Buffets are back: Diners seek bang for their buck amid inflation

Korea Herald

17-05-2025

Once avoided amid the COVID-19 pandemic and changing dining trends, buffet chains are making a comeback as dining costs continue to rise in Korea.
Cho Ha-eun, a woman in her 30s, waited in line for over an hour to enter a casual buffet chain in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, for lunch on a weekend in March.
When she arrived around noon, more than 50 groups were waiting outside the restaurant, as it was offering strawberries as part of a seasonal event.
'I expected there would be a wait because of the event, but not for 1 1/2 hours. There were several other locations of the same chain across Suwon (offering the same event),' Cho said.
The chain accepts reservations to help people avoid waiting. But Cho added that people often ended up waiting in line there, as weekend slots were usually fully booked.
Emerging in Korea around 2000, buffet-style restaurant chains flourished throughout the 2010s, offering a wide variety of dishes at more accessible prices than luxury hotel buffets.
The period of growth ended with a sharp decline in the early 2020s. But now, buffet chains are making a comeback.
From popular choice to waning appeal
A few years ago, dining trends in Korea seemed to be moving away from the buffet approach. As of 2023, one of Korea's top dining trends was 'omakase,' a Japanese-style multi-course meal served in small portions.
Unlike buffet chains that offer a wide array of familiar, crowd-pleasing foods, omakase restaurants specialize in high-end, chef-curated experiences. Reservations were often required at least a week in advance, despite prices starting around 150,000 won ($106) per dinner.
The preference for this dining style spread beyond Japanese restaurants, giving rise to variations such as beef omakase and coffee omakase. Some see this as part of a broader shift in dining culture — one that values exploring refined and subtle flavors over simply enjoying large quantities of familiar food.
'The omakase style of dining satisfies not only sensory pleasure but also the desire to learn about ingredients,' wrote a big data trend column in a 2023 issue of a magazine published by the Korea Development Institute.
The column noted that the trend reflects the values of the times.
'Consumers engage more deeply with their food and gain knowledge that goes beyond simply eating.'
While omakase gained popularity, buffet chains faced significant challenges.
Already facing declining popularity due to the limited ways they could make their menus stand out and relatively high prices compared to single-dish dining options, buffet chains were further hit by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Heightened hygiene concerns made diners avers to food being displayed within reach of so many people.
The decline was clearly reflected in the shrinking number of locations of Korea's buffet-style restaurant chains — Vips, operated by CJ Foodville, and Ashley, now rebranded as Ashley Queens under E-Land Eats.
Vips saw a drop from 112 locations in 2015 to 41 in 2019, and further down after the pandemic to 28 by 2023. Ashley also declined from over 100 locations in 2019 to 55 by 2022.
Chains focused on traditional Korean dishes faced even steeper losses.
In 2017, Korea's leading dining companies — CJ Foodville, E-Land and Shinsegae — operated 113 locations, but now only two branches of E-Land's Nature Kitchen remain.
Resilient comeback amid inflation
But recently buffet chains have started to bounce back, even as many omakase businesses have scaled back or closed.
Ashley Queens, which offers buffets priced up to 27,900 won, recorded over 40 billion won in sales in 2024 — a 70 percent increase from the previous year.
Vips, whose salad bar is priced as high as 47,900 won, also showed signs of recovery, with parent company CJ Foodville reporting a 7.8 percent rise in its dining division sales.
The number of their branches has started to grow again, as well. Ashley Queens has doubled its number of locations over the past two years, reaching 111. Vips also added five branches since 2023, increasing from 28 to 33.
The warmer sentiment is felt across the industry. According to fintech firm Finda, buffet restaurant revenue in October 2024 rose 28.5 percent year-on-year, far outpacing the overall food service sector's 2.88 percent growth.
Riding the wave of renewed interest in buffet-style dining, Korean bakery chain Tous Les Jours, also operated by CJ Foodville, held a bakery buffet event in April at select branches in Seoul, offering a variety of breads for 9,900 won.
A branch of the fried chicken franchise BBQ in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, also transformed into a buffet, serving its fried chicken menu at 12,900 won.
The events went viral online, drawing early lines of eager customers for food that's usually easy to find at their regular outlets.
This growing preference for buffet-style restaurants in Korea reflects a broader market trend, where dining out is becoming increasingly expensive.
'When I eat out for pasta and coffee, it costs nearly 30,000 won. But at a buffet, I can enjoy multiple dishes, dessert included, for less than that,' said a Seoul resident in his 30s.
He added that the price gap between single-dish meals and buffet admission has narrowed significantly compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Statistics Korea, dining-out costs in the country have risen by more than 3 percent annually for three consecutive years, increasing by 7.7 percent in 2022, 6 percent in 2023 and 3.1 percent in 2024.
Experts also point to heightened economic concerns among Koreans, driven by rising prices and prolonged economic slump, as a key factor behind this shift in dining choices.
'With continued inflation, there is a growing perception that buffet-style restaurants offer better value for money,' said Lee Eun-hee, a consumer science professor at Inha University.
'Omakase is often about consuming an overall experience — not just the food. But consumers now appear to be shifting toward enjoying a broader selection of familiar dishes they personally prefer.'
Experts note that the ongoing economic situation could make consumers more cautious about dining out, as they increasingly fear disappointment. In this context, buffet franchises offering a wide range of familiar foods are seen as a safer, more reliable choice.
'People these days would find it more difficult to dine out than they were before, largely due to economic concerns. As a result, they can be more cautious when choosing where to eat,' said Choi Chul, a consumer economics professor at Sookmyung Women's University.
'In particular, for group dining, buffets can be an attractive option. With a diverse selection of food, they can accommodate various taste preferences and reduce the risk of leaving anyone dissatisfied.'