Whatever Happened To Ryan's Buffet? Does Golden Corral's Rival Still Exist?

Those who grew up in the '90s and early 2000s may have fond memories of eating at Ryan's Buffet. It was often seen as a rival to Golden Corral's buffet offerings, and there are multiple Reddit threads dedicated to recalling fond memories users had at the restaurant, proclaiming its superiority to the other buffet chain. Unfortunately, though, only one of these restaurants survived into the present day — and it wasn't Ryan's. After a series of bankruptcies and management changes, all locations were shuttered by 2021.

Ryan's was founded by Alvin McCall Jr., a native of South Carolina, though he pursued several other businesses before starting Ryan's in 1977. While today it is largely remembered as a buffet, Ryan's was originally a casual family steakhouse chain, and it was even named "America's favorite steakhouse chain" in 1991 by Restaurants & Institutions Magazine, per Greenville News. However, it soon added the "Mega Bar," which would become more iconic than the chain's original offerings of steak. While McCall retired from the company in 1992, it was still run by Ryan's Restaurant Group until 2006, when it merged with Buffet, Inc. At the time of the merge, there were over 300 Ryan's locations.

Unfortunately, this merger marked the beginning of the end for Ryan's. Over the next several years, Buffets, Inc. declared bankruptcy twice, first in 2008 and again in 2012. Numerous stores were closed during this time period. FMP Management then bought the company in 2015 but declared bankruptcy only a year later in 2016. From then on, it was a series of continued bankruptcies and closures.

Despite the multiple bankruptcies and closures, Ryan's and FMP Management continued hanging on until the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. With customers unable to come in and participate in buffet-style dining due to pandemic restrictions, the company took a massive hit. FMP, which also owned other buffet chains like Old Country Buffet, ceased operations in June of 2020. VitaNova Brands then took over managing FMP's restaurants, but its Fresh Acquisitions LLC and Buffets LLC brands likewise declared bankruptcy in April 2021.

By this time, though, Ryan's had seemingly already shuttered all of its locations, as FSR Magazine noted that all of Buffets LLC's stores had closed except for a few Tahoe Joe's locations. It's hard to know exactly when this happened, but some claim that the last Ryan's location was in Mississippi and closed in January 2021, which would match up with the timeline of bankruptcies.

Many buffets simply did not survive the dip in revenue and changing standards the pandemic brought, with one notable exception: Golden Corral, Ryan's longtime rival. Though Nation's Restaurant News reported that the brand closed 25% of its locations in 2020, it managed to adapt by offering drive-thru pickup. Ryan's, which had already been struggling for years prior to the pandemic, was not so lucky. Today, Ryan's has simply become another defunct buffet chain that no one remembers.