I drove 3 hours to visit one of the last-remaining KFC buffets. My favorite side dish was missing, but the value wasn't.
Daniel Larlham Jr.
- I drove three hours to visit one of the last-remaining KFC buffets in the world.
- The $13 meal included chicken, side dishes, desserts, and a few items not on the regular menu.
- I was pleasantly surprised by the meal, but wished this location offered mac and cheese as a side.
During an eight-hour drive from northern Delaware to Charlotte, North Carolina, my girlfriend's voice broke my glassy-eyed daze.
"Did that sign say KFC Buffet?" she asked.
My immediate reaction was disbelief, that maybe we'd been driving too long and hallucinated it — but a quick Google search confirmed that the KFC buffet was real. Although I couldn't find much about it online, according to an article from Mashed, they seemed to be most popular in the '80s before fizzling out after a decade or so.
During my research, I also stumbled across a Facebook group called "KFC Buffet Aficionados," where fans of the restaurant answer questions about the buffets and keep a map of all the remaining locations in North America.
There aren't many left in the world, but there is one pretty famous location in Tokyo. Turns out, the nearest one to my house is even closer than the one we originally passed.
So, my girlfriend and I took a three-hour drive to Dunn, North Carolina, to see what a KFC buffet is like.
Daniel Larlham Jr.
We arrived tired and hungry on a Saturday night to a mostly empty parking lot. A small blue sign advertised that the location did indeed offer buffet-style dining.
On the inside, it looked no different than any other KFC I'd been to, save the approximately 8-foot-long self-serve buffet set up next to the cashier.
Daniel Larlham Jr.
I ordered two buffet dinners and was handed back two plastic trays: both complete with a large, three-section Styrofoam plate, a smaller dessert plate, a small soft-drink cup, and a spork.
My total before tax was $26, making the cost of one buffet dinner at this location $13.
Daniel Larlham Jr.
The buffet offered much of what you might get at KFC when ordering a family meal: fried or grilled chicken pieces, and some of the signature sides like biscuits, green beans, mashed potatoes, and gravy.
The biggest disappointment was that the buffet didn't have my favorite side dish — mac and cheese.
However, there were also a few items that weren't on the regular menu, like rice and beans, collard greens, and fried okra, to name a few.
What surprised me most was the selection of fried chicken gizzards and livers. These were also offered as a regular menu item at this location, which is something that I hadn't seen at the numerous KFC's I'd been to up north.
Daniel Larlham Jr.
For the most part, everything I ate was hot and tasted fresh and flavorful. The chicken was just as crispy as any other piece of KFC chicken I'd had.
My favorite side was the fried okra, which was crunchy but not overcooked.
My girlfriend also insisted I try the fried chicken gizzards and liver. I had never had them before and decidedly did not enjoy eating even the smallest bites of either.
Daniel Larlham Jr.
In my opinion, the crowning item of the evening was the apple cobbler — a gooey mixture of apple chunks, pie crust, and sugar. It was one of a few dessert options like Jell-O, pudding, and fruit.
The cinnamon-apple filling might have been one of the strongest scents from the entire buffet.
Thankfully, it tasted as good as it smelled. I would go as far to say it tasted homemade. Was it worth the three-hour drive, though? Probably not.
Daniel Larlham Jr.
Overall, this definitely wasn't the worst buffet I'd ever been to, but somehow, it wasn't the best experience I've ever had at KFC, either.
However, this was mostly due to the absence of notable menu items like the mac and cheese. Looking back, though, I could've easily ordered it from the standard menu for an additional charge.
At the end of the day, I was pleasantly surprised by the fresh-tasting, flavorful food, and I'd definitely recommend it to others, especially for the price.
