NYC restaurants are cashing in on wallet-weary diners hunting unlimited cheap eats
With grocery and restaurant prices climbing, Americans have a hearty appetite for all-you-can-eat and buffet-style dining.Yelp searches for all-you-can-eat buffets jumped 252% from 2025, The Wall Street Journal recently reported.While major chains like Golden Corral often dominate the buffet landscape, the outlet highlighted five other spots offering everything from Southern comfort food and Uzbek specialties to Korean barbecue and Brazilian steakhouse fare. Here they are below:Since opening in September, Good Time has brought Southern-style comfort food to Manhattan, with dishes such as Salisbury steak, collard greens, dinner rolls and peach cobbler.Unlimited servings cost $26.99, according to the Journal.Co-founder David Yun said the goal was to offer “something affordable” and evoke “the humble buffet that really brings you back to that memory.”Tashkent’s Uzbek hot bar, also in New York City, features dozens of prepared dishes, including plov, stuffed cabbage, manti dumplings and pastries. Customers pay by weight, unlike the all-you-can-eat buffets.
The Journal reported that takeout containers typically cost $10.99 to $11.99 per pound.Since opening last year, Tashkent’s West Village location has put a spotlight on Central Asian cuisine, with food bloggers helping to draw attention to its hot bar, The Guardian reported.KPot Korean BBQ and Hot Pot lets diners cook meats, vegetables and noodles at the table, barbecue-style or in hot broth. For $5 extra, diners can do both, The Journal reported, noting that prices vary, from $36.99 in New York to $31.99 in Oklahoma City.With locations in nearly 40 states, KPot is one of the largest Korean restaurant chains in the country.Der Dutchman serves hearty, Amish- and Mennonite-inspired fare, including creamed chicken, meatloaf, baked ham and noodles with mashed potatoes. It is among several famous heartland spots that often land on the country’s best buffets lists and has “a good rocking-chair-on-a-big-f...