 restaurants on December 1, 2025.