This Is Where To Find The Remaining KFC Buffet Locations

As a long-time fried chicken chain, KFC has been around long enough to see countless industry trends come and go. This includes buffets, which were popular among fast-casual and fast-food restaurants throughout the 1980s. Although fast food buffets have largely come and gone thanks to health-conscious consumers, KFC buffets are an exception. A handful of them survive across the southern United States, along with one revived location in Canada. However, the legend of KFC buffets has traveled overseas, where four can be found in certain major metropolitan areas of Japan.

That said, buffets are not a particularly common find among KFC's more than 30,000 global locations. Worse yet, KFC's store locator doesn't specify whether any particular location has a buffet. But you can still find them with the help of dedicated fan groups, travel guides, or even the sign outside of any given KFC.

In the 1980s and '90s, buffets were a popular part of the American dining scene. Standalone diner chains like Sizzler and Golden Corral sprouted nationwide, but the fad expanded to pre-existing restaurants, including fast food. McDonald's, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and more all experimented with buffets or some other all-you-can-eat option.

Amid this era of excess, the KFC buffet emerged, fitting right in with the times. Buffets were a common, though not universal sight at many American KFC locations. Fans recall unusual items not seen on the regular menu, like country fried steak, bread pudding, and rice, alongside KFC standards such as mashed potatoes, corn, and, of course, fried chicken.

As the 1990s came to a close, consumer preferences began shifting away from unlimited food to healthier options, bringing the buffet boom to an end. Some buffets like Golden Corral staged impressive comebacks, but fast food buffets, including KFC, largely shifted focus back to the core business. However, a handful of lucky locations still preserve the KFC buffet magic today.

Where KFC's website lacks an easy way to track down buffet locations, the KFC buffet fan community stepped in to fill the void. A Facebook group called KFC Buffet Aficionados features excited discussion of members' favorite buffet items and memories, rumors of new or forgotten buffet locations, and a user-created atlas of group-confirmed KFC buffets still open in America.

According to the map, at least 16 KFC buffets are left in the United States, exclusively located in the South. Oklahoma, Missouri, Kentucky, and Alabama have one; Tennessee and Mississippi each have two; and North and South Carolina each have four.

Although it's not a KFC, Kentucky does feature another related buffet-like concept. After starting KFC, Colonel Sanders founded a second restaurant with his wife, Claudia, which remains open today. The aptly named Claudia Sanders' Dinner House serves buffet-style food on Sundays, and all-you-can-eat table service options for the rest of the week.

KFC buffets may largely be a thing of the past in the United States, but in neighboring Canada, it's a return to tradition. Canada's one remaining KFC buffet in Weyburn, Saskatchewan, reopened in 2022 after closing during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was once the first of 27 such buffets across Canada, but local support kept it open much longer than the others, and even brought it back from the buffet graveyard.

Canada is not the only country to open KFC buffets in the 21st century. Japan has opened four since its first in 2009, in the Osaka suburb of Onohara. Osaka is known for kuidaore, a Japanese verb meaning "to eat yourself to ruin," so it's little wonder Osaka proper got its own, larger KFC buffet in 2015.

Two more soon followed in the major cities of Nagoya and Tokyo, with relatively upscale dining rooms and regional items like soup curry, a spicy sauce meant to complement the chicken. While KFC corporate has no known plans to revive its buffets on a large scale, the fandom surrounding both old locations and new suggests a market still exists — despite massive food waste, cross-contamination, and other reasons to be wary of all-you-can-eat buffets.