USA TODAY 10Best
Get your all-you-can-eat fix at the 10 best buffet restaurants in the US
Best Buffet Restaurant (2024)
Buffet restaurants are popular across the United States for good reason. They're affordable, convenient, and offer a variety of dishes and cuisines to suit different tastes and preferences. That makes them a great option for a group outing on a budget.
These 10 buffet restaurants have been selected by an expert panel and voted by readers as the best in the United States for their quality offerings at an affordable fixed price.
- Cinzzetti's Italian Feast - Overland Park, Kansas
- Brooks Shaw's Old Country Store - Jackson, Tennessee
- North Country Steak Buffet - La Crosse, Wisconsin
- Tomato Café - Albuquerque, New Mexico
- Red Ginger Buffet - Elizabethton, Tennessee
- Casey's Buffet - Wilmington, North Carolina
- Der Dutchman - Sarasota, Florida
- Miller's Smorgasbord - Ronks, Pennsylvania
- The Court of Two Sisters - New Orleans, Louisiana
- Shady Maple Smorgasbord - East Earl, Pennsylvania
Photo courtesy of andresr // Getty Images
No. 10:
Cinzzetti's Italian Feast is a casual, Tuscan-style restaurant with locations in Northglenn, Colorado, and Overland Park, Kansas. Guests enjoy assembling their own plates at their all-you-can-eat buffet — with over 60 dishes — across a variety of food stations.
Photo courtesy of .shock // Getty Images
No. 9:
Brook Shaw's Old Country Store sets the scene for nostalgia in Jackson, Tennessee. It's part old-school ice cream parlor and part buffet restaurant in a general store setting. The eatery serves Southern dishes like fried chicken, turnip greens, baked cinnamon apples, black-eyed peas, and sweet potatoes.
Photo courtesy of ShotShare // Getty Images
No. 8:
Located in La Crosse, Wisconsin, the North Country Steak Buffet offers a casual, family-friendly all-you-can-eat buffet of American fare, with burgers, steak, and pork chops that are cooked to order. Other buffet options include salads, a taco bar, hot sides, soup, and a variety of delicious desserts. Sunday brunch is also popular.
Photo courtesy of zodebala // Getty Images
No. 7:
Tomato Café is a beloved Italian eatery in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The restaurant has an exhibition kitchen so diners can watch their food being prepared, and its all-you-can-eat Italian food bar is especially popular. Pastas, pizzas, and salads are among the dishes served here.
Photo courtesy of Thai Liang Lim / iStock / Getty Images Plus
No. 6:
Offering an array of Asian cuisine, Red Ginger Buffet offers diners everything from curry chicken and hot spicy beef to egg drop soup, fried rice, and fried zucchini. You'll definitely go back to fill your plate again and again.
Photo courtesy of GoodLifeStudio // Getty Images
No. 5:
Casey's Buffet is a popular, no-frills restaurant in Wilmington that’s known for its BBQ. In addition to BBQ and fried chicken, its lunch and dinner buffets offer dishes like potato salad, macaroni and cheese, baked beans, sweet potato souffle, and pan-fried okra. Desserts include bread pudding and cherry cheesecake.
Photo courtesy of zoranm // Getty Images
No. 4:
Situated in Pinecraft, an Amish neighborhood in Sarasota, Der Dutchman is a popular restaurant offering a daily buffet that combines quantity and quality. Diners can enjoy a wide variety of options, including their unique dish of noodles over mashed potatoes. Other locations can be enjoyed in Ohio.
Photo courtesy of Thomas E. Strauss, Inc.
No. 3:
Miller's Smorgasbord is a warm and homey restaurant in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It offers a soup and salad buffet in addition to its popular traditional smorgasbord buffet. Options on the latter include Swedish meatballs, Lancaster County chicken corn soup, chicken and waffles, baked ham with cider sauce, and Pennsylvania Dutch shoofly pie.
Photo courtesy of Court of Two Sisters
No. 2:
Offering a daily jazz brunch, The Court of Two Sisters features such iconic dishes as eggs Benedict, red beans and rice, shrimp etouffee, and chicken and sausage gumbo. There's also a salad bar and plenty of desserts to finish your meal.
Photo courtesy of Angela Kotsell // Getty Images
No. 1:
Shady Maple Smorgasbord, claiming to be "the largest buffet in America," serves delectable Pennsylvania Dutch dishes in East Earl, Pennsylvania. The well-prepared comfort food is offered on a 200-foot-long smorgasbord, and the space is designed to offer a cafeteria-style ambiance. A gift shop is open to visitors, and their birthday specials are popular.
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The Experts
Cheryl Rodewig
Cheryl Rodewig is an award-winning journalist... Read More
Cheryl Rodewig is an award-winning journalist specializing in travel. When she’s not planning her next trip — preferably to a waterfall or garden — she’s putting her MBA to use crafting marketing stories for brands. You can read her words in Thrillist, AARP, USA Today, Insider, The Guardian, and all over cherylrodewig.com. She loves it when people reach out on Twitter and sometimes Instagram.
