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Buffets Catering To Changing Diners

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By MARY SHEDDEN, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 21, 2007

TEMPLE TERRACE - Lunchtime at Lupton's Buffet puts fast-food joints to shame.

There's no ordering from an itemized menu hanging on a wall, or waiting for a counter clerk to hand over a plastic tray with a meal wrapped in paper. Instead, you walk through the door, grab a plate and fill up on comfort foods from collard greens to baked chicken to strawberry shortcake the owner says is 'sweet as a mother's kiss.'

'It doesn't get any faster than that,' said owner Ralph Lupton, who with his wife, Nancy, and sons operate buffets in Temple Terrace and Zephyrhills.

But the golden arches aren't the only competition Lupton's and fellow family style buffet operators face. These comfort-food providers also target diners in the hottest segment of America's restaurant industry: fast-casual restaurants. And they may have a chance to get those customers, as time-crunched diners age and are eating 'on the go' less and less.

'That's the sweet spot. Everybody wants to position themselves in fast casual,' said Christopher Muller, a University of Central Florida professor and chain restaurant expert.

Buffets are a far cry from the more-trendy chains that fall into the fast-casual segment, including Panera Bread, Chipotle and Starbucks Coffee. They promote value pricing through an all-you-care-to-eat atmosphere, and while the buffet business model works well, operators realize that to grow, they need to push quality as much as quantity.

'Customers today are not looking for bland beef and chicken. They want something special,' said Bob McDevitt, senior vice president for franchising for Golden Corral restaurants.

Food-Service Sales Bring Home The Bacon

This year, buffets and cafeteria-style restaurants will ring up about $5.45 billion, or 10 percent of the nation's estimated $537 billion in restaurant and food-service sales, according to the National Restaurant Association's 2007 industry forecast. By comparison, quick-service restaurants - which include fast-food and fast-casual, expect sales of $150.1 billion, or 28 percent of the industry's total revenue.

To eat away at the quick-serve piece of the pie, major buffet chains such as Golden Corral are integrating more upscale options than the classic meat-and-potatoes fare. The chain - with eight Tampa Bay locations - touts its Greenhouse Select salad fare that allows patrons to indulge in grilled meats, lettuce mixes beyond classic iceberg and toppings such as sliced almonds and heart of palm.

That and theme-night dinners appear to be working at the 478-restaurant chain. Golden Corral's second-quarter sales were up 4.9 percent to $369.2 million over the same time period in 2006, company reports show. The salad bar changes boosted lunch sales in particular.

'We tried to give it a little bit of an upscale feel,' McDevitt said. 'These are the kinds of things you don't expect to find at a buffet.'

A sign of the potential growth: at least one major chain wants to expand into Tampa Bay. Minnesota-based HomeTown Buffet is recruiting franchisees in the South. The chain is part of the more than 600-location Buffets Inc., which also operates well-known Southern buffet chain: Ryan's.

Buffets, by design, will always be about price, Muller said. Men and 'high-calorie consumers' make up the customer base of the all-you-can-eat establishments, a hybrid of old-style cafeterias and family style restaurants like Denny's and Perkins.

'It's still about the price of the food,' Muller said.

Buffets also are cheaper to operate than full-service restaurants, Muller said. Preparing meals in mass quantities is quicker, labor costs are lower and profits are easier to find.

A country-style restaurant such as Lupton's appeals more to men. By comparison, a 100-location, salad-focused chain like Sweet Tomatoes is marketed more to soccer moms and convenience diners who might just as likely hit a fast-casual restaurant for dinner.

Working To Balance Cost, Convenience

McDevitt said the key to attracting more business at a buffet is balancing the cost of the high-profile meats with side dishes that will fill both the customers' bellies and the company's cash register.

'It's the proteins that bring the customers in the restaurant, but it's the starch and vegetables that fill out the meal and quite frankly, the economics,' he said.

What makes fast-casual dining so popular now is the perception of a chef preparing a meal especially for you, Muller said. At places such as Chipotle, a 'gourmet burrito' is prepared in assembly-line fashion, with a customer requesting specific fillings as it's prepared on the opposite side of the counter.

The convenience factor is significant at all restaurants, but it doesn't mean people just want a bag of pre-made fast food. In fact, 36 percent of American adults are eating less 'on the go' than they did two years ago, the annual National Restaurant Association customer survey said. That bodes well for quick, sit-down locations like buffets.

Lupton Buffet customer Degrando Franks said getting a good sit-down meal quickly is exactly why he comes to a buffet.

'It's definitely a time issue,' said Franks, pastor of the International Harvest Center church.

Hungry diners will likely start seeing more buffet restaurants open in the next few years, Muller said, as the massive baby-boom generation retires and wants an affordable alternative to cooking at home. Buffets also easily convert to gathering places for groups that want to linger - another 'fast-casual' appeal.

Reporter Mary Shedden can be reached at mshedden@tampatrib.com or (813)259-7365.

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