Depending on where you stand, today’s article in The Guardian about the all you can eat Taybarns chain of restaurants is either great news or very scary.
Owned by Whitbread, the chain of seven offers vast buffet meals laid out on 34 metre counters. For a set price, which starts at £5.99 for adults on weekdays, customers can load up their plates as many times as they like on everything from salads to roast meats via pizza, pastas and chow mein. According to the Guardian piece, they turn over thousands of covers every day.
So far, the most northerly branch is in Newcastle but more are planned.
All you can eat buffets are nothing new. The Scotland-based Jimmy Chung chain of Chinese restaurants have been going for years and, despite the recession (or possibly because of it?), they have just opened their eleventh branch in Westhill, Aberdeen.
If I were a restaurateur serving from a traditional three course menu at the value end of the market then I would be very scared if a Taybarns opened near me. On the other hand, if I had a limited budget and three kids who all had different tastes then I would be overjoyed. As a punter, what worries me is how many trad restaurants will be left when the economic climate finally turns sunny again.
Where do you stand on all you can eat restaurants?