Cheryl Rodewig
Cheryl Rodewig is an award-winning journalist specializing in travel. When she’s not planning her next trip — preferably to a waterfall or garden — she’s putting her MBA to use crafting marketing stories for brands. You can read her words in Thrillist, AARP, USA Today, Insider, The Guardian, and all over cherylrodewig.com. She loves it when people reach out on Twitter and sometimes Instagram.
Imani Bashir
Imani Bashir is a travel journalist who has lived... Read More
Imani Bashir is a travel journalist who has lived in five countries across four continents. Her work has been in major magazines and focuses on destinations, culture, family, and accommodations.
Imani Bashir
Imani Bashir is a travel journalist who has lived in five countries across four continents. Her work has been in major magazines and focuses on destinations, culture, family, and accommodations.
Jacky Runice
Born in Bucktown (Chicago) when bulletproof was a... Read More
Born in Bucktown (Chicago) when bulletproof was a home safety choice and not a coffee order, Jacky Runice has been knocking around Chicago as a professional print, online and broadcast journalist and editor specializing in separating the riff from the raff in culture, entertainment, food, travel and pure unadulterated fun. Jacky is a member of the International Food, Wine & Travel Writers Association (IFWTWA) and relies on her vast experience and gray matter to produce informative, entertaining content.
Jacky Runice
Born in Bucktown (Chicago) when bulletproof was a home safety choice and not a coffee order, Jacky Runice has been knocking around Chicago as a professional print, online and broadcast journalist and editor specializing in separating the riff from the raff in culture, entertainment, food, travel and pure unadulterated fun. Jacky is a member of the International Food, Wine & Travel Writers Association (IFWTWA) and relies on her vast experience and gray matter to produce informative, entertaining content.
Melissa Curtin
Melisa Curtin is a travel and food writer who has... Read More
Melisa Curtin is a travel and food writer who has documented her globetrotting adventures for over a decade. A Connecticut girl madly in love with California, her work has appeared in Lonely Planet, LA Weekly, Canadian Traveler, AAA, Roadtrippers, JohnnyJet, Travel Awaits, and many southern California print publications. Melissa is always on the hunt for the best local bites and destinations with few tourists, splitting her non-travel time between Malibu and Palm Springs with her husband and ever-growing collection of plants. Traveling around the world at age 20 on Semester at Sea sparked Melissa's desire for learning about other cultures. As a 20+ year educator and new travel advisor with Fora, she inspires others to reach their goals and pursue their travel dreams. Some of her recent favorite jaunts include a Viking river cruise from Paris to Normandy with her mom, truffle hunting in Tuscany, and eating her way through Florence. Get to know the Best of L.A. and California by checking out her website LaLaScoop.com or following the @lalascoop on Instagram.
Melissa Curtin
Melisa Curtin is a travel and food writer who has documented her globetrotting adventures for over a decade. A Connecticut girl madly in love with California, her work has appeared in Lonely Planet, LA Weekly, Canadian Traveler, AAA, Roadtrippers, JohnnyJet, Travel Awaits, and many southern California print publications. Melissa is always on the hunt for the best local bites and destinations with few tourists, splitting her non-travel time between Malibu and Palm Springs with her husband and ever-growing collection of plants. Traveling around the world at age 20 on Semester at Sea sparked Melissa's desire for learning about other cultures. As a 20+ year educator and new travel advisor with Fora, she inspires others to reach their goals and pursue their travel dreams. Some of her recent favorite jaunts include a Viking river cruise from Paris to Normandy with her mom, truffle hunting in Tuscany, and eating her way through Florence. Get to know the Best of L.A. and California by checking out her website LaLaScoop.com or following the @lalascoop on Instagram.
Wendy O'Dea
Born and raised in western New York, Wendy O'Dea... Read More
Born and raised in western New York, Wendy O'Dea moved to L.A. to attend the USC graduate School of Journalism and stayed for the innovative and creative lifestyle the city offers. Other than the traffic, there's not much about California she doesn't love. You can track her gallivanting ways on Instagram via @WendyTravels .
Wendy O'Dea
Born and raised in western New York, Wendy O'Dea moved to L.A. to attend the USC graduate School of Journalism and stayed for the innovative and creative lifestyle the city offers. Other than the traffic, there's not much about California she doesn't love. You can track her gallivanting ways on Instagram via @WendyTravels .
10Best Editors
USA TODAY 10Best provides users with original,... Read More
USA TODAY 10Best provides users with original, unbiased and experiential travel coverage of top attractions, things to see and do, and restaurants for top destinations in the U.S. and around the world.
10Best Editors
USA TODAY 10Best provides users with original, unbiased and experiential travel coverage of top attractions, things to see and do, and restaurants for top destinations in the U.S. and around the world.